• Premiere: Joshua Burnside – REarranged (Lyrics Video)

    Last month, Belfast-based singer-songwriter Joshua Burnside released one of the Irish EPs of the year thus far, the understated and masterfully candid All Round The Light Said. ‘REarranged’ was a highlight from the release, and now the track has a brand new lyric video courtesy of Blue Americans‘ Kris Platt. A bold visual accompaniment featuring the uncanny transposition of archive footage, it reframes Burnside’s words, which mine memory backwashed thoughts like very few others can. Have an exclusive first look below.  

  • Premiere: A Ritual Sea – Seasons (Like You)

    Set to be launched at Dublin’s Drop Dead Twice on August 9, ‘Seasons (Just Like You)’ finds A Ritual Sea mining pure inspiration from dream-pop, shoegaze and indie textures. The second single to be taken from the Dublin band’s forthcoming debut album – which is expected to arrive in early 2019 – the song explores the themes of fear, paranoia and falling in love, asking, as the band puts it, |if we ever really fully know another person; navigating the slow unveiling of our true personalities – changeable, unpredictable, and ever-shifting.” Filmed by Fabian Chombart in Lioux, a region in the South…

  • Premiere: Dugout – Ride

    One of several acts set to play the first ever Coaster in Portrush next Friday (July 20), Dugout are a new-fangled Belfast-based quartet whose debut single is a statement of intent. An earworming three-minute blast of Cuomo-conjuring indie-rock, the Ryan McGroarty-mixed, Rocky O’Reilly-engineered ‘Ride’ was, in the band’s own words, written about “that terrible job that we’ve all had.” Sealing the deal on the single is its video. Shot by Ciara McMullan and edited by Brendan Seamus aka BeeMickSee, it was filmed on location at Belfast venue Voodoo and features Dugout giving us a little preview of what to expect from their…

  • Stream: DANI – Samson and Goliath

    A multi-instrumentalist with a remarkable knack for eking out sublime, burrowing melodies evocative of Irish traditional music, Belfast-based singer-songwriter DANI has returned with ‘Samson and Goliath’, a three-minute gem of pastoral alt-folk exploring the concept of “disconnection and being unable to recognise oneself.” Having spent last year facilitating music workshops and performing in Colombia and Indonesia, namely working in the field of conflict transformation, this is the sound of a musician who is renewed and ready to take her rightful place in being recognised as one of the island’s most singular alt-folk talents. Listen to the single – and check out its artwork – below.…

  • Premiere: Peter J. McCauley – Where Do We Belong

    We last heard from Belfast singer-songwriter Peter J McCauley when he released his five-track EP Liminals back in 2016. Two years on, the multi-instrumentalist and vocalist — who previously released music under the moniker Rams Pocket Radio — is back with one of his most nuanced and carefully-crafted single efforts to date. Threaded with some subtle electronic ambience, it’s a wonderfully sparse piano-and-vocals paean to the eternal conundrum of not knowing where one is going, but taking solace in both perspective and faith in que será, será. Have a first listen to the single below.

  • Premiere: Heroes in Hiding – Berlin

    The second single from their forthcoming debut album, Actor, ‘Berlin’ by Dublin quartet Heroes in Hiding is a cathartically-driven effort exploring “a want for change and a sense of belonging, or lack thereof.” According to the Joe Carroll-fronted band, “The narrator has become fed up with their surroundings, and fantasises about a new life in Berlin. They are convinced that by moving away they will be able to throw off the shackles of their old life and start afresh, leaving the anxious surroundings of their current world behind.” Exploring “a ‘moment’ of uncertainty in life – a moment where we are…

  • Premiere: Switzerland – Waste of Time

    A song about “the futility of arguments and going with the flow” ‘Waste of Time’ by Dublin quartet Brian Walsh, Shane Murphy, Al Condon and Enda Canavan AKA Switzerland is, hands down, the finest dose of sleepy, jangle-heavy, Pavement-leaning loveliness we’ve heard in quite some time. Comprised of members of Drunken Boat, Hello Moon, Land Lovers, No Monster Club and Paddy Hanna, Switzerland will launch the single at Thomas House on May 19. You should go to that, and have a first listen to the single (and look at its video) below.

  • EP Premiere: Mike Paterson – Devils In The Water

    The third release on Homebeat Presents, Devils in the Water by Germany-based, Cavan indie-folk singer-songwriter Mike Paterson is an EP that bounds with nuance, conviction and heart. The EP – imbued with tones of Sufjan and Bon Iver – is a lo-fi tale of Paterson’s “flight from difficult times in Ireland to his new adopted home.” From opener ‘First Song in Germany’ to closer ‘Open Up’, it serves a emotionally-driven four-track introduction to an artist who, despite making his presence known as frontman of Travis Oaks, has re-emerged with a voice and touch all his own. Have an exclusive first listen…

  • Video Premiere: Dott – Like a Girl

    The month of May is now upon us and with the referendum on the 8th amendment fast approaching we’re seeing a rise of support from artists across the country, urging the people of Ireland to vote YES. We’re pleased to present the Irish premiere of  ‘Like a Girl’ by Dott, featuring a guest appearance from Sadie Dupuis of Speedy Ortiz. The video was made by Alison McDonnell-White and features members from Galway Pro-Choice, Galway Parents for Choice and Galway Roller Derby as well as lots of footage of recent marches for women’s rights in Galway. The band along with the many supporters in…

  • Premiere: Just Mustard – Pigs

    Fast becoming favourites of ours here at The Thin Air, Dundalk five-piece Just Mustard fully caught our attention in September last year with the release of ‘Tainted’, a track we said was “made for soundtracking solitary, stoned night walks reflecting on what needs to be done.” Taken from their forthcoming debut album, Wednesday, new single ‘Pigs’ is another step up. A soporific meld of blissed-out textures and noise-soaked squalls, it taps right into that exact feeling that creeps in at great small Irish festival around the early evening. You know the one we’re talking about. According to the band, with Wednesday they have…