• Premiere: Cruiser – Ovaltine

    June 17, 2020 - By 

    At the beating heart of Limerick’s fully thriving music scene as of late are Cruiser, a foursome comprising Ger Devine, Rachael Drennan, Chris Quigley and Steve Savage. Striking a sweet point between supremely candid indie rock and intricately-woven shoegaze worship, the gentler side of the band’s sonic M.O. is laid bare across the four minutes of ‘Ovaltine’. Originally featured on the band’s split EP with Belfast trio Mob Wife late last year (check out our premiere here) it’s a song evoking everyone from Bedhead and early Slowdive, to Codeine and Duster. Today, we’re pleased to present a first look at the song’s brand new video. Doubling up as one…

  • Irish Tracks of the Week – June 12th

    June 12, 2020 - By 

    Including premieres of brand new singles by Not I and James Anderson, we round up the best Irish tracks released this week, from Jafaris, Everything Shook, Tebi Rex and Alpha Chrome Yayo to Dott, Goodtime John, Pillow Queens, Susie Blue and Unbelievable Lake. Not I – Please Be Kind [Premiere] James Anderson – Peace [Premiere] Jafaris – Glue Everything Shook – Stand Ajar Stand Ajar by Everything Shook Tebi Rex – I Got My Whole Unbelievable Lake – Forgive Unbelievable Lake · Forgive Susie Blue – Daughter Alpha Chrome Yayo – Tomb Dive Skylight Sessions by Alpha Chrome Yayo Dott –…

  • Video Premiere: Dott – Extra Introvert

    June 11, 2020 - By 

    If there’s any band in Ireland who can lay claim to an Earworm Guarantee™, it may well be Galway’s harmony-laced dream-pop quartet Dott, and new single ‘Extra Introvert’ proves that once more in spades. As interactions return to relative normality in time for summer, the gradual reacquaintance with our old friend social anxiety proves much easier when masked in a seasonally-appropriate bop. Dott were in the midst of recording their third album when the Covid-19 pandemic put a stop to things, but mercifully they’ve delivered us a homespun, all-too-relatable video, made for phone. Featuring lead singer Anna and her many attempts to overcome Lockdown Anxiety, it records the day-to-day of using…

  • Video Premiere: Joshua Burnside – Whiskey Whiskey

    May 12, 2020 - By 

    The continued evolution of Joshua Burnside is nothing short of a joy to behold. Over the last few years, the Northern Irish artist has expanded upon his singular folk sound with a healthy dose of forward-pushing sonic exploration. New single ‘Whiskey Whiskey’ retains much of what is familiar about Burnside’s sound, all while pushing into new territory. A masterfully stripped-back effort, the song – and accompanying video – stares down the grip of all-consuming fears via disarmingly confessional songwriting. “I wrote the lyrics for Whiskey, Whiskey whilst on a flight to London,” Burnside said. “I hate flying and l would…

  • Video Premiere: Hey Jigsaw – Where Do You Wanna Go

    May 14, 2020 - By 

    Hey Jigsaw is the new project from Dublin musician Alan Finnerty – also of punk heroes Guilty Optics – and today, we’re delighted to premiere their first single, taken from their forthcoming debut album Who’s Your Dark Master? Featuring Dave Prendergast on trumpet and Niamh Buckley on backing vocals, ‘Where Do You Wanna Go’ recalls the discordant melodicism of Les Savy Fav or Q And Not U. It’s difficult to avoid every cliche of this trying time, so if you’ll indulge us, the video and song’s unified sense of bittersweet widescreen escapism is exactly what we could be doing with. Watch it below:

  • Video Premiere: John Blek – Death & His Daughter Fair

    March 12, 2020 - By 

    Cork singer-songwriter John Blek is a rare master of his craft. Whist and masterfully considered, he plays a brand of contempoary folk that can snare a listener with the slightest chord change or incisive turn-of-phrase. Take new single, the quietly mesmeric ‘Death & His Daughter’. A delicate folk dance accompanied by easily one of our favourite videos of the year so far, it’s a feature-length meditation on loss and deliverance that encapsulates motifs right at the heart of Blek’s recently-released fifth solo album, The Embers. Catch Blek at the following shows this weekend, and have a first look at the video for ‘Death & His…

  • Video Premiere: Buí – A Conversation About Punk

    March 11, 2020 - By 

    It’s no bad thing that the indie scene across the island is saturated. If anything, it’s a total boon. That saturation – that heady wealth of artists and collaborative energy – invariably gives rise to scenes and communities that would’ve otherwise lay dormant or just out of reach, fated not to be. Take one look across the country and it’s clear that the scene – cross-country show swaps, co-pros, split releases etc. – is more tight-knit and fertile than ever. One band that both embodies that ethos and manages to cut through the noise to make their own noise heard is Belfast’s Buí.…

  • Video premiere: Sunken Foal – Barley Stick

    March 10, 2020 - By 

    Dublin’s Sunken Foal will release his seventh album, Hexose, on April 24th. One of the most prolific producers in Ireland, the Countersunk label-founder and synthesist supreme – real name Dunk Murphy – follows 2019’s Ribbon Works and Le Doux Nord albums with a new 10-track collection of rich electronics inspired partially by “a lifelong infatuation with confectionery”. Every track on the album is named after some kind of sugar or dessert. Rich, generative melodies and syrupy atmospheres ooze all over the tracklist, while bubbling percussion keeps things energised. Throughout the album, comparisons to Laurie Spiegel, Cluster and Warp’s early bleep…

  • Video Premiere: Problem Patterns – Gal Pals

    February 14, 2020 - By 

    A silver lining to the three year cloud of political deadlock in Northern Ireland, today marks the first Valentine’s Day with equal marriage laws, with the first same-sex marriages having taken place earlier this week. Belfast punk quartet Problem Patterns have chosen to celebrate that fact with a video for catchiest single to date, ‘Gal Pals’ whose bubblegum exterior belies an incisive social satire – or in their own words: “Part social commentary, part potential theme tune for a cult queer romcom”. Each member of the band – which comprises Alanah Smith, Ciara King, Beverley Boal & Bethany Crooks – leads a verse, each of which deals with various stages in the…

  • Video Premiere: Son Zept – 1D2D RISE

    February 11, 2020 - By 

    Though it’s nigh on impossible to select a highlight from his new, seven-track album, A, ‘1D2D RISE’ by Belfast-based electronic alchemist and all-round polymath Liam McCartan aka Son Zept is very hard to beat. Somnambulant and wistful in equal measure, it’s a slowly unravelling three-minute burst of warped-out ambient, melding broad washes of synth with heart-tugging, Plantastia-leaning synth arps. Speaking about the track and accompanying video – which you can have an exclusive first look at it below – McCartan said: “It came from those dimly lit 3am sessions that happen again and again with the headphones on really tight. Trying to…