Tool have announced their long-awaited return to Ireland. The acclaimed, Maynard James Keenan-fronted quartet will play Dublin’s 3Arena on May 6, 2022. Tickets go on sale this Friday (October 1) at 10am. The show – which takes place as part of a forthcoming UK and European arena tour – marks the band’s first show in Ireland since 2006. Revisit a stone-cold Tool classic below.
For as long as we can remember, Galway’s Eoin Dolan has occupied a singular place in the Irish music community. A songwriter that goes beyond the everyday – an artist who ekes out real majesty from the uncanny – his craft is at once deeply considered and remarkably his own. Next month, Dolan unveils his fourth full-length album, Mirror Liver. Bearing the imprint of artists as mottled as Vashti Bunyan, Super Furry Animals and Donovan, it’s that album that delves into everything from love and mysticism, to day to day reflections of people who lived through the evolutionary times of…
Another banner week for Irish music sees releases spanning the full breadth and scope of the island, with major releases, collaborations and singles from the likes of Brigid Mae Power, A Ritual Sea, Gemma Dunleavy, M(h)aol, David Holmes, K I T C H E N, Erica Cody, Villagers, Invaderband, windings, Gaze Is Ghost, and many more. Gemma Dunleavy – Up De Flats! [Sharda Remix] Brigid Mae Power – Burning Your Light EP Burning Your Light by Brigid Mae Power M(h)aol – Gender Studies Gender Studies EP by M(h)aol David Holmes – Hope Is The Last Thing To Die K I…
Parquet Courts are coming back to Dublin. Having last played the city back in 2018, the New York indie-rock quartet will play the Helix in Dublin on Saturday, June 11. The announcement comes as part of news of the band’s forthcoming seventh album Sympathy For Life and its accompanying world tour. Tickets for the Dublin show cost €29.80 and go on sale on Friday, September 24. Watch the video for the band’s new single ‘Black Widow Spider’ below.
The country’s most essential radio station, Dublin Digital Radio, have announced details of a new city festival. Originally planned for March 2020, but delayed for obvious reasons, Alternating Current will finally take place via radio broadcasts and in-person events from October 26 to October 31. Marking five years on the air, the festival’s schedule wonderfully mirrors the commitment of ddr. to representing the country’s more peripheral and experimental musical traditions. In their words: “This is the alternating current, the one that seeks to give voice to the other island, the sounds less heard, the other traditions. The sounds of the hinterlands…
Back in March, Róisín Nic Ghearailt, Constance Keane, Jamie Hyland, Zoe Greenway and Sean Nolan, otherwise known as M(h)aol, returned with one of the most emphatic singles of the year. Six months on from ‘Asking For It’, the band – who are based between Dublin, Cork, London and Bristol – are back with the no less powerful ‘Gender Studies’. Clocking in at 1 minute and 50 seconds, it’s a brief and masterfully understated effort taken from the band’s forthcoming debut EP of the same name. “Gender Studies weaves past and present in an exploration of how the construct of gender shapes our lives,” said lead…
What a year it’s been for Pillow Queens. Six months on from signing a publishing deal with legendary Seattle label Sub Pop, the Dublin quartet have announced that they have signed to Royal Mountain Records, the Canadian indie imprint that is home to the likes of Alvvays, Mac DeMarco and others. To mark the occasion, the band have also released a re-recorded version of one of their very best tracks, ‘Rats’. Originally released back in 2016, ‘Rats’ 2.0 now features stellar visuals courtesy of Michael Maxxis. Check it out below. All the best to the band on what’s sure to be an…
Here’s the very best Irish tracks and releases of the week, featuring BANYAH, Pillow Queens, Havvk, Somebody’s Child, April, Peter Sumadh, Biig Piig, Colm Warren, Smallmint and more. BANYAH – Lost With The Lights Pillow Queens – Rats HAVVK – No Patience Somebody’s Child – Staying Sane EP April – Piece of Me Biig Piig (w/ Metronomy) – 405 Peter Sumadh – Parting Wounds Smallmint – Synonym Synonym by smallmint Colm Warren – September Roses Steven Rainey – Ultra Contact Sports by Steven Rainey Sophie Doyle Ryder – Hunni Hunni
With ‘Men Like Me‘, Bray-based singer-songwriter Ódu sealed her status as one of the country’s most promising alt-pop propositions. Produced by Asta Kalapa – who has worked with everyone from Daithí to Ailbhe Reddy) new single ‘Saturday’ goes one better. Filtering the throwback disco production of its predecessor, it’s a wonderfully heart-stung, deftly crafted gem from the fast-rising artist. Speaking about the track, which traces the small, everyday things you come to miss after the breakdown of a relationship, Ódú said: “Saturday is a song about reaching a stage in your life where your self-worth is tied to the things…
The longlist for this year’s Northern Ireland Music Prize has been revealed. From the initial eligible list, 55 albums and 91 singles have been longlisted for the Best Album and Best Single prizes. Among the names longlisted for the former include Bicep, New Pagans, Joshua Burnside, Hannah Peel, Saint Sister, Brién, Son Zept, Arvo Party, Nomadic Rituals, and many more. Check out the full lists here. In a change from previous years, the public are also being invited to vote for one album and single through to the shortlist. More info can be found here. This year’s NI Music Prise takes…