• “A Bit of A Weird Piece To Do”: Q&A With Brendan Gleeson

    March 1, 2019 - By 

    Brendan Gleeson is one of Ireland’s most acclaimed actors, having starred in films as varied as In Bruges, 28 Days Later, and Paddington 2. Now he’s trying his hand at directing with a short film called Psychic. The film follows the titular psychic, played by Gleeson, whose conniving sons bring him out of retirement to make a quick buck. It’s a family affair, co-starring his sons Domhnall and Brian, and written by their brother Rory. Following Psychic’s premiere in the Dublin International Film Festival, Jack O’Higgins spoke to Gleeson about his directorial debut, his recent collaboration with the Coen Brothers,…

  • DIFF19: Dear Son

    March 1, 2019 - By 

    For western society, ISIS is often depicted as a bogeyman hiding in the shadows, waiting to strike. Rarely do we have to contend with the possibility that our children could be seduced by its poisonous ideology. That is the ordeal faced by Liadh, a middle class Tunisian father in Mohammed Ben Attia’s Dear Son. Sadly the film is crippled by a myopia that prevents it from fully exploring its striking premise. The film’s solid first act at least takes the time to establish its protagonist. Played by the endearing Mohammed Dhrif, Liadh is your quintessential doddery dad. He fumbles for…

  • Capernaum

    March 1, 2019 - By 

    “My life is dogshit.” Zain El Hajj, the young protagonist of Nadine Labaki’s third feature Capernaum, which competed for the Foreign Language prize at last week’s Oscars, is not having such a good time of it. Twelve years old with an asterix (as a child to undocumented parents, there’s no birth certificate for confirmation), Zain endures a monotonous, shabby, profoundly unnourishing childhood in Beirut’s dilapidated urban sprawl. Played by Zain Al Rafeea, a Syrian refugee himself, the young lad lives with his large family in a rotting apartment owned by their cousin Assad, in whose shop some of the kids spend…

  • Listen: Jackie Beverly – Talk It Through

    February 28, 2019 - By 

    Here at TTA, we like our pop to be danced to with unselfconscious reckless abandon, and that’s why the second single from Dublin indietronic artist Jackie Beverly is our bag. As with previous single ‘Out of Reasons’, it’s club-ready as it is a nuanced, brooding study of human relationships that avoids the usual poptimistic pitfalls. Bolstered with nostalgia-charged synths and rich harmonies, thanks in no small part to the subtly buoyant production of Darragh Nolan & Joseph Panama. Of the song, Jackie “wanted to venture into the difficult aspects of loving someone, and tease out the idea that it’s possible to break through and recover something…

  • A Turn Up For The Book: An Interview with VerseChorusVerse

    February 27, 2019 - By 

    Last year, Belfast-based, North Coast musician and singer-songwriter Tony Wright aka VerseChorusVerse took the leap. It’s one that few musicians ever get around to but for some, Wright including, writing about his life seemed to stem from a kind of cosmic duty; as a means to both memorialise and give literary content to a remarkable life lived. Luckily, it seems that Tony Wright, despite everything, is only getting started. To call Chapter & Verse(ChorusVerse) a page-turner would be doing it a disservice. As anyone who has delved into the author’s music – or caught him live – can attest, he’s every bit the born fabulist. Recounting…

  • Kate Tempest and Princess Nokia Among First Names Announced for Body & Soul

    February 26, 2019 - By 

    Kate Tempest and Princess Nokia are among the first names announced to play this year’s Body & Soul. Returning to Ballinlough Castle in Co. Westmeath across June 21-23, the annual Irish summer festival will also play host to The Blaze, Talos, SOAK, Kruder & Dorfmeister, Dream Wife, Modeselektor, Coely and Kiddy Smile, Santi Gold, Baikal, Monolink, The Drifer, Oshun, Mano Le Tough, Wyvern Lingo, Laoise, Tulla Céilí Band, whenyoung, The Murder Capital, Meltybrains?, Thumper, Niamh Regan, Lil’ Dave and The Clockworks. The first announcement was made in the Big Romance in Dublin this evening. Many more acts are to be announced. Tickets…

  • Participant shares sprawling and atmospheric folk single ‘Medicine’: Listen

    February 27, 2019 - By 

    Dublin’s Participant has shared the second single from his forthcoming Modern Retelling EP. ‘Medicine’ is yet another intimate and atmospheric cut from songwriter and multi-instrumentalist – real name Stephen Tiernan – following October’s stirring and string-laden folk number ‘Coast’. Sadly fitting that the patiently emerging artist would release this track this week, just days after news broke that Talk Talk’s visionary Mark Hollis had passed away aged 64. ‘Medicine’ holds a similar ambience and gentle pace to much of the band’s latter day work, with sparingly plucked guitar and up-close vocal delivery building slowly toward a sprawling, rich and climactic peak with lush strings and a piano hook…

  • Stream: Zeropunkt – Bitch Nails

    February 26, 2019 - By 

    Long one of our favourites in the (admittedly bereft) Irish free psychedelic improvised scene, Dublin-based outfit ¡NO! have announced a name change to the substantially more Googlable Zeropunkt, and with it have issued standalone single, ‘Bitch Nails’, available as a free download. On the name change, the band are self-awarely oblique: “The 0ught of N0ught is the point of zer0. NO. N. 0. The zer0 Number. The p0iNt. Zeropunkt.” Following a quiet 2018 for the generally prolific – 10 albums since 2014 – outfit, this single comes with the announcement of two forthcoming LPs, Clap Your Hands Say No and Open War, as well as the announcement of…

  • The Gloaming – The Gloaming (3)

    February 25, 2019 - By 

      Virtuoso. The term has undergone somewhat of a realignment of late, thanks in part to the rate of technological advancements spawning a whole new range of art forms and instrumentation to master. Whilst the title clearly draws more gravitas in some fields than others, this hasn’t deterred the term being bandied around a bit too loosely. Timely, then, is The Gloaming’s third offering, whose five masterful musicians taught us to forget everything we thought we knew about the word and its connotations. Since their formation in early 2011, the band has drawn vast critical acclaim, selling out The National…

  • 19 For ’19: Jordan Adetunji

    February 27, 2019 - By 

    We continue 19 for ‘19 – our feature looking at nineteen Irish acts that we’re convinced are going places in 2019 – with young Belfast-based hip-hop RnB artist Jordan Adetunji. Photo by Joe Laverty Still only in his teens, Jordan Adetunji has already shown a chameleonic, self-reliant instinct to a Prince-esque degree, highlighting the kind of restless creative spirit destined for the bright lights – successful modelling career notwithstanding – despite little precedent for his brand of hip-hop in Northern Ireland. Thankfully, the once-barren RnB scene in the North is taking shape, thanks to the support of Belfast artist group NxGen and prolific Ireland-based Word Up Collective – home to the…