Exclusive: Watch the Video for Síomha Hennessy’s Oversharing Anthem “This Party”

Ahead of her Edinburgh Fringe show 30 Under 30, Irish comedian and singer Síomha Hennessy shares the tinsel-strewn music video for her new song “This Party.” The track itself appears in 30 Under 30, which is running at the Gilded Balloon from July 31 through August 26. 

30 Under 30 documents Hennessy’s paradoxical problem of wanting to be a teen pop sensation in spite of being nearly 35. We here at Paste are already fans of Hennessy thanks to her hilarious, off-the-wall Fringe show The Coil’s Lament, and if that performance is any indication, 30 Under 30 is about to be a heady mixture of comedy, cabaret, and intense vulnerability.

“This Party” has a mid-century doo-wop sound to it, with some pop sheen added in there for good measure. The track is about the all-too-relatable problem of oversharing with relative strangers. Hennessy wrote the song a couple years ago after going to a party at her friend Eoghan’s house, where she met his new girlfriend Ríona.

“I ended up enthusiastically chewing the ear off her for a good three hours and telling her everything that’s ever happened to me—including all my deepest feelings, hopes and regrets,” Hennessy says. “The next morning, I had a serious case of ‘The Fear’—that uniquely Irish term for remembering the sh*** ya talked the night before. And that’s when I wrote the song.”

Hennessy directed the video, which follows her as she wakes up the morning after a party wracked by The Fear, receiving texts about her boisterous activities and flashing back to her misadventures the night before. Ríona and Eoghan actually play themselves in the party scenes as Hennessy corners the former in the smoking area to talk about her traumas.

“As well as Eoghan and Ríona, I also tricked several other friends into being in the video, and it was actually very special to see how everyone rowed in and were so game for impromptu roles and having fun with it,” Hennessy shares. Tighearnan Noonan was the assistant director and James Van Der Waal (Sticky Tape Productions) was the director of photography and editor. 

While “This Party” is a funny, bubbly tune on the surface, Hennessy explains that “the song has a deeper message about our longing as humans to connect with each other, to feel understood, and to be seen. These are also the themes that run through my Edinburgh Fringe show as well—it’s basically one big question asked in many different ways: ‘Am I a freak, or do you feel this way too?’’”

To which we can readily say Hennessy doesn’t have to worry—we’re just as scared as she is. Watch an exclusive early preview of “This Party” below.