• Stendhal Festival Announce Socially Distanced Music Festival Unlocked

    June 23, 2020 - By 

    Long a highlight of the Irish summer festival calendar, Stendhal Festival is one of many annual events working around government regulations around mass gatherings this summer. With an eye to allowing music lovers around the country to get back out and enjoy experiencing live music for the first time in months, Unlocked will – should it get the go-ahead – be one of the first festivals of its kind in Northern Ireland. With a strong emphasis on social distancing, the five-part series will take place at Ballymully Cottage Farm in Limavady across August and September. Due to existing government regulations on mass gatherings, organisers…

  • Premiere: Waldorf & Cannon – Dear Richard

    June 19, 2020 - By 

    Many Irish acts have kept remarkably busy in the age of lockdown, not least Derry/Donegal twosome Waldorf & Cannon. Hands down one of the North West’s finest fuzzed-up, no-nonsense alt-rock propositions, today the band release The Lockdown Special, a self-produced, six-track release bringing together live versions of tracks including ‘Syntax Error’ with material including new single ‘Dear Richard’. Doubling up as one of the duo’s strongest single efforts to date, its video – which we’re pleased to premiere below – was shot entirely in lockdown. As DIY goes, Waldorf & Cannon make it their mission statement. Have a first look at the video, and…

  • EP Premiere: Banríon – Airport Dads

    June 18, 2020 - By 

    Fronted by Róisín Hackett, Banríon are a Dublin foursome who bridge alt-rock and carefully-crafted indie-rock in the vein of Soccer Mommy and Snail Mail. Across three tracks, the band’s self-produced debut EP Airport Dads was recorded in a sitting room in Connemara, and is full testament to a band who have caught our attention right from the outset. Exploring the complex theme of disability, alongside broader ruminations on uncertainty, emigration and heartbreak, lead single ‘Yesterdays’ Paper’, ‘Bunkbeds’ and closer ‘Ouchie’ betray the pathos, songwriting finesse and harmonic knack of a band we’re sure will make big leaps in the coming months. Mark our words on that…

  • Premiere: Cruiser – Ovaltine

    June 17, 2020 - By 

    At the beating heart of Limerick’s fully thriving music scene as of late are Cruiser, a foursome comprising Ger Devine, Rachael Drennan, Chris Quigley and Steve Savage. Striking a sweet point between supremely candid indie rock and intricately-woven shoegaze worship, the gentler side of the band’s sonic M.O. is laid bare across the four minutes of ‘Ovaltine’. Originally featured on the band’s split EP with Belfast trio Mob Wife late last year (check out our premiere here) it’s a song evoking everyone from Bedhead and early Slowdive, to Codeine and Duster. Today, we’re pleased to present a first look at the song’s brand new video. Doubling up as one…

  • Half Moon Festival 2020

    June 17, 2020 - By 

    Originally due to be launched as a multi-venue series at The Kino in Cork back in March, the inaugural Half Moon Festival will take place online from Friday, June 26th to Sunday, June 28th. No doubt likely to return in its full form next year, the line-up for this year’s inaugural outing offers up a stellar, multi-disciplinary series of music, performance, podcasting and beyond. Inspired by the way in which Cork’s Half Moon street “acts as a bridge between everyday life and the cultural spaces that are central to Cork,” the inaugural outing will feature Trá Pháidín, Síomha, Pulses featuring…

  • Irish Tracks of the Week – June 12th

    June 12, 2020 - By 

    Including premieres of brand new singles by Not I and James Anderson, we round up the best Irish tracks released this week, from Jafaris, Everything Shook, Tebi Rex and Alpha Chrome Yayo to Dott, Goodtime John, Pillow Queens, Susie Blue and Unbelievable Lake. Not I – Please Be Kind [Premiere] James Anderson – Peace [Premiere] Jafaris – Glue Everything Shook – Stand Ajar Stand Ajar by Everything Shook Tebi Rex – I Got My Whole Unbelievable Lake – Forgive Unbelievable Lake · Forgive Susie Blue – Daughter Alpha Chrome Yayo – Tomb Dive Skylight Sessions by Alpha Chrome Yayo Dott –…

  • Stream: Goodtime John – Hang On/Black Sunrise

    June 11, 2020 - By 

    Exactly a year on from releasing one of the Irish albums of the year, Beauty & Chaos, Goodtime John (AKA J. Cowhie, GOODTIME) is back with a stellar brace of gently-rolling, psych-inflected pop. Featuring long time collaborators including Richie Egan aka Jape and Ross Turner (Lisa Hannigan, Villagers) ‘Hang On’ and ‘Black Sunrise’ are equally emphatic efforts that place deft harmonies and refrains center-stage. “These songs have never quite fit on an album to my mind, but have always felt to me that they go hand in hand,” John said. “Cut from the same cloth as it were. In the current…

  • Watch: Pillow Queens – Handsome Wife

    June 11, 2020 - By 

    Few bands earworm quite like Pillow Queens. Having been on our radar since 2017, the Dublin indie quartet will release their debut album, In Waiting, in September. If their new single ‘Handsome Wife’ is anything to go by – and it surely is – we’re in for something special. Featuring wonderful visuals shot and assembled during lockdown, it’s a star-shaped and suitably burrowing gem from the foursome. “‘Handsome Wife’ begins with a glimpse into an emotional homecoming, one that intensifies and romanticises the seemingly insignificant,” the band said. “Throughout, the mundane but tender moments are held up and deified, paying…

  • EP Stream: Eoin Dolan – June Hope

    June 9, 2020 - By 

    A master of carefully-crafted throwback pop, Galway’s Eoin Dolan has steadily emerged as one of the country’s most distinct songwriting voices. Off the back of last year’s sublime Commander of Sapiens – Dolan’s third full-length album to date – new EP June Hope is a feat of minimal, psych-inflected indie-pop. Equal parts focused and optimistic, it’s a release that looks to the horizon with a heart full of hope. Speaking about the EP, which he also produced, mixed and mastered, Dolan said, “Winters are fairly dark in the west of Ireland – what keeps you going are thoughts of a fresh spring and the warmth…

  • Irish Tracks of the Week – June 5th

    June 5, 2020 - By 

    It should come as no surprise that many of the tracks featured this week are directly donating to, or released in strong support of various bail funds and charities like MASI and Black Lives Matter. And seeing as Bandcamp are once more waiving their fees today, buying music – not simply streaming it – is what it’s all about. MuRli – Til The Wheels Drop Off Till The Wheels Fall Off by MuRli Fears – two_ (Kobina Remix) two_ remixes by Fears The Last Sound – Beamed Beamed by The Last Sound Plaice – Such Sweet Release Planar En Plain Air by Plaice…