• Album Premiere: Swimmers Jackson – Murmuration

    May 7, 2020 - By 

    Dublin musician Niall Jackson has put the work in. As one-fourth of Dublin indie-rock quartet par excellence Bouts, a pivotal member of London-based Irish punk trio Sweat Threats, and a weaver of first-rate indie-pop in his own right as Swimmers Jackson, he’s never been an artist wanting for motive or inspiration. Tomorrow (Friday, May 8th) sees the release of the long-awaited Swimmers Jackson debut album, Murmurations. From beatific singles ‘Summer’s Here’ and ‘Bliss’ to earworming highlights including ‘Replaceable’ and ‘Pain In The Heart’, Jackson summons a ten-track triumph that runs the gamut from the gossamer, lullaby-like gems to emphatic full-band efforts.…

  • Watch: Natalia Beylis and Tola Custy Short Film ‘Black Birds Slowed Down’

    May 5, 2020 - By 

    Dublin-born, Leitrim-based film maker and musician Willie Stewart has unveiled his latest film. A visual response to a residency held at Glor in Ennis, Co Clare with artist, musician and Stewart’s fellow Woven Skull member Natalia Beylis and musician Tola Custy, the half-hour long Black Birds Slowed Down is a quietly compelling documentary, honing in how artists different musical backgrounds compare approaches and influences on music and creativity.

  • Stream: Denise Chaila – Down

    May 1, 2020 - By 

    ‘Leigh anois go curamach / Can’t define who I am with a Trocaire box’ Back in February, we featured Limerick-based Zambian-Irish rapper and poet Denise Chaila as one of a handful of Irish acts we’re convinced are set for huge things in 2020 and beyond. A few weeks and breathtaking set at Other Voices Ballina later, Chaila has knocked it out of the park with new single ‘Down’. Produced by MuRli, it’s a slick and instant classic. Denise’s independent label, narolane records, said, “It may be called ‘Down’ but the energy is all the way up on this one. A…

  • Watch: Bleeding Heart Pigeons – Trapped (VR Music Video)

    May 1, 2020 - By 

    We’ve featured a fair rake of Irish music on TTA today (there is most definitely something in the water) and none more worthy than the latest from Limerick trio Bleeding Heart Pigeons. Conjuring everyone from Grizzly Bear to Caribou, the Mícheál Keating-fronted band’s new single ‘Trapped’ is a nuanced and unravelling triumph. Taken from the band’s forthcoming second album, Stir, the song features strings from none other than Post Punk Podge and comes accompanied by a stellar monoscopic BR video, courtesy of Keating, with assistance from Graham Patterson, Conor Buckley and Hugh Heffernan. Watch below. Stir is released on May 22.

  • EP Stream: Philip Watts d’Alton – Reflections

    May 1, 2020 - By 

    Much too young to be considered a veteran, and far too accomplished to be considered anything resembling a newcomer, Belfast musician and producer Philip Watts d’Alton is a rare breed indeed. An in-demand producer, serial collaborator, founding member of NI alt-folk heroes Master & Dog and a craftsman in his own right, his songs stem from a place of pure, unadulterated candour and spirit. Thankfully, the music more than matches up with the intent. New EP, Reflections, more than sees to that. Across four tracks, d’Alton delivers a wholehearted, exquisitely produced EP that is well worth 15 minutes of your time. Reflections by Philip Watts…

  • Album Stream: Department of Forever – Flickering Light

    May 1, 2020 - By 

    Last May, we premiered the rapt and immersive ‘A Simulation of Here’ by Irish sound designer and musician Steve Fanagan aka Department of Forever. The closing track from his sublime album, Unseen Pictures, it hit home and then some. One year on, Fanagan’s sublime soundscapes can be heard in Normal People, the TV adaptation of Sally Rooney’s best-selling novel of the same name. New release Flickering Light contains four of those tracks and a couple more. “The original recordings for this release were improvised on a piano one night in late 2018, when I was living in a house share in London, before…

  • Stream: Skelocrats – Princeps

    May 1, 2020 - By 

    One of the gleaming jewels in the crown of Dublin collective Popical Island, Skelocrats dropped off the radar following the release of their second album, the still-excellent Bella Bella, back in 2015. One-off  single ‘You’ll Never Make Me Talk’ aside, their absence has been felt by many of us naturally predisposed to collaboratively-minded, fuzzed-out garage pop. Which is why we’re beside ourselves to share ‘Princeps’, the new single from Skelocrats. Brilliant and brisk at 2 minutes in length, it’s a song about strained devotion to the leader, and the first taste of the band’s forthcoming third album. Some things have changed: Paddy “supported…

  • Stream: The 343 Vol 1

    May 1, 2020 - By 

    In virtually no time at all, Belfast’s 343 has established itself as a vital part of the city’s creative community. An artist-focused, feminist-led, queer art-space in East Belfast, it’s one of many venues fighting to survive during the current COVID-19 pandemic. Currently fundraising as part of a national initiative launched by the Music Venue Trust, the 343 are going one further with the release of the aptly-titled The 343 Vol 1. Across fifteen tracks, it’s an endlessly listenable, perfectly genre-traversing compilation, featuring TTA favourites Rising Damp, Natalia Beylis, Elaine Howley, Gross Net & Fears and more. Best of all, seeing as Bandcamp…

  • Album Stream: Arvo Party – Devotions

    May 1, 2020 - By 

    If you were to look us dead in the eye and say “Arvo Party doesn’t sleep” we would genuinely believe you. The musical nom de plume of Belfast-based musician and producer Herb Magee, Arvo Party has been responsible for some of the most eclectic and forward-moving electronic sounds in Ireland over the last four years. His solo journey to date has almost been radically restless, propelled by a sense of determination that is unmistakable once you heed it. With his next album proper set to land in June, new release Devotions is an inspired feature-length diversion in its own right. Balmy…

  • Premiere: Deathbed Convert – Inner Mountain

    April 30, 2020 - By 

    Two years on from releasing the stellar Sentience and Sapience under his Ai Messiah alias, Belfast producer and musician Connor Dougan is back as Deathbed Convert. Set for release via NI’s finest imprint Touch Sensitive tomorrow (Friday, May 1) Dougan’s debut in his new guise is a feature-length exploration of bygone times, conjuring the melancholic beauty of The Durutti Column, Gigi Masin’s deep, ambient ocean, and Iasos’ endless expanse. Running parallel with Ai Messiah’s subjective speculations on the future, Debris of Echoes – which betrays the influence of Talk Talk, Alice Coltrane, Miles Davis and Pharoah Sanders – goes the other way, casting its inner…