• The Thin Air Podcast: Laurie Shaw

    July 10, 2025 - By 

    In this episode, the final in the series, we meet Laurie Shaw. Laurie’s been producing albums at a prolific rate for many many years and in this interview, we talked about the 2022 release Sceptre, focusing on the album’s lead single ‘Captain’s Log’. A loose, swashbuckling song, ‘Captain’s Log’ gave us an opportunity to chat about Laurie’s approach to DIY recording, how he visualises his albums, and when all’s said and done – trying not to be worried about it too much. You can support Laurie’s music here: https://laurieshawofficial.bandcamp.com/ Tracklisting: 1. Captain’s Log 2. S Club Party (by S Club…

  • The Thin Air Podcast: Elaine Howley

    June 12, 2025 - By 

    After a brief, half-decade hiatus, we’re delighted to say The Thin Air podcast has returned for Season 3, hosted by Danny Carroll. This season will have a particular focus on the creative practice of self-recording artists, featuring an expanse of deeply personal approaches to the process, and the myriad ways a song – and career- can take shape. In this episode, we meet someone who has long been a TTA favourite, Elaine Howley, a singer and producer originally from Tipperary, and now based in Co. Cork. Danny Carroll went to see Elaine at her home in Dripsey, on a particularly…

  • Premiere: David Murphy & Ether Ensemble – The March of the King of Laois

    April 3, 2025 - By 

    Cork’s, and arguably Ireland’s premier pedal steel player David Murphy released one of our favourite albums of last year with debut LP Cuimhne Ghlinn: Explorations in Irish Music for Pedal Steel Guitar. A sublime collection of interpretations of traditional songs, it was another part of a growing body of work that is reshaping the role of the pedal steel away from its American roots and into global folk and contemporary music. His work has spanned soundtracks, collaborations with acclaimed Irish songwriters like The Lost Brothers, Arborist and John Blek, to versions of Led Zeppelin’s ‘The Rain Song’ and Aphex Twin’s…

  • Irish Tracks of the Week – 5th April

    April 5, 2024 - By 

    Another week, another plethora of wonderful new Irish sounds, from the likes of Oh Boland, Bricknasty, Cardinals, Pastiche, Scattered Ashes, Phil Kieran, Rory Nellis and more. Oh Boland – Here Comes The Order Of Malta Western Leisure by Oh Boland So Cow – Jesus Meets The Women EP Jesus Meets The Women EP by So Cow Bricknasty – Boyfriend ​​Search Results vs. The Daisy Chain Search Results vs. The Daisy Chain (Live in Dublin, 17th September 2023) by Search Results, The Daisy Chain Phil Kieran feat. Cynthia Sley – Out Of My Mind PKR 038 ‘Out Of My Mind’ Feat…

  • Chatting To The Cheesemonger: An Interview with Danny Carroll

    February 28, 2024 - By 

    A quintessential indie rock showman-turned-millennial songsmith in the classical mode, we have a chat with Danny Carroll ahead of the release of his solo debut LP I Am The Cheese, out this Friday. Your debut LP I Am The Cheese shares its title with a 1977 young adult fiction novel, written by Robert Cormier. Could you tell us about the poignancy of that title to yourself and this body of work? It’s a book I read when I was 12 and was pretty haunted by. The final lines of the novel refer back to the folk song ‘The Farmer In…

  • The Thin Air’s Top 100 Irish Releases of 2023

    December 20, 2023 - By 

    When we signed off our top releases of 2022 this time last year with “Your move, 2023,” we honestly couldn’t fathom what was to come. With Elaine Howley, Gilla Band, Aoife Nessa Frances and One Eye One Leg among countless heavy hitters in a truly banner twelve months, there was a sense that, for all our limitless belief in what sets us apart as an island, we had hit a bit of a peak – one to be equalled, at best, in the coming twelve months. Blessedly, how wrong we were. Lifting our collective jaw off the floor to compile…

  • A Litany of Failures: Volume IV is Announced

    August 9, 2023 - By 

    Irish compilation series A Litany of Failures, which features independent acts from all corners of the island, has just announced the pre-order and tracklisting for its fourth volume.  Set for release on double vinyl and digitally on September 8th, it’s available via Bandcamp. The compilation features 22 brand new, exclusive tracks from some of our favourite acts on the island, as well as some exciting new prospects. The double vinyl set once again features artwork by Pipe & Pallet, and the first 30 pre-orders feature a bespoke print from Belfast-based artist Phantom Powered Pixels.  The Litany of Failures series aims to document the grassroots music community…

  • Irish Tracks of the Week – 9th June

    June 9, 2023 - By 

    Honestly, how is it not Bandcamp Friday? Delve into the best Irish tracks and releases of the week from Problem Patterns, Chubby Cat, Aoife Wolf, The Low Field, Slouch, Brand New Friend, Akrobat, Mineral Stunting and more Problem Patterns – Letter of Resignation Chubby Cat – 21st Century Panic Attack The Low Field – ‘Heaviness/Tachycardia’ Heaviness / Tachycardia by The Low Field Aoife Wolf – A Ringing in the Ear Slouch – I Get What’s Mine Akrobat – Air Station 2.0 Brand New Friend – Talk It Out Ezra Williams – Skin Sprints – Adore Adore Adore Trophy Wife –…

  • Video Premiere: Slouch – I Get What’s Mine

    June 7, 2023 - By 

    Rising tides, self-help gurus, pricey new age answers to the unanswerable, unfettered capitalism, shitposting, a new video from Slouch; these are the harbingers of end times. Out today – and directed by Hugh Cannon – the video for their odyssey on the alpha male phenomenon, ‘I Get What’s Mine’ is a maelstrom of all of the above and more. It channels the likes of Ween and Brainiac, condensed into the kind of omni-layered satirical slacker noise they’ve near enough mastered. Long one of the most interesting bands operating in the Irish indie rock sphere, Dublin quartet Slouch have been working away behind closed doors on new material,…

  • Hamer Place Releases Debut Single ‘A Tribute To Tina’

    May 5, 2023 - By 

    As a member of Postcard Versions, Safe Neighbourhood, and Oh Boland, Ross Hamer’s place in the furniture of Dublin indie rock furniture is fairly well cemented. Enter new project Hamer Place and debut single ‘A Tribute To Tina’, another joyous guitar-led nugget brimming with all the immediacy you’d come to expect from him. Led by Hamer, the band features David Tapley, Hugh O’Dwyer and Neil Dexter, and was recorded by O’Dwyer in Hodland Studio earlier this year. On ‘Tribute To Tina’, Ross told us: “I’ve written lots of songs in my life, mostly miserable ones, but recently I felt like a change. Inspired by some of the greatest musicians of…