• Watch: Enemies – Play Fire

    Last month, we featured a special The Record feature documenting the recording of ‘Play Fire’, the sublime new track by Kilcoole math-pop maestros Enemies. Their first release in two (long) years, it sees the band concoct one of their most wonderfully cohesive, deftly arranged and downright catchy tracks to date. Speaking of the single – taken from their forthcoming third studio album – Enemies’ guitarist Lewis Jackson said, “It was this idea of getting as far away from our comfort zone as possible, without losing what makes us Enemies.” And how they’ve succeeded. Watch Finn Keenan’s video for the song below.

  • The Record: Enemies

    When we get to see a band on stage it’s hard to reverse engineer the process and think about how and why the performers got there. On stage it’s about performance and precision. Some swagger, some sway but what they all have in common is the process. The particulars may vary but they’ve all engaged in the craft. Whether solo or sextet, singer-songwriter or composer they’ve all started with a melody, the faintest whisps of an idea or, maybe, nothing at all. It’s a process that Enemies, playful math-rock maestros that they are, take very seriously. Over the space of…

  • Watch: MAU – Original

    Former Kidd Blunt and current Enemies guitarist Eoin Whitfield issues forth an earworm with his MAU project (fka Spread It Across the Sky) today through HeavyweightPR (seemingly stepping in on release as well as publicity). Featuring a vivid promo video by vibes.ie, and hooks aplenty, it’s a further step in a bold new direction for a man equally versed in heft and melody. Sez the press release: MAU is the new disguise for Wicklow based producer Eoin Whitfield. Eoin has been involved in the Irish music scene for over a decade, from heavily influential melodic hardcore band Kidd Blunt, to his current…

  • AAA: Enemies @ Olympia Theatre, Dublin

    For this particular AAA (Access All Areas) we met with Enemies and got an exclusive access into the preparations for their supporting gig with The Antlers in the Olympia Theatre, Dublin. Our photographer Cashel O’Toole spent the evening documenting them loading in gear, setting up, soundchecking and chilling out ahead of the gig. Check out the gallery below for more.

  • “That’s a great song… but who is it about?”

    “That’s a great song… but who is it about?” I’m sure at some stage you’ve scratched your head pondering over just who your favourite Irish bands named certain songs after. Well, you’re in for a treat! The Thin Air have gone straight to the sources and asked ‘who the hell is that?’ so you don’t have to. You may or may not recognize some of the people above, but we can assure you that’s these faces were inspiring enough to have a song penned especially about them. We’ve also compiled a Spotify playlist of our ten favourite songs about these…

  • Stream: Enemies – Embrace, Embark remix EP

    Kilcoole math-rock three-piece Enemies have released a remix EP of tracks taken from their second full length studio album, Embrace, Embark. Released by Heavyweight Records, it features six rather tidy re-imaginings of the likes of ‘Love Unlimited’ and ‘Nighthawks’ by Eoin Whitfield AKA SIATS and James Eager AKA itsallwaves. The original album – the follow-up to the band’s debut album, We’ve Been Talking – was released in May last year. Speaking about the release, Lewis Jackson from the band said, “We wanted to find a way of celebrating the year anniversary of Embark, Embrace. That might come across as a little self indulgent but we all…

  • The Thin Air’s Top 100 Irish Tracks of 2013 (50-35)

    With 2014 fast approaching, we’re very itchy underfoot to wrap up our countdown of our top 100 Irish songs of 2013. A veritable wealth of great music of practically every shade of genre featured in the first and second installments of the list and we very much continue on that trend on from tracks #50 to #35. Check back next week for tracks #34 to #1 and have a very merry festive period from us in the meantime! 50. Linebacker Dirge – Words Are Missing Fronted by Jason Gibson, Belfast-based alt-rock quartet Linebacker Dirge are comprised of members of bands including…

  • Instatour: Enemies

    Having first played a two-week tour in Japan five years ago supporting none other than toe, Co. Wicklow four-piece Enemies give us a peek into their recent, seemingly very fun tour of Asia in the latest installment of Instatour.