With his highly-anticipated second album, Love & Hate, set for release via Polydor on May 27, Michael Kiwanuka has announced that he will return to Ireland this Autumn to play shows at Belfast’s Limelight 2 on Friday, October 14 and Dublin’s Academy on Saturday, October 15. Tickets for both shows on sale this Friday, April 8 at 9am priced £15 + BF and €22.00+ respectively. Check out new Kiwanuka single, Black Man In A White World, below.
Set to headline the second installment of Psykick Dancehall – our new Dublin night with Medium Presents at Bello Bar – tonight, Laura Sheeran has unveiled the video for her first single in four years, ‘Light a Fire’. Very aptly accompanied by its DIY, decidedly spectral video, the track wields space and texture in extraordinary fashion, with sparse beats and cloistered, portentous vocals dancing subtle shamanistic patterns across four minutes confronting fervid recollection and the workings of memory in the death and dying of love. Sheeran plays alongside BAD BONES and Katharine Philippa tonight. Event page here.
Having had an exceptional inaugural outing last year (check out our review right here) Belfast electronic festival AVA will return to T13 on Saturday, June 4 with the very solid aim of celebrating and nurturing talent from across the length and breadth of the country. With more yet to be revealed, Detroit techno pioneer Juan Atkins, DJ and writer Dave Haslam, Belfast’s Bicep, Association of Electronic Music director Mark Lawrence, Shanti Celeste (pictured), Lizzy Bowman, Halina Wielogorska, Sarah McBriar, Ableton, Pioneer, Native Instruments, Belfast Underground Records are amongst the first names confirmed to take part in panels, talks, workshops and sessions throughout the day.…
With the likes of Floating Points, Mercury Rev and Sun Kil Moon already announced, the second wave of acts have been revealed for this year’s Body & Soul Festival. Set to return to Ballinlough Castle in Co. Westmeath during the Summer Solstice Weekend of June 17-19, The Gloaming, Hudson Mohawke, Neon Indian (pictured above), Optimo, Gold Panda, Bleeding Heart Pigeons, David August, Brian Deady and Holly Macve are the latest acts to join the bill. Check out the current line-up below and go here to buy tickets.
As you might well know by now, Dublin instrumental six-piece Overhead, The Albatross don’t exactly to things by halves. A visual epic (we never use that word, so you know we mean it) traversing countless locations and individuals, the video for their new single ‘Indie Rose’ is a slow-burning, wonderfully shot accompaniment- directed by Luke Daly and produced by Bold Puppy that masterfully mirrors the impassioned, increasingly purposeful drive of their music. ‘Indie Rose’ is the opening track from Overhead The Albatross’ forthcoming debut album, Learning to Growl, which is released on May 13.
Last October we were very impressed by ‘A Change’ by Dublin-based musician Stephen Tiernan AKA Participant. Smitten by the track’s “curious, otherworld charm”, our verdict could well be – and is, in fact – equally applicable to his new single, ‘Leave Me Here’, a wonderfully nuanced effort traversing more brooding, inward-looking territory for the artist. An sublime outtake from his November, 2015 EP Content, Tiernan said, “[Its] lyrical ideas had served as the blueprint for Content for a long time. A fear of progress and happiness, the idea that you might need to struggle as an artist. I shouldn’t have been surprised when…
Having delivered a blinding set as part of our Output showcase with Nialler9 back in February, Belfast’s exmagician also featured as one of our 16 For ’16 acts back in early January. Re-launching from the embers of Cashier No. 9, Danny Todd, James Smith and co. fully command in their psych-soaked, decidedly mesmerizing indie rock realm more than ever before, a fact perfectly illuminated on their debut album, Scan The Blue, which is released via Bella Union today. Buy it here and stream it in full via Spotify below.
In a short amount of time BAD BONES (Dublin-based producer Sal Stapelton) has carved out both a unique and mysterious sound and image. Her eerie, infectious beats and experimental-pop composition style have earned her comparisons to FKA Twigs, Arca, Maya Jane Coles and Robyn. At the same time her video work has cultivated a minimalist, yet enigmatic image. Her new single ‘LANG’ gives us a new glimpse into the dark and beautiful netherworld that Bad Bones seems to inhabit. The track takes its title and integral samples from David Lang’s piece ‘I Lie’ (written for the unforgettable opening Paolo Sorrentino’s…
Having successfully completed a pledge campaign to ensure the release of his forthcoming debut album, For Every Silence, Derry musician Ryan Vail is streaming one of its highlights, ‘Mirrors’. An all-too-brief, electro-ambient effort recalling the Jon Hopkins at his most reticent, balmy beats and broad washes of synth entangle over the track’s three odd minutes, acting as a bed upon Vail’s spoken omnipresence firmly takes centre-stage. You can still pre-order For Every Silence via Vail’s pledge page here.
“All too often, women are stuck in a vicious cycle of low self-esteem, depression, eating disorders, sexual harassment and addiction as a result of negative gender stereotypes and body image oppression enforced by the patriarchal system and the media. As the dust settles on another Paddy’s day we have had a taste of what is to come as the days grow longer. This video depicts a snapshot of an inebriated adventure around a sunny Dublin city. The song is like the stream of thought of the wild spirit who tries to negotiate the issues related to this cycle within the confines…