Darling (formerly known as Niamh, Pleasuremad) is the solo project of Jack Riley. Jack’s home-recorded music explores the layered experience of being a young adult in a culture that rewards excess.

In late 2017, they set out to create the best sounding music they could while spending as little money as possible. After weeks of writing and recording songs in their studio apartment in Richmond, VA, they released their first EP under the name Pleasuremad, The Foolish One/Misery’s Company. Both vibrant and introspective, the songs portray the line between euphoria and despair that is so central to coming of age in America today.

Pleasuremad’s following release, Where the Tragic Happens, features meditations on gender identity, the social disconnect between generations, and the struggle to find connection with other people. Glamorous and surreal, urgent and gentle, the album is full of heart, and sure to stick in your head.

Moving home to Connecticut in late 2018, Jack adopted the moniker Niamh and set out to create music blurring the lines between myth and reality, drawing from classic and contemporary fantasy to show listeners the magic in everyday life. Their 2021 self-titled record, Niamh, was an invigorating display of stylistic exploration, as well as storytelling through visual design. After a relocation to Brooklyn, Jack found their pocket of muses, equipment and recording techniques. The result was a batch of songs possessing as much mystical grandeur as thematic clarity. Seven of those songs comprise No Fire– perhaps their most triumphant, technicolored album to date.

As they approach their upcoming record, a name change to Darling comes in with the tide.