Villagers is Conor O'Brien and friends, hailing from a tiny hamlet called Dublin, tucked away in Irish country. O'Brien's debut album as Villagers, Becoming a Jackal, is out June 8 from Domino Records, and the community couldn't be happier.

Only recently did Villagers hit US soil -- playing shows in NYC and at SXSW -- but O'Brien has been making a name for himself since 2009, when Villagers released their first EP, Hollow Kind, on Any Other City (Villagers' drummer's label. Villagers really are insular, aren't they?). Over in Europe, Villagers have toured as support for huge names like Neil Young and Tracy Chapman, in addition to booking TV spots (they might as well do Ed Sullivan -- or, well, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, at least).

It seems Young rubbed off on O'Brien, who has also drawn comparisons to David Axelrod, Robert Wyatt, and a number of pensively melancholy singer/songwriters like Rufus Wainwright and Paul Simon.

If The Hidden Cameras stripped-down their sound and traded Joel Gibb for a baritone version of Moz dressed in a David Byrne-esque First Communion-style white suit, the result would be The Homophone