• Jesus and Mary Chain Announce Irish Return

    November 29, 2023 - By 

    The Jesus and Mary Chain have announced their return to Ireland. Led by brothers Jim and William Reid, the Scottish noise pop legends will play Dublin’s Olympia Theatre on 25th and Limelight 1 in Belfast on 26th March. As well as marking the 40th anniversary of their formation, the shows will coincide with the release of their eighth studio album, Glasgow Eyes, which is out on March 8th 2024. Tickets go on sale this Friday at 10am. The Mary Chain last played Ireland back in 2017. Revisit Justin McDaid’s review of their Vicar Street show here. Photo by Mel Butler

  • PJ Harvey Announces Belfast Show

    November 27, 2023 - By 

    PJ Harvey has announced she will play Belfast next year. Two months from an extraordinary set at 3Olympia in Dublin, Harvey’s show at Custom House Square on Thursday, 22nd August doubles up as her only Irish show of 2024. It’s the English artist’s first show in city since playing Waterfront Hall back in 2004. Pre-sale for tickets on sale tomorrow, 28th November at 10am. General sale for tickets is this Friday, 1st October at 10am.

  • Inbound: Connor McCann

    November 24, 2023 - By 

    This summer I attended the Fête de Rosette, in the Savoie region of France. A fledgling festival of Irish talents both established and fringe, Connor McCann was a highlight among his contemporaries – his Americana-infused balladry, married with the atmosphere of the Alpine valleys, was a treat for the senses. That’s not to say he’s any less enthralling when playing closer to home. The influence McCann is having on the candle-lit folk sessions of Belfast’s music bars seems initially novel, but in fact has been brewing for some time. While the Glenravel-born artist has pedigree as frontman of disbanded alt-rockers…

  • Under the Island: Experimental Music in Ireland 1960 – 1994

    November 24, 2023 - By 

    The mission to track down all traces of an Irish avant-garde has received a boost with the release of this delightful compilation, compiled by Nyahh Records. The label has left no dusty attic unexplored in its efforts to drag subterranean Ireland to the surface, providing documentary proof of free-thinking at a time of joint church/state hegemony. This experimental impulse could apparently be found at all levels of society. Take the aristocratic UFO hunter Desmond Leslie, who created electronic soundscapes in his Monaghan castle and took his place with the Meeks and Derbyshires of the world. Outside the country estate, there were pioneers…

  • A Different Beast: An Interview with Elaine Malone

    November 24, 2023 - By 

    Elaine Malone’s debut album roars “Fuck you, thank you” into the abyss. Words by Mike Ryan. Photo by Celeste Burdon Residents have long believed that there’s something intangibly special about the country’s second city, and the same holds true for its musicians. Cork has produced a plethora of transcendent acts in recent years, across the entire musical palette, including Fixity, the Altered Hours, Trá Pháidín and Pretty Happy to name just a few; the Cork music scene is a many-headed beast. The most recent of which has now reared its head in the form of Elaine Malone’s first full-length album,…

  • Inbound: Search Results

    November 24, 2023 - By 

    The most interesting sounds tend to come from those unencumbered with risk aversion. Take Devo, whose five gestative years before releasing a debut album bought them creative armour, allowing them to hone their worldview and arrive fully-formed. Search Results started writing in Dublin within a week of meeting in 2020, having moved from Waterford, Sligo, and Tipperary just prior to Covid. Drummer Jack Condon explains: “We assigned ourselves different instruments to the ones we would have been most comfortable on. Myself and Adam had more training in guitar, and Fionn in bass, so that took away any safety nets and…

  • Mclusky Set For Dublin and Belfast

    November 27, 2023 - By 

    Five years on from hosting their debut, sold-out Irish shows at the same venues, we’re delighted to announce the return of Welsh noise rock legends Mclusky to Ireland next year. With a new full-length album – their first in 20 years no less – in the works for release next year, the Falco-fronted three-piece will play Voodoo in Belfast on Friday, 24th May and Workman’s Club on Saturday, 25th May. Support for both shows comes from Dublin’s finest Hands Up Who Wants To Die. Tickets are on sale now: Belfast – Voodoo. 24th May, 2024 Dublin – The Workmans Club.…

  • Irish Tracks of the Week – 24th November

    November 24, 2023 - By 

    Some serious big-hitters among this week’s best Irish music. Dive into new Junior Brother, Lemonade Shoelace, Chalk, Two Nice Catholic Boys, Sly, Ciaran Lavery and more Photo by Adam Heffernan Junior Brother – The Men Who Eat Ringforts Two Nice Catholic Boys – Three Cheers for the Distant Observer Three Cheers for the Distant Observer by Two Nice Catholic Boys Ciaran Lavery – Shame (10 Years Later) Lemonade Shoelace – Soul Syndrome THEE U.F.O – Junk Funk Garbage Uly – Alex Chalk – The Gate Eoin Dolan – The Most Important Thing Is Peace Within Yourself ZOiD – Internal Space…