Picture This

Irish alternative group Picture This deliver pop-polished rock anthems that play like a mix of the 1975, Coldplay, and Mumford & Sons. Debuting in the late 2010s, their official debut Picture This topped the Irish charts upon release in 2017. Injecting mainstream sheen into their pastoral sound, they followed in 2019 with another chart-topper, MDRN LV.
The band was formed by childhood friends Ryan Hennessy (vocals and guitar) and Jimmy Rainsford (drums), who grew up in Athy, County Kildare, and attended the same school. They later recruited friends Owen Cardiff (guitar) and Cliff Deane (bass) to solidify their quartet in 2015. In October of that year, Hennessy recorded the song “Take My Hand” on his iPhone and uploaded it to social media, accumulating over a million views. Following the success of the video, the group were forced to move their debut gig from the Grand Social in Dublin to the larger-capacity Academy. The achievement made them the first band in the venue’s history to sell out their first show.
Having completed a tour of Ireland, Hennessy and Rainsford announced the release of their debut EP. Taking a D.I.Y. approach, the duo self-produced and recorded the songs at Rainsford’s home studio. The self-titled, five-track collection, which included “Take My Hand,” debuted at number one on the Irish Album Chart. Following a banner year for the young group, they wasted little time in issuing their first single of 2017, “Never Change.” Two more singles — “Everything I Need” and “95″ — followed, and Picture This headlined Dublin’s Longitude Festival in July. Later that year, they released their self-titled debut record. Picture This topped the Irish charts once more, yielding an additional fourth single, “Addicted to You,” their highest charting to date. The non-album single “This Morning” surpassed its predecessor, shooting to number six in 2018.
The following year, the continued chart success of singles “One Drink” and “Everything or Nothing” heralded the arrival of the band’s second effort, the polished, mainstream-ready MDRN LV. Their second consecutive number one, it marked a turning point for the group that pushed their sound further into the same pop territory of Walk the Moon and OneRepublic. The 2020s kicked off with singles “Troublemaker” and “Things Are Different.” ~ Bekki Bemrose & Neil Z. Yeung