• EP Premiere: Naoise Roo – Sick Girlfriend

    With singles drip-fed over the course of the last year, we’ve been patiently anticipating the extended follow-up to Naoise Roo‘s masterful debut album Lilith for some time now. Finally, with the cosmos’ on-brand sense of blackly comic timing very much in tact, the Sick Girlfriend EP is out tomorrow. A fully-formed statement that, across just four snapshots, embraces life in all its ugliness and challenges the accountable norms within the industry. Alongside producer Liam Mulvaney, bassist Daniel Fox & Rian Trench on drums & synth, she ably treads the line between emotionally-driven textural experimentation without forgoing her ability to create gargantuan introvert’s pop banger. Much like the subversive, zeitgeist-capturing album of 2020 in Fiona Apple’s Fetch…

  • Premiere: Naoise Roo – Falling Stars

    Dublin’s Naoise Roo creates a world unlike any other in 2019 Ireland – atmospheric electronics lay alongside towering, glacial electric guitars brimming with portent, driven & controlled by Nick Cave-esque astromancy by Roo’s unmistakably beguiling chanteuse vocal. We adored her 2015 debut LP, Lilith, and recently, she’s been gradually rolling out material from her forthcoming Sick Girlfriend EP, after a break from the Irish music scene. Its second single ‘Falling Stars’ directly addresses that issue, and that of mental health in the music industry at large, in a slow-burning gratification that’s more than worth its delay. Produced by Liam Mulvaney, with Roo backed by Rian Trench on drums, Daniel Fox on bass & guitarist Karl Tobin. Tomorrow night – Thursday, November 14…

  • A Litany of Failures Announce Volume III and Fundraising Gig

    After triumphant failures in 2018 and 2016, A Litany Of Failures – an independent, cross-border compilation series featuring the best in alternative Irish music – is back.  Ahead of another double-vinyl release in July 2020, A Litany Of Failures is curating a series of fundraiser gigs around Ireland. These will feature the curdled cream of the indie scene, with the first gig taking place on Friday 25th October in JaJa Studios in Stoneybatter, Dublin 7.  A BYOB show, music on the night comes from Belfast indie psych quartet Junk Drawer – check out their NI Music Prize-nominated single ‘Year of the Sofa‘ – the Paddy Hanna fronted…

  • Naoise Roo & Special Guests @ Project Arts Centre, Dublin

    In a small room known as The Cube within Temple Bar’s Project Art Centre, a small, excited audience has gathered for a live preview of a new EP from singer-songwriter Naoise Roo. Having taken a break from performing, this is the first performance the Dublin native has given in quite some time. There is no grand entrance, no spectacle, Roo and co. simply and quite humbly walk on stage. There is a round of applause, copious whoops, hollers and howls before the crowd settles and Roo begins the show with a short introduction. Even during this introduction, Roo’s charisma shines.…

  • Naoise Roo Set To Return With Night of Music, Art, Theatre & Spoken Word

    Long one of our favourite songwriters & artists on the island, Naoise Roo has been on an extended hiatus for the last couple of years. Thankfully, she’s just announced her return EP, Sick Girlfriend, and is set to hold her first show in a number of years at Dublin’s Project Arts Centre on May 4. The show will serve as a preview of the EP, with Sick Girlfriend‘s four tracks centred around themes of depression, the negative aspects of the music industry, and the stereotypes that burden women experiencing mental illness. Roo will be joined by producer/bassist Daniel Fox of Girl Band, as well as drummer Rian Trench, guitarist Karl Tobin and…

  • Video Premiere: Naoise Roo – Almost Perfect

    Having left a considerable dent with her A Cappella cover of Roy Orbison’s ‘Crying’ back in March, Dublin chanteuse Naoise Roo is back with ‘Almost Perfect’, the fourth single from her exceptional debut album, Lilith. Launched last night in Dublin, the song is a masterfully melancholic and brilliantly candid insight into the mind of the artist, who has teamed up with Cork-based visual artist and filmmaker Chris O’Neill for the release. O’Neill – whose stripped-back, lo-fi visuals elevates the single to a whole new soul-baring realm – said: “Lilith is, in my opinion, amongst the finest albums released by an Irish artist in recent…

  • Stream: Naoise Roo – Crying (Roy Orbison Cover – A Cappella)

    Sometimes, stripping songs back to their pure, elemental basis reveals something uniquely special. A point in case can be found with Dublin chanteuse par excellence Naoise Roo’s a cappella cover of Roy Orbison’s timeless ‘Crying’. Recorded at a #strikeforrepeal fundraiser last weekend, the rendition – which sees Roo’s exquisite vocal poise command gleam into sharp focus under three minutes – is simultaneously stoic and strong; meditative and utterly defiant. Released yesterday as part of yesterday’s Strike For Repeal takeover, stream the track – recorded by Gav Hennessy -below.