• Gloria Bell

    June 7, 2019 - By 

    Gloria Bell is something of a gear change for Sebastián Lelio after his Oscar-winning A Fantastic Woman. That film was a sobering deep dive into transphobia that drew fire from trans critics for dog piling woes upon a trans woman with little substance to back it up. Gloria Bell, an American remake of Lelio’s own 2013 film Gloria, is a much more nuanced and life affirming proposition The film’s opening act is a master class in patient character building. We follow Gloria, a fifty something year-old divorcee, as she sings love songs in the car, checks in on her distant…

  • Watch: Panik Attaks – Terror

    June 6, 2019 - By 

    When a band or artist describe themselves as “no-nonsense” it usually means one thing: they are, consciously or otherwise, bound to a certain one-dimensionality, incapable of or unwilling to progress. Not so Dublin five-piece Panik Attaks. Comprising Rob Walsh of Cold Comfort, Republic of Loose’s Mick Pyro, Trevor Keogh of New Secret Weapon, Thumper’s Alex Harvey and Rian Trench of Solar Bears, the band’s brand of spitting, scuzzed-out, no-nonsense punk betrays cohesion, forward-moving spirit and fist-clenched intent in equal measure. New single ‘Terror’ takes that M.O. and runs with it. Featuring a stellar (not to mention instantly distinctive) video courtesy of SCAN, it’s a…

  • Papi Chulo

    June 7, 2019 - By 

    2016’s Handsome Devil, a minor hit and the second film from Irish director John Butler, turned on issues of gay estrangement and unlikely male friendship. It balanced melodrama and excesses — like Andrew Scott’s literature teacher and his ‘Oh Captain, My Captain’ grandstanding — with a genuinely sweet consideration of the loneliness and alienation that comes with being young, gay and wayward. Butler channelled his own difficult queer history into a generally broad treatment, a heightening and blending of Irish cinematic tones. Papi Chulo takes Butler out of the island for the first time, but operates along similar thematic and tonal lines for its story of…

  • Tinariwen Set For Long-Awaited Dublin Return

    June 5, 2019 - By 

    Saharan desert blues heroes Tinariwen will make their long-awaited return to Dublin at the end of the year. Having released nine albums over the last 18 years, the group will return to play The Olympia Theatre on Monday, November 11. They last played a headline show in the city, at the Academy, in 2009. Tickets are priced €33.65 and go on sale this Friday (June 7) at 9am.

  • Watch: Girl Band – Shoulderblades

    June 6, 2019 - By 

    In their absence over the last couple of years, Girl Band’s reputation has only grown and grown. Much of that stemmed from uncertainty. Would we ever see them perform again? Would new music ever see the light of day? The afternoon of May 13th brought an answer. The Dara Kiely-fronted quartet – who, in such a short period of time, proved one of the most influential Irish guitar bands since My Bloody Valentine – would return with a new single, ‘Shoulderblades’. Sure enough, hyperspace near caved in on itself. Girl Band were back. Released today, it is, in no uncertain terms, a…

  • Forbidden Fruit 2019 – Day Three

    June 4, 2019 - By 

    As people begin filtering into IMMA for the final time of the June bank holiday weekend, there is an easiness in the air. The audience is noticeably more mature than those of days gone by and most certainly of a more relaxed disposition. There’s not so much a hum of excitement, but rather a coolness- a feeling that says, “take it easy folks, have a nice one”. Easing the crowd into the day on the mainstage is Glasshouse, a chamber ensemble performing the music of Bon Iver, for a moderately sized crowd. Their interpretations of Justin Vernon’s work is a…

  • Preview: Docs Ireland 2019

    June 4, 2019 - By 

    DOCS IRELAND – a brand new documentary film festival – launches this summer, and will be showcasing some of the best new international and Irish music documentaries from 12-16 June in Belfast. At the festival’s launch Co-Chair of Docs Ireland, Brian Henry Martin, said: “It’s more important than ever that we celebrate those brave and creative voices who seek out the truth no matter what it is or where it takes them.” As for documentarians, also read songwriters, their counterparts in demystifying social truths and private worlds. The festival includes new films on PJ Harvey (pictured, top), Chilly Gonzales and…

  • Video Premiere: Elaine Malone – My Baby’s Dead

    June 7, 2019 - By 

    The Cork music community is a bricolage of fascinating idiosyncrasy, but if there’s one through-line, it’s a hint of lysergic, and Limerick-born, Cork-based Elaine Malone‘s latest single is no exception. Where Malone has long been followed by the psych-folk tag, the psychedelia on her debut Land EP was implicit, bubbling under the surface in textural and compositional choices, as well as Sam Clague’s airy restraint on production. With Altered Hours’ Cathal MacGabhann engineering this time around, she’s accomplished her first bona fide electric wig-out in ‘My Baby’s Dead’ with spectacular finesse. We had a chat with Elaine about this hard left turn and how it came about.…

  • Forbidden Fruit 2019 – Day One

    June 2, 2019 - By 

    It’s about two in the afternoon and the sun is peeking out from behind a blanket of clouds to kiss the grounds of Kilmainham with intermittent drops of light and heat. The first few punters are entering the fields surrounding Ireland’s Museum of Modern Art for Forbidden Fruit, a weekend festival that showcases local and international talent for thousands amongst the idyllic surroundings of the IMMA grounds. Opening up the festival on the District Stage is a local artist: April, an RnB-inspired singer-songwriter from County Kildare. Being the first act of the weekend is always a daunting task, it is…

  • Forbidden Fruit 2019 – Day Two

    June 3, 2019 - By 

    For the second time this weekend the grounds of IMMA are flooded by crowds upon crowds of festival-goers. Already it can be said that the second day of Forbidden Fruit will bear little resemblance to its opening day. There is less of an edge in the air and a jovial atmosphere covers Kilmainham like a warm blanket. As punters funnel into the fields surrounding the art museum it finally feels as if there is a level of cohesiveness to the festival’s crowd. The very earliest of ticket holders are greeted by the gentle pulsing rhythms of Irish Electronic artist Fehdah.…