• Premiere: Boyfrens – Almost Live in Tengu

    October 21, 2021 - By 

    Dublin electro-pop artist Jack Hevey ventured out as Boyfrens just before the world began to shut down early last year. As a result – and no thanks to a whole heap of governmental incompetence as of late – he has yet had a chance to air his material to a real-world audience. With that reality firmly in mind, Hevey teamed up with Owen Costello of Substance Media to produce a 20-minute live performance at Dublin venue Tengu in early summer this year. Performing to an incredibly intimate audience of 10, the set was brought to life via director of photography Sean…

  • NI Music Prize Set For Ulster Hall

    October 19, 2021 - By 

    This year’s Northern Ireland Music Prize will return to Belfast’s Ulster Hall next month. Due to COVID-19, last year’s event was broadcast online. Now, due to an easing of restrictions, the annual prize will return to the iconic venue on Wednesday, November 17. “It has been a long and challenging twelve months for musicians,” said Charlotte Dryden of the Oh Yeah Music Centre, organisers of the annual award. “That is why this year is such an important coming together, not just to celebrate the great wealth of talent that has produced world-class records throughout the pandemic, but also to thank and let…

  • Full Capacity Indoor Seated Events Set For NI Venues

    September 27, 2021 - By 

    The Northern Irish executive has tonight announced a relaxation of social distancing, while will allow NI’s music venues, theatres and conference venues to host full capacity indoor seated events from 6pm on Thursday, September 30. With 100% capacity live events to be allowed both indoors and outdoors in the Republic from October 22, the news has come as a relief to venue owners and gig-goers in the north. “We welcome the NI Executive’s decision to remove Social Distancing for indoor seated venues,” said Joe Dougan of the Limelight. “This is a progressive step which will enable many businesses to get back…

  • Premiere: Peter Sumadh – Parting Wounds

    September 16, 2021 - By 

    Over the last few years, Belfast-based singer-songwriter Peter Sumadh has set out his stall under the moniker The Mad Dalton. Releases such as ‘Timebomb’, ‘Skeleton Waltz’ and 2018 LP Open Season found him carve out a consistently rewarding niche in a saturated alt-folk scene in the North. Today, Sumadh makes a break, and ventures out under his name to present his strongest single to date, ‘Parting Wounds’. Accompanying by a sublime video courtesy of Belfast videographer Richard Davis, it’s an entrancing, wonderfully woven effort that confronts disunion and the power of moving on. Recorded by Mojo Fury’s Michael Mormecha at Tree Song…

  • Monday Mixtape: Pretty Happy

    August 23, 2021 - By 

    Fast-rising Cork art-rock threesome Pretty Happy guide us through some of their all-time favourite songs, from Pixies and Ought, to Surburan Lawns and William S Burroughs. Five Go Down to The Sea? – There’s a Fish on Top of Shandon Swears He’s Elvis   This weird gem of a song shows how weird the five go down lads got with their arranging. A classic track, one that’s loud enough to grab your attention and textured enough to play again and again. Five go Down’s experimentation with form really made us look at the way we arrange our own songs. Janitor…

  • Premiere: No Oil Paintings – What Good Does It Do

    August 20, 2021 - By 

    Off the back of a storming set at Stendhal Festival last weekend, acclaimed Belfast Americana/alt-folk act quartet No Oil Paintings have returned strongest single to date. Capturing the Chris Kelly-fronted foursome at their most emphatic and earworming, ‘What Good Does It Do’ was self-recorded at Half Bap Recording Studios, mixed by Ben McAuley and mastered by Dan Coutant at Sun Room Audio Mastering in New York. Speaking about the track, which is taken from the band’s forthcoming debut album, Kelly said: “The song is a personal admission of the futility of one’s own anger and frustration. An enraged and impassioned plea for better temperament, delivered sonically…

  • Irish Tracks of the Week – 13th August

    August 13, 2021 - By 

    It’s time to take another look at the latest Irish tracks this week with some phenomenal releases from the likes of Wyvern Lingo & Loah, Brontis, Klubber Lang, Soulé, Sarah Toner, Cruel Sister and more. Wyvern Lingo & Loah – Just a Girl Klubber Lang – Sleep Well Sleep Well by KLUBBER LANG Sarah Toner – You’re Not Thinking of Me Cabin – Evil Directions Cabin · Evil Directions Brontis – Pirates of the Mycelium Pirates of the Mycelium by Brontis Soulé – Queenish Loraine Club – Starting Now Niamh Regan – Happy Again Happy Again by Niamh Regan Cruel…

  • Irish Tracks of the Week – July 30th

    July 30, 2021 - By 

    From right across the island, here’s the very best Irish tracks of the week, featuring Meljoann, Malaki, Bicurious, Mano Le Tough, John Francis Flynn, JJ Bloom, Delacy and more. Meljoann – I Quit I Quit (single) by Meljoann Malaki – Head Highs Bicurious – I Can Hear Them Too Mano Le Tough – Together CARSTEN2X – Beaucoup John Francis Flynn – ‘Bring Me Home, pt. ii: I Would Not Live Always JJ Bloom – Cool Kids Oscar Blue – Backyard Mafia Delacy – Rewind

  • Video Premiere: Neil Brogan – New Development

    July 30, 2021 - By 

    As frontman of Sea Pinks, Belfast’s Neil Brogan established – and consistently re-established – himself as one of the island’s most distinctive songwriting voices. On albums such as Dreaming Tracks and Soft Days, he delivered nuanced, sun-bleached indie-pop sound and made it sound effortless. Last year, Brogan ventured out solo with Life Itself, a stellar four-track EP, and Weird Year, a collection of demos with all the markings of an artist at his peak. Taken from his recent album – and one of the Irish albums of the year at that – Magnolia Day, new single ‘New Development’ distils this fact down to exactly…

  • First Acts Announced For Another Love Story 2022

    July 16, 2021 - By 

    Consistently one of Ireland’s most well-curated festivals, Another Love Story has announced the first selection of artists set to play next year’s edition. The 2022 edition is set to return to the rolling meadows and cosy corners of Killyon Manor, Co. Meath, on August 19th-21st, and the first names seem a positive indicator for the kind of tastefully-selected eclecticism typically on display at the festival. Set to play are legendary Manchester selector, event creator & personality Luke Una, emerging Irish composer & singer-songwriter Rachael Lavelle, Berghain regular Barker, Choice Prize nominee Niamh Regan, live electronics from Leipzig’s Map.Ache, and Cork psych outfit The Altered Hours. Tickets are on sale now and available here, priced…