• Video Premiere: Left With Pictures – Terra Firma

    February 22, 2016 - By 

    Having made fans out of BBC 6 Music’s Gideon Coe and Lauren Laverne amongst others, the music of London orchestral pop ensemble Left With Pictures is an exquisite proposition. Belying the classically-trained trio’s command of contemplative, layered textures, upon which vocals dance and harmonies entwine, their new single ‘Terra Firma’ summons a wall of gently swelling strings, ghostly church-pew background vocals and a gorgeous looped keyboard motif, evoking the quiet sanctity of Wild Beasts at their most ruminating. Taken from the band’s forthcoming album Afterlife – set for release on April 29 – have yourself an exclusive first peek at the video for the track, made by Jonathan…

  • Premiere: Orchid Collective – Lay As Stone

    February 22, 2016 - By 

    Set to be launched at Whelan’s on March 11, ‘Lay As Stone’ by Dublin quartet Orchid Collective is an unwinding alt-folk meditation on weariness and reprieve that sees wonderfully-woven harmonies come to the fore across the track’s nigh on four minutes. Recorded by Mojo Fury’s Mike Mormecha at Lisburn’s Millbank Studios, it’s a similarly rousing, radio-seeking effort to previous singles including ‘Figure It Out’. Orchid Collective also play Belfast’s Eglantine this Thursday night (February 25). Have an exclusive first listen to ‘Lay As Stone’ below.

  • Women of Notes @ Thirty Four, Dublin

    February 21, 2016 - By 

    Set to launch at new Dublin cafe Thirty Four on Saturday, March 5, Women of Notes/Mná na Notaí is a new photography and narrative series that aims to celebrate some of the country’s most prominent and successful female musicians. A year-long project that coincides with International Women’s Day 2016, it is the latest collaboration between music photographer Ruth Medjber and journalist Louise Bruton, and features the likes of Mary Black, Lisa Hannigan, Fight Like Apes’ MayKay, SOAK, Heathers, sisters Loah and Feather, Sleep Thieves‘ Sorcha Brennan, Wyvern Lingo, Saint Sister, Joni, Sinead White and more. According to the organisers, “each…

  • Stream: Slow Skies – Winter Night

    February 22, 2016 - By 

    The latest release on Dublin imprint Paper Trail Records, ‘Winter Night’ by singer-songwriter Karen Sheridan AKA Slow Skies wouldn’t sound entirely out of place on a high-budget, prime-time ad about a young couple, each battling their way through rush hour traffic, only to eventually – finally – fall into each other’s arms on a balmily-lit doorstep, before setting down a half a dozen John Lewis bags and petting an obedient little terrier called Alex that greets them upon arrival. Or something along those lines, anyway. According to Sheridan, the song – very deftly stripped back to her vocals and sparse piano work courtesy of Patrick O’Laoghaire of I…

  • Watch: Everything Shook – Bed Stain

    February 21, 2016 - By 

    Almost a year on from the release of their debut EP, Argento Nights, Dublin experimental electronic trio Everything Shook have returned with new single ‘Bed Stain’. Propelled by warping, skittering synth lines and chopping rhythms, the track – recorded and mixed at 6611 Studios in Brooklyn, New York -finds Robyn Bromfield, Jessica Kennedy and Áine Stapleton in dauntless spirits, both audibly and visually. A song about “mistakes, regret and the morning after the night before”, the video for the track – directed by the band – “unfolds between two locations, juxtaposing sombre scenes of the morning with flashbacks of disenchantment, discord…

  • Watch: Wake America – Silly Boy

    February 21, 2016 - By 

    Whilst perhaps currently more recognisable under the guise of Best Boy Grip, Derry singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Eoin O’Callaghan also makes music as part of Wake America. Seemingly born with the knack of a million burrowing melodies at his disposal, O’Callaghan’s latest single under the Wake America moniker, ‘Silly Boy’ (or “City Boy” as we occasionally/wrongly hear) makes for a synth-soaked, deceptively simple four-minutes. Written, produced, mixed and mastered by O’Callaghan, ‘Silly Boy’ will be available on Limited Edition 7″ vinyl from March 4 via Amelia Records. Pre-order your copy here.

  • Julia Holter w/ DM Stith @ Button Factory, Dublin

    February 21, 2016 - By 

    Having doubly underscored her critical clout and sonic vision with the release of her fourth album, Have You In My Wilderness, late last year, L.A. experimental pop dilettante Julia Holter’s sold-out Button Factory in Dublin tonight is nothing if not perfect testament to following one’s very own path in the well-trodden wilderness of solo artistry. Having positively beguiled the Unitarian Church three years previous, the multi-instrumentalist returns to the capital a musician that has covered considerable creative ground since. An under-the-radar proposition for many tonight, New York indie-folk singer-songwriter DM Stith (below) wastes no time in making an impression as Holter’s sole support. Stripped back to acoustic…

  • Track Record: Paul G Smyth

    February 21, 2016 - By 

    In the latest installment of Track Record, Dublin pianist and Jimmy Cake member Paul G Smyth handpicks a selection of records that have left an indelible imprint on his music and life, including Tangerine Dream, Derek Bailey and Talk Talk. Photos by Aidan Kelly Murphy. Evan Parker – Saxophone Solos This album essentially ruined my life. First stumbled upon when I used to hoover up the contents of the Ilac Centre Library’s audio section as a teenager, using every family member’s cards every Saturday, and coming home on the bus with unknowns from every section. I hated it. Passionately. It…

  • Jack O’Rourke: Comfort in Melancholy

    February 19, 2016 - By 

    Set to play Dublin’s Whelan’s tonight (Friday, February 19) we chat to Cork baroque-pop singer-songwriter Jack O’Rourke about influence and inspiration, soundtracking the Yes campaign, the thin line between joy and melancholy, as well as the writing and recording of his forthcoming debut album. First up: for those not in the know, when and how did you first start writing and playing your own music? I was four and doodling at the piano. It chilled me out and excited me simultaneously. I discovered Kate Bush and Tom Waits when I was 15 and the rest is history. I sometimes wish I…

  • Stream: Ciaran Lavery – Return To Form

    February 17, 2016 - By 

    At the risk of (really) repeating ourselves, Ciaran Lavery is easily one of the country’s most naturally gifted, hugely endearing singer-songwriters. From his days in Captain Kennedy up until the present day, we’ve seen the Aghagallon songsmith silence the most bustling venue with the the slightest of syllables and all but seduce innumerable crowds with his brilliantly charming badinage. At the root of all that is Lavery’s extraordinary grasp of the human condition, masterfully bolstered by an enviable harmonic grasp and compositional flair that continues to blossom unabated. The latest – and quite possibly greatest – manifestation of that is his new single, ‘Return To…