• Lily Allen – No Shame

    June 25, 2018 - By 

    No Shame is Lily Allen’s most comprehensive album to date. What may at first, to naysayers, appear like a feeble attempt at bringing the charm of the noughties pop into the modern world, soon veers into a dark journey through Allen’s very real and personal struggles the moment you scratch the surface. The honesty portrayed in this album is far from alarming and it’s not Allen’s intention to play up to shock factor or trigger any radical change in the ethics of relationships. Instead, Lily Allen shares these jarring truths with us without shame or fear, giving herself to the…

  • Ash – Islands

    June 14, 2018 - By 

    Ash’s seventh studio album Islands lets you listen once again to the corny soundtrack to your summer love affair. Wheeler scrapes towards the very bottom of the barrel in one final bid to transform that washing machine shift at a Gaeltacht Céilí into the idealised romanticised summer of sun, beach and surfing. Islands features a myriad of sun-soaked riffs, images of crisp, white beaches for miles and just about everything else you’d expect from an Ash album. Only this time, the summer lovin’ fallacy just isn’t working its charm the way it used to as the album falls just short…

  • Delorentos – True Surrender

    May 20, 2018 - By 

    Delorentos fifth studio album, True Surrender, boils down to one simple message: Cut the bullshit. Through intricate metaphors of escapism, bold images of desolate extradition from society and elusive references to the current, global political state, the Dublin outfit beg us to take a step back and ask ourselves: Is this the world we want to be living in? From observations of panic to eventual acceptance, the 2012 Choice Music Prize winners take us on a journey through some manner of existential crisis, leading us ultimately to a state of acceptance. The album opens with a recurring, focal image of an…

  • Wyvern Lingo – Wyvern Lingo

    March 11, 2018 - By 

    At its core, Wyvern Lingo’s stunning, eponymous debut is a journey towards recovery after a break-up, leading us on an intimate journey through love, loss and healing to an eventual resurrection. Wyvern Lingo bring to the table the storytelling qualities of Ireland’s contemporary folk musicians (Lisa Hannigan, Glen Hansard) but just as confidently introduce decades worth of pop and R&B flavours and sensibilties to make this an album that is truly their own. The Bray trio succeed in adapting these personal tales of woe, love and loss into a universal experience,  most clearly executed in tracks like ‘Dark Cloud’ and…

  • The Academic – Tales From the Backseat

    January 20, 2018 - By 

    One of the most hotly tipped young indie-bands in Ireland,The Academic have released their debut album; a ten-track LP so radio friendly that you have probably heard most of the tracks already after months of extensive airplay. These four lads – all still in their early 20s – appear to have have risen from the rubble of the bygone era of rock boybands (The Vamps, 5SOS) with a charming debut that holds its own amid waves of similarly inclined young bands. Tales from the Backseat thrives on its own simplicity, along with their precocious gift for creating infectious earworms. The…

  • 18 for ’18: LAOISE

    January 9, 2018 - By 

    Having already featured JYellowL and Dowry, we continue 18 for ’18, our feature of showcasing eighteen Irish acts we’re convinced are going places in 2018. Throughout January we’re going to be previewing each of those acts, accompanied by words from our writers and an original photograph from one of our photographers. Next up is LAOISE. Photo by Aaron Corr Galway electronic pop artist Laoise Ní Nualláin (or simply LAOISE) took 2017 by storm with the release of her debut EP, Halfway. This four-track release received critical acclaim across the board for both its originality and honest insight into broader themes of anxiety and despair. Leading single, ‘You’…

  • The Killers @ 3Arena, Dublin

    November 20, 2017 - By 

    From the moment we set eyes on The Killers’ set at the 3Arena, we know it’s going to be a surreal experience. The stage set – a fine cross between the Vegas strip and a church altar – glitters to life as touring guitarist Ted Sablay strikes the opening chords of ‘Wonderful Wonderful’. Brandon Flowers struts on stage and dominates it. A single spotlight shines down on the pastor as he addresses 9,000 disciples. After two songs, The Killers grace us with a few lines of – admittedly cringe-worthy, scripted – banter to create that faux-rapport. It falls dead with…

  • Album Review: Liam Gallagher – As You Were

    October 23, 2017 - By 

    So here we are, Liam Gallagher has done something he would never said he’d do and presented to us his debut solo album, As You Were, a straightforward rock album with no if’s, no but’s and certainly no synthesisers. As You Were amounts to just about everything it says on the tin. Ironically enough though, for his alleged tribute to all things “rock ‘n’ roll”, Gallagher has called upon the A-List of pop-songwriters, Greg Kurstin and Andrew Wyatt. While there’s no stand-out strokes of genius, the album should be accredited with worthy acclaim for its lack of filler tracks – It’s…

  • The Killers – Wonderful Wonderful

    October 2, 2017 - By 

    One of the golden rules of making any playlist is that you should absolutely never ever start the night with ‘Mr. Brightside’. ‘Mr. Brightside’ should not feature anywhere in the first two hours of a night. Since its phenomenal success 16 years ago – which earned it a spot on the Billboard Top 100 to this day – ‘Mr. Brightside’ has been hailed as one of the most popular “peak” songs for any appropriate party, be that a wedding or whatever you’re having yourself. It reaches its maximum potential only when coupled with unsafe amounts of Jaeger at 2am with crowds…

  • L.A Witch – L.A Witch

    September 18, 2017 - By 

    L.A Witch‘s eponymous debut long player is the movieless soundtrack of the year, one that is utterly addictive and that will leave you begging for a visual counterpart. From their brooding vocals and hazy riffs, the Californian psych rock trio take us on a cinematic journey through the seedy bars and clubs of 1960s Los Angeles. L.A. Witch have set out to capture a hazy, Californian dream; a sound lost and found only in the depths of David Lynch’s surreal, on-screen exposés of the Southern Californian underbelly. Any of these nine tracks would slip neatly into this scene; crackling in the background…