• Irish Tracks of the Week – June 18th

    June 18, 2021 - By 

    This Juneteenth, Bandcamp are donating 100% of their sales to the Legal Defence Fund to support racial justice, equality & change. If you’re planning on buying some music – Irish or otherwise – via the platform, today is that day. On which note, here’s the best Irish tracks and LPs of the week, including Denise Chaila, Rejjie Snow, Kojaque, Dani Larkin, Aislinn Logan, Rebekah Fitch, Alpha Chrome Yayo, Strange Boy feat Hazey Haze, and more. Denise Chaila – 061 Rejjie Snow feat. Tinashe & grouptherapy. – Disco Pantz Rebekah Fitch – Goodbye Aislinn Logan – Certain Days Dani Larkin – Notes For A Maiden…

  • Irish Tracks of the Week – June 11

    June 11, 2021 - By 

    It’s been another big week for new Irish music, with tracks coming from all over the country from emerging artists and established favourites. Dig into new releases from HAVVK, Cat, Orla Gartland, John Blek, Smoothboi Ezra, Jack O’Rourke and more. Mícheál Keating & Brendan McInerney – It’s Still There It’s Still There by Mícheál Keating & Brendan McInerney HAVVK – Automatic Automatic by HAVVK Cat – baby, blue HOROSHOKINO – Comrades Smoothboi Ezra – Without Me John Blek – Long Strand Orla Gartland – Do You Mind? Celaviedmai – Heal milk. – ‘In LA.’ Jack O’Rourke – Opera on the…

  • Watch: Cherym – Listening To My Head

    June 10, 2021 - By 

    Without question, Derry pop-punk trio Cherym have emerged as one of the real success stories from these shores in recent times. Earworming to high heaven, their razor-sharp, harmony-laden craft is something we fully look forward to experienced live, once again, when the time is right. In the meantime, the soap video for the Hannah Richardson-fronted band’s new single ‘Listening To My Head’ is scratching the itch. A mini soap opera condensed to three minutes, it really drives home Cherym’s uniquely joyous M.O. Check it out below and revisit our recent interview with the band here.

  • Stream: Mícheál Keating & Brendan McInerney – It’s Still There

    June 10, 2021 - By 

    Last May, Bleeding Heart Pigeons released one of the most emphatic Irish albums in recent times, Stir. Thirteen months on, two-thirds of the Limerick band—frontman Mícheál Keating and drummer Brendan McInerney—have returned with the 10-minute epic ‘It’s Still There’. Commissioned by The Source Arts Centre of Thurles, and supported by both Tipperary County Council and The Arts Council, it’s a genre-mutating feat, melding Burial-esque menace with a slowly unfurling patchwork of ambient prog. Speaking about the track, Keating said: “This commission was a great incentive to play and experiment, and this was an ideal approach to writing the first tune we’ve made together since Stir was…

  • Premiere: Jake Wallace – Empyrean

    June 3, 2021 - By 

    As one-fifth of Belfast doom merchants Elder Druid, Jake Wallace knows a thing or two about the power of heft. Today, he offers a new vantage point to view his craft Taken from his debut solo EP, Lacuna – which is officially released via Black Tragick Records tomorrow – two-minute instrumental ‘Empyrean’ is a masterfully restrained effort that shines a light on the many hues of Wallace’s full-spectrum sound, Speaking about the EP, Wallace said, ‘The project came about as a result of lockdown and a few rainy afternoons in Belfast. I had never recorded any acoustic music at all, although I had…

  • Video Premiere: Skinner – Beer Me, Jim

    June 4, 2021 - By 

    Dublin musician and producer Aaron Corcoran aka Skinner has swiftly carved out a niche for himself in the Irish indie scene. Today, he underscores that promise with Gunge, a five-track EP melding slouching punk with a lo-fi jazz bent. A highlight is closer ‘Beer Me, Jim’. Written from the “perspective of a young Irish person in lieu of finding a path in a country facing high rents, growing social inequality and a future that is worse off than the generations that have come before,” it’s a sax-laced and decidedly earworming effort from the 23-year-old. Zoning in on the escapist ritualism…

  • Monday Mixtape: Lorraine Nash

    May 31, 2021 - By 

    From Crosby, Stills & Nash to Two Door Cinema Club, fast-rising Kerry multi-instrumentalist Lorraine Nash waxes lyrical about some of her all-time favourite tracks. Damien Rice – Delicate I find that there is nothing more comforting than finding a song that seems to perfectly mirror a situation you are in, or a feeling you have. When I first heard this, it was like Damien Rice had taken the words directly from my mouth. I love how a song can apply to so many people in so many different ways and that’s why I would prefer for people to find their…

  • Irish Tracks of The Week – May 28th

    May 28, 2021 - By 

    It’s safe to say it’s been another stacked week for world-beating Irish music. Here’s the very best of the lot, featuring Eimear Reidy & Natalia Beylis, Saint Sister, Tolü Makay, A. Smyth, Hazey Haze, Wyvern Lingo, NCW and more. Eimear Reidy & Natalia Beylis – Whose Woods These Are Whose Woods These Are by Eimear Reidy & Natalia Beylis Saint Sister – Manchester Air (Live) Tolü Makay – Aye A. Smyth – Tempt Hazey Haze – Thugger Vibes New Mud -Void Void by New Mud NCW – NCW On NCW NCW – NCW On NCW by Apartment Records Dani Larkin…

  • Ireland Music Week 2021 Applications Now Open

    May 24, 2021 - By 

    The application process for Ireland Music Week 2021 has opened. Organised by First Music Contact, the annual artist showcase will return – in one form or another – across October 5th to October 8th. Whether it’ll be an in-person or online affair is yet to be confirmed, pending COVID-19 restrictions. What is clear, though, is that you can apply to perform by going here and clicking “Apply to Play”. Applications must be made through a Breaking Tunes profile and the closing date for applications is Friday June 18th at 6pm. “Last year IMW was one of the first global events to…

  • Belfast Blues Legend Rab McCullough Dies Aged 72

    May 24, 2021 - By 

    Belfast blues legend Rab McCullough has passed away. The guitarist, who had performed with the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Rory Gallagher, died followed a cardiac arrest last week. He was 72. In more recent years, McCullough was a much-loved presence at Belfast’s Empire Music Hall. Each Thursday night, he and his band would treat locals and visitors alike to genuine musical mastery and, on countless occasions, some singular magic. In a statement, the Empire said: “As you all know, Rab played every Thursday, come rain or shine, in the Empire Basement. Students, music lovers and casual drinkers alike could be found marvelling at…