• The Thin Air’s Top 100 Irish Tracks of 2020 (#100-51)

    December 16, 2020 - By 

    Ah, 2020 eh? Unless you were living off the grid in a self-made banana bread house whilst rocking yourself gently to various iterations of ‘Happy Birthday’ as you washed your hands, then you will know that despite collectively living through the pandemic there were plenty of Irish songs to get excited about. 100 to be precise. We’ve listened to them on repeat since we couldn’t attend gigs, raves, or house parties so we’re certain we’ve selected the finest this little locked down island has to offer. It’s safe to say this year epitomised the true meaning of community in this country…

  • Ciaran Lavery and Joshua Burnside Announce Double A-Side

    November 30, 2020 - By 

    Two of the north’s most acclaimed singer-songwriters, Ciaran Lavery and Joshua Burnside have teamed up for a double A-Side. Raising funds for homelessness charity Welcome Organisation, the Northern Ireland Music Prize winners and friends have come together to re-invent a pair of tracks by Blaze Foley and David Lynch, ‘True Love’s Flame’ and ‘If I Could Only Fly’. In a statement, Ciaran Lavery said, “With the pandemic being a primary focus worldwide, I felt this was an appropriate time to remind people about the plight of homelessness that continues to exist, and the fantastic and selfless work that charities like the…

  • One of These Albums Will Win The NI Music Prize Tonight

    November 12, 2020 - By 

    Much like the RTÉ Choice Music Prize every year, the annual Northern Ireland Music Prize is almost always too close to call. This year is no different. Going online for the first time due to social distancing restrictions, this year’s shortlist is a luminous, no-filler reflection of the state of independent music in the North right now. From the Americana-tinged alt-folk of Mark McCambridge aka Arborist to the considered electronica of Phil Kieran; the shapeshifting indie rock of Belfast threesome Careerist, to the ruminative pop of Kitt Philippa, it’s a list that also features stellar albums from Our Krypton Son, Herb…

  • Irish Tracks of the Week – September 11th

    September 11, 2020 - By 

    From right across the island, here’s the very best Irish tracks of the week, featuring Róisín Murphy, Ciaran Lavery, Æ MAK, Ailbhe Reddy, Sam Comerford, Arvo Party and more Róisín Murphy – Something More (Soulwax Remix) Æ MAK – wedding day Ciaran Lavery – Count To Ten (CUT-Remix) Ailbhe Reddy – Looking Happy For Those I Love – I Have a Love Sam Comerford – Last Light Out Stillorgan by Thunderblender Arvo Party – God Is In The Window  Somebody’s Child – We Could Start a War (Le Boom Remix) Rebekah Fitch – Dust Gareth Dunlop – In a Hundred Years

  • Stendhal Festival Unveil First Names For Unlocked Part 1

    July 4, 2020 - By 

    The first line-up announcement for the first-ever socially distant music festival in the history of Northern Ireland has been revealed. The first in a five-part series, Stendhal Unlocked part 1 will, pending the go-ahead in terms of COVID-19 restrictions, welcome the likes of And So I Watch You From Afar (pictured), Ciaran Lavery, Malojian, Amy Montgomery, ROE, Kíla, Ryan McMullan and many other artists to Ballymully Cottage in Limavady on August 21 and 22. Check out the current line-up for Part 1 below. With the second part of the line-up for event one, and the first half of the line-up for the second…

  • Ciaran Lavery Announces New LP, Unveils ‘Count To Ten’

    March 27, 2020 - By 

    Not exactly one to rest on his laurels, TTA favourite Ciaran Lavery has been extra busy as of late. Quite likely the only musician from the small Co. Antrim parish of Aghagallon currently active and based in Brighton, the 33-year-old has just revealed details of his forthcoming fourth album, Plz Stay, bb. The follow-up to 2018’s inspired Sweet Decay, it is, we are reliably informed, a full-length release bearing the imprint of everything from Thom Yorke’s The Eraser and Mitski’s Be The Cowboy to Beastie Boys classic Ill Communication. To accompany the news, Lavery has unveiled easily one of his compelling singles to date. Bolstered by…

  • Stream: Ciaran Lavery – Can I Begin Again

    January 27, 2020 - By 

    Over the last few years, Ciaran Lavery has proven himself to be, in both song and approach, much more than your cut-and-dry, run-of-the-mill singer-songwriter. The globetrotting Northern Irish artist’s gestation as a songwriting voice, from the days of his old band, Captain Kennedy, via albums such as Sweet Decay and Let Bad In, right up until the present moment has been nothing short of remarkable. All along the way, his clear reluctance to kowtow to expectation has informed easily one of the most colourful and consistently rewarding trajectories of any Irish solo artist in recent years. Lavery’s new single ‘Can…

  • NI Music Prize Line-Up Announced

    September 20, 2018 - By 

    The nominated artists set to play this year’s Northern Ireland Music Prize have been announced. Previous winner Ciaran Lavery, Brand New Friend, The Wood Burning Savages, Hannah Peel, Ryan Vail (featuring the Arco String Quartet) and Roe will perform at the event, which takes place at Belfast’s Ulster Hall on Thursday, November 11. The event host is Rigsy (BBC Radio Ulster), with the winners of all four categories to be announced by special guests on the night. The evening will end with an after party at Limelight 2. Charlotte Dryden of Oh Yeah said: “After five fantastic years at the…

  • Ciaran Lavery – Sweet Decay

    January 30, 2018 - By 

    From inauspicious beginnings in Aghagallon, one of Northern Ireland’s most talented and celebrated songwriters, Ciaran Lavery, has announced details of third album. Launched in Belfast’s Empire Music Hall on the same day, Sweet Decay is released on April 13, following on from his 2016 NI Music Prize-winning LP, Let Bad In. Totting up well over 80 million streams on Spotify, he’s one of our most poetically-gifted singer-songwriters, not to mention one of the most wilfully eclectic. As well as scattering soul, hip-hop or R&B on top of what was once a bread & butter strain of heartfelt, earnest indie-folk & chamber-pop, his short collaborative album with electronic producer Ryan Vail won high…

  • Stream: Ciaran Lavery – Everything Is Made To Last

    July 28, 2017 - By 

    If you’ve been in any familiar with what we’ve done over the last few years, you’ll know that we have a lot of time for Aghagallon’s Ciaran Lavery. A rare breed of artist who navigates sorrow, wanderlust, love and the borderline mystical hidden spaces that both join and keep us apart, his music comes from a place of a potent grasp of the human condition. Having been zig-zagging around the continent playing shows over the last few months, his new single ‘Everything Is Made To Last’ is a four-minute distillation of what has made all previous efforts so profoundly listenable. Triumphant…