• The Nyahh made me do it: an interview with Willie Stewart

    This interview originally appeared in The Thin Air’s summer 2022 print edition It’s spring in Leitrim. The sky is full of birdsong, trees and plants are coming back to life, and Willie Stewart has been mixing cement. Alongside his partner, the sound artist Natalia Beylis, he’s converting his backyard and old stone outbuildings into what he describes as a “future habitat for creative explorations”.  The pair’s life revolves around these explorations, which they frequently let out into the world via shared and respective projects. Both are members of the experimental psych band Woven Skull, and have a wide array of…

  • Galway’s Áras na nGael to host jungle and drum & bass weekender with Rua Sound

    Galway-based jungle and drum & bass label Rua Sound is hosting a special two-day event at Áras na nGael in October. The label, which was launched in Galway by Cormac McMahon and Rob Flynn in 2015, has released music by some of the most respected names in underground jungle and drum & bass, including Sully, Sun People and Tim Reaper. Now, for their debut weekender, the crew are hosting a selection of these international acts alongside a line-up of Irish talent between Friday 14th October through Saturday 15th.  International acts on the bill include Arcane, Henry Greenleaf, Itoa, Sully and…

  • Trick Mist releases new album, The Hedge Maze and The Spade, on Pizza Pizza Records

    Trick Mist has released his second album, The Hedge Maze and The Spade, via Dundalk’s Pizza Pizza Records. Listen below.  The Cork-based Louth native’s personal brand of experimental folk is fleshed out across these 10 tracks, evolving on the lush electronic manipulations, violin loops and introspective songwriting of his 2018 debut, Both Ends. Where that album was created in a period of flux for the artist, written partly during his travels across India and South-East Asia, and amidst his relocation to Cork, the inspirations for this new collection are tied to more internal concerns, and are rooted in memory.   The…

  • IMMA Nights to host event celebrating Black women and non-binary people in electronic music

    The Irish Museum of Modern Art will host a special event celebrating the role of Black women and non-binary people in the evolution of dance music this week.  Taking place on Thursday 1st September as part of the IMMA Nights series, the free event will explore the often undervalued contributions of Black women and non-binary people throughout the history of dance music – as DJs, producers, promoters, dancers and vocalists – from its origins in cities like Chicago and Detroit in the ‘80s to its global status today. Featuring talks, film and music, the evening has been co-programmed by Ashley…

  • Inbound: Henry Earnest

    Photography: Kate Lawlor “Who knows where the water will take you,” whispers Jenn Dreamcycles in ‘Water’, the opening track from Dublin artist Henry Earnest’s recent album, Dream River. Speaking over glittering ambient keys and gently lapping field recordings, her narration sets the tone for an album that marries bedroom indie rock with euphoric hyperpop production and blissful, cinematic compositions. Across seven tracks, Earnest wades gracefully into life’s unpredictability, and embraces a fully natural creative flow that can be heard in every note.  Earnest has been making music since he was about 14. An affiliate of the Herzog TV collective, his…

  • Irish Tracks of the Week – 24th June

    The best tracks released across the island this week, all in one place​​ God Knows feat. Jah Master – Twelve 61 Cormorant Tree Oh – The Cave The Cave by Cormorant Tree Oh Michael Mormecha – Kraken Eoin Dolan – Hare Island Kate Moore – Cronachdain Suil Sun Mahshene – Closing Circles EP Closing Circles EP by Sun Mahshene jena keating – Nobody Can Have Me Trick Mist – Flagbearer Talos – All Ours The Barbiturates – False Idols False Idols (Single) by The Barbiturates Daire Heffernan – Wasters EP Mount Pelier – Sunday Sunday by Mount Pelier Love Command…

  • Irish Tracks of the Week – 27th May

      This week sees the release of anticipated albums from Just Mustard and Wallis Bird, sensational singles from the likes of EFÉ and Sorcha Richardson, some great music videos and a whole lot more Just Mustard – Seed Heart Under by Just Mustard EFÉ – LIME Sorcha Richardson – Archie Wallis Bird – I Lose Myself Completely MuRli feat. Jafaris – Rocks MOXIE – Kaki Travi The Native – ishouldbesleeping Big Love – SIRENS Oisin Mod – Honeycomb The Heathen Choir – The Raging Song Revolution Above Disorder – Annihilator Annihilator by REVOLUTION ABOVE DISORDER Kilgour – Set It Alight

  • Video Premiere: Henry Earnest – “Free”

    Dublin dream pop artist Henry Earnest has shared a new music video for “Free”. Check it out below.  It’s the second video to be shared from Earnest’s recent album, Dream River,  following December’s visualiser for ‘Trouble feat. Banríon’. “Free” is directed by Dublin-based photographer, cinematographer and visual director Sophie O’Donovan.  In it, we see Earnest on a stage, bathed in pastel-hued pink and blue light, dancing next to a street lamp beneath a glowing moon. Simultaneously subtle and radiant, the video captures the atmosphere of Dream River perfectly. Self-released in February, the seven-track album blends lo-fi bedroom indie pop a…

  • Inbound: Ricky Chong

    There’s something genuinely refreshing about Ricky Chong. The Sligo-based DJ and producer mixes house and disco records with a deft hand, digging deep for radiant cuts that stomp and soar with NRG, funk and soul. A resident at Sligo’s Faint club night as well as Dublin’s The Big Romance, he’s been building his profile for a couple of years now, but his love for music that kicks and swings stretches back to his childhood. Growing up, his dad’s collection was a treasure trove of jazz, funk, disco and sounds from around the world such as Oscar Peterson’s We Get Requests,…

  • Irish Tracks of the Week – January 21st

    January is setting an exhilarating pace for the rest of 2022, and this week has been no different. Here’s our round-up of the best Irish music to drop in the past seven days Pillow Queens – Be By Your Side Silverbacks – Archive Material Archive Material by Silverbacks Dublin – Dublin Dublin by Dublin Inni-K – Éamonn an Chnoic Iníon by Inni-K Jonathan Deasy – Praxis Praxis by Jonathan Deasy D*mp, Curtisy – EP OF SORTS REVOLUTION ABOVE DISORDER – Scream Quietly Scream Quietly by REVOLUTION ABOVE DISORDER AIS – Freedom Junk Drawer – Tears In Costa Niall Brennan –…