Boston alt-rock legends Pixies are set to make their Irish return. Having recently played shows in Dublin and Belfast, the seminal, Black Francis-fronted quartet will return next summer to play the Big Top at Galway Arts Festival on July 17th and Dublin’s Iveagh Gardens on July 18th. Tickets, which go on sale at 9am this Friday, are priced €52.50 and €59.50 respectively.
Last August, Galway alt-pop maestro Eoin Dolan released easily one of the Irish releases of the year in the form of the sublime Superior Fiction. Over a year on from hailing it a four-track distillation of his yearning, sci-fi-tinged surf pop craft”, we’re very pleased to present a first listen to Dolan’s latest single, ‘Sheena’. Taking from his forthcoming third album, Commander of Sapiens, it’s a trademark carefully-crafted gem from Dolan, woozily blurring the contours of romance, reality and full-blown, spaced-out reverie. Commander of Sapiens is released in association with Citóg Records on Friday, November 22nd and will, we’re told, covers themes such as environmental destruction, mass consumerism and…
Co-produced by Cian Nugent, ‘Blow Up’ by Dublin-based artist Aoife Nessa Frances stems from a sonic netherworld inhabited, at different points, by the likes of Nico, Broadcast and Pentangle. Blurring the lines between folk, psychedelia and otherworldly pop, it’s a wonderfully-crafted paean, redolent of bygone times, all while occupying its very own woozy, yet supremely lucid territory. Marrying mellotron, strings and more, the song – which is accompanied by some sublime visuals courtesy of her sister, Anna McCarthy – is taken from Frances’ forthcoming debut album, Land of No Junction. It’s released via Basin Rock on January 17th. Borrowing its title from the…
On Tuesday, October 29th, Dublin’s National Concert Hall will play true to a special one-off event commemorating Tom Waits’ seminal seventh studio album, Swordfishtrombones. Featuring a veritable dream team of musicians in Nadine Shah, Soap&Skin, Lisa O’Neill, Dorian Wood and Matthew E. White, British instrumentalist David Coulter will oversee Swordfishtrombones Revisited on the night. With a six-piece band in tow, Coulter & co. will reinterpret tracks including ‘6 Shells From a Thirty-Ought-Six’ and ‘In The Neighborhood’ from the critically-acclaimed 1983 album. We’re teaming up with NCH to give away a pair of tickets to the show. To enter, simply Like…
Details of the return of Output Belfast next year have been announced. Ireland’s largest one-day music conference and showcasing event five years running will return to various venues across Belfast on Thursday, February 13th. As ever, as well as various talks and panels in the morning and afternoon, this year’s outing will also feature a music trail-like evening of concerts around the city’s Cathedral Quarter. Line-ups and schedule will be announced in due course. A new addition to next year’s outing is a brand new showcase stage, which is “devoted to new emerging talent that otherwise might be overlooked by…
Hailing from the Armagh Monaghan border, the wonderfully-woven folk craft of DANI is inspired by the Irish traditional melodies she was raised with. Delving into the celtic mythic imagination, it’s music that saw the artist selected as the Artist in Residence at Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival earlier this year, supporting the likes of Rufus Wainwright, The Eskies and Joshua Burnside. Today, the Belfast-based musician releases an acoustic version of her most emphatic single to date, ‘The Mother Within’. While the original is a first-rate collaboration with Indonesian percussionists KunoKini, this new, stripped-back version reveals new layers of melodic and emotive flair. DANI…
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds will play Dublin next year. Taking place as part of a wider Spring European and UK tour, the band will play Dublin’s 3 Arena on Friday, May 8 2020. It will mark their return to the country following last year’s Kilmainham show. Tickets go on sale on Friday, October 25 at 10am. Price TBA.
Dan Snaith aka Caribou is set to make his Irish return next year. Doubling up as the first announcement for the series next summer, the Canadian artist will play Iveagh Gardens on Saturday, July 11th. It’s the penultimate date in a string of 2020 dates for Caribou. Tickets go on sale on Friday morning. Stream a new track ‘Home’ below.
Initial details of Other Voices return to Dingle have been announced. Set for its 18th outing, the much-loved Irish music institution will take over the Kerry port town across November 29 to December 1. As well as teaming up with Dingle Gin as the partner for the Music Trail – a dynamic series of gigs at venues across the town throughout the weekend – organisers have also revealed that the distinct ideas steam with OV, Ireland’s Edge, will take place across November 29-30. The Music Trail West, Banter and After Dark are also confirmed with more information to follow over the coming weeks. With 7,000…
The eclectic line-up for this year’s Imagine Arts Festival in Waterford has been announced. Set to return to various venues in the city, the festival will host a across October 18-27, the multi-disciplinary festival with host 80 full-bodied and well-balanced events spanning music, theatre, dance, visual art discussion and debate. Among the musical highlights this year include Cat Dowling, and fast-rising Northern Irish artist Kitt Philippa (pictured) with support from Laura Duff. For more info about what this year has in store – as well as tickets and full schedule – check out the Imagine Arts Festival website here.