• Watch: Princess – Neverlook

    June 26, 2014 - By 

    Released last week, we said ‘Neverlook’, the new single by Dublin noise-pop band Princess was “balanced very nicely between with glacial indie tangents and rampant noise pop, boasting a distinctive, compelling surge; splatterings of rhythm morphing with gaze-y guitar patterns and bobbing bass lines.” Sticking by that assessment, we’re happy to see a visual accompaniment to the track emerge, directed by Kevin Freeney and Dan Finnegan. Without giving too much away: clothes are swapped, legs are shaved and vintage cars are driven. Watch the video below.  

  • Watch: The Vals – Quiet Part of Town

    June 25, 2014 - By 

    The full band medium of Belfast-based singer-songwriter Paul Doherty, The Vals have unveiled the video to their new single, ‘Quiet Part of Town’. A wonderfully crafted effort, the song channels a timeless, psychedelic-tinged sound, broad, serene guitar chords marrying delicate keyboard lines, shuffling rhythms and sweetly-placed strings, not to mention Doherty’s vocals – a real centre-piece. Directed by Thomas McKeown and Daryl Randal, the video proves a suitably hazy, nostalgic accompaniment. ‘Quiet Part of Town’ will feature on The Vals’ forthcoming album, Wildflower May. Stream the video via Vimeo below.  

  • Stream: Spies – Moosehead

    June 24, 2014 - By 

    Bursting straight out of the traps, ‘Moosehead’ by Dublin five-piece Spies is nothing if not a sonic statement of intent from a band tipped to go far over the next few months. A gazey post-punk effort brimming with confidence and purpose, the track – produced by Rian Trench of Solar Bears – sees subtly soaring guitar textures, propulsive rhythms and Matthew Broderick’s sublime vocals merge to form one of the most impressive songs from an Irish band we’ve heard this year so far. Check out Spies’ forthcoming gig dates and the video for ‘Moosehead’ below. July 26: The Old Blue Last, London July 28: The Sebright Arms,…

  • Watch: BeeMickSee – Belfast Slang

    June 24, 2014 - By 

    Belfast-based rapped Brendan Seamus AKA BeeMickSee have unveiled the video to his new single, ‘Belfast Slang’. Created by Philip Mateer and Tristan Crowe of Red Mist Productions, the video features Seamus – introducing the uninitiated with various Northern Irishisms such as “scundered” – and actress Cara Cowan. ‘Belfast Slang’ – featuring a beat by Thrash Hat AKA Rory Friers of And So I Watch You From Afar – is the third single from BeeMickSee’s forthcoming album, The Belfast Yank. The album is launched at Bar Sub at QUBSU, featuring support by Aggressors BC, the Late Twos and TBC. Watch the video for ‘Belfast…

  • Watch: FLAWS – Feels Like Home

    June 23, 2014 - By 

    Ahead of their debut EP launch on Wednesday night, Belfast-based three-pieceFLAWS have released their video for their first single, ‘Feels Like Home’. Evoking the stadium-worthy melodic rock of In Case of Fire – a band that two thirds of FLAWS, Steven Robinson and Thomas Camblin, were once members – the track is an infectious three-and-a-half minutes of melodic alt-rock, redolent of a certain increasingly bygone sound of in Northern Irish music, Indeed, according to the band’s label, OLD FANG, FLAWS “pack a welcome punch not seen in Belfast this side of the late-noughties banjo haze”. A battle cry in favour of…

  • Watch: The Wonder Villains – Zola

    June 23, 2014 - By 

    Featuring Italian footballing legend Gianfranco Zola himself (actually), Derry pop quartet the Wonder Villains have unveiled the video for the typically starry-eyed new single, ‘Zola’. Filmed in London, the video was produced by Bradley Quinn and directed by Robin Morgan of Little Giant Films. The track is taken from the band’s debut album, Rocky, released via No Dancing/Third Bar. Watch the video below.  

  • Interview: Paddy Hanna

    June 24, 2014 - By 

    A restless artist and then some, Paddy Hanna is deservedly well regarded as one of the most prolific musicians in Dublin and beyond. When he’s not busy singing in Grand Pocket Orchestra or playing in Popical Island bands No Monster Club, Ginnels and Skelocrats, he’s writing, recording and playing his own wonderfully infectious, clever indie pop music. Off the back of the release of his exquisite debut album, Leafy Stiletto, we talk to Paddy about the incestuousness of Popical Island, scraping the “serious misery muck from [his] mind’s floor” and finding the time to commit to so many different projects. Hi Paddy. You released the…

  • Sons of Caliber – Albatross

    June 19, 2014 - By 

    Having been exclusively previewed here at the Thin Air last month, Northern Irish folk singer-songwriter Andrew Farmer and friends AKA Sons of Caliber will release their spellbinding debut album, Albatross, on Sunday, June 22. Taking place as part of this year’s Open House Festival, Farmer & Co. will release the nine-track album at Belfast’s Black Box, supported by Lonesome George. You can buy tickets for the launch right here. Stream Sons of Caliber’s last EP, Tundra, below. The Tundra by Sons Of Caliber

  • Fruit Tree: A Nick Drake Playlist

    June 19, 2014 - By 

    “Fame is but a fruit tree, so very unsound. It can never flourish, ’till its stock is in the ground. So men of fame, can never find a way, ‘Till time has flown, far from their dying day. Forgotten while you’re here, remembered for a while, A much updated ruin for a much outdated style.” So goes the now almost mythical opening lines to ‘Fruit Tree’ by English folk singer-songwriter Nick Drake, a song that perfectly encapsulates the peculiar phenomenon of posthumous fame and adulation. Although featuring on his 1969 debut album, Five Leaves Left – the first of three full-length albums he…