'The Art Of Pretending To Swim' is the exquisite fourth studio album from Villagers. It was written, produced, mixed and primarily performed by Conor O'Brien in his Dublin studio.

A reflective and warm record, 'The Art Of Pretending To Swim' finds O'Brien musing on the cycle of faith – faith in love, faith in life, faith in art, faith in release - and Ada Lovelace, surrounded by a sonic palette reflecting the rapidly changing technology-centred dystopia in which we find ourselves.

O'Brien has a string of accolades under his belt including two Ivor Novello Awards (the most recent been 2016's Album Award for Darling Arithmetic), two Mercury Music Prize nominations and is also a previous winner of Ireland's Choice Music Prize.

Additionally, Villagers' music recently featured in the high profile HBO drama 'Big Little Lies,' Conor has collaborated with the composer Nico Muhly (that track featuring in the forthcoming Paulo Sorrentino Berlusconi biopic 'Loro 2') and Villagers' Spotify session of 'Nothing Arrived' has hit over 100 million streams.