• Irish Tracks of the Week – July 31st

    July 31, 2020 - By 

    It’s been another stellar week for new releases in every corner of the island. Delve into the best of the lot, featuring SOAK, Ailbhe Reddy, God Knows, Róisín Murphy, Sinead White, Fontaines D.C., Colm Warren and more SOAK ft. Gemma Doherty – I’m Alive Ailbhe Reddy – Between Your Teeth God Knows ft. BONY & MuRli – We Move The Needle Róisín Murphy – Something More Sinead White – Giant Spiders Uly – why did you go use your head? Fontaines D.C. – Love Is The Main Thing Bitch Falcon – Gaslight Colm Warren – Void KPZhhl-qJps

  • Jinx Lennon – Border Schizo FFFOlk Songs For The Fuc**d

    July 10, 2020 - By 

    “This is the border schizo cosmic folk sound, enjoy yourself today” sings Jinx Lennon on track three of his new album. The Dundalk folk-punk invites you to enjoy a glimpse of life in his hometown on his ninth album, Border Schizo FFFolk Songs For The Fuc**d. The collection captures the true essence of the popular cult artist, as he shares what grinds his gears in everyday life, as well as immortalising the atmosphere of living in a small border town with witty lyricism. The psychedelic 34-track collection is an amalgamation of comedy, criticism and unhinged ranting as well as social…

  • Album Premiere: Our Krypton Son – Modern Ruins

    July 10, 2020 - By 

    Three years on from the release of his NI Music Prize-nominated second album Fleas & Diamonds, Derry singer-songwriter Chris McConaghy aka Our Krypton Son has unveiled highly-anticipated follow-up, Modern Ruins. Underscoring his status as one of the country’s most compelling songwriting voices — a singular breed of artist wielding subtlety and heart-stung harmonic sensibility as a second nature — Modern Ruins is a rare feat of the soul, marrying pure-cut candour and elegy with finely-woven song. Headed with lead single ‘White Sun’, the album unfurls across nine tracks, each as exploratory and lambent as the next. But it’s the sheer scope of…

  • Monday Mixtape: CATALAN!

    July 6, 2020 - By 

    In the latest installment of Monday Mixtape, Belfast-based musician Ewen Friers aka CATALAN! waxes lyrical about some of his all-time favourite songs, from WHY? and DakhaBrakha, to Orlando Weeks and Orchéstre Baka Gbiné. Los Cotopla Boyz – Me Malviaje Con Las Ganlletas Get your week started right – Los Cotopla Boyz blowing away the cobwebs, this was their debut track. I like how this is danceable and direct from the get-go but ends with that sort of proggy introspective outro, somehow it works. Orchéstre Baka Gbiné – Kopola Staying on the international voyage that is this playlist here’s a crucial track…

  • A Litany of Failures: Volume III Announced

    July 3, 2020 - By 

    Two years on from its second volume, islandwide independent music compilation series A Litany of Failures has opened pre-orders and announced the tracklisting for Volume III in the series – out Friday, October 2nd. More eclectic, and more export-ready than ever, the compilation features brand new music from 22 acts across Ireland, including the first recorded output from Fifty Years of Hair (Postcard Versions/Girl Band’s Dara Kiely), The Golden Cleric (Shrug Life/Girlfriend/That Snaake) and Grave Goods (Girls Names, Pins, September Girls), as well as many of our favourites – Robocobra Quartet, Silverbacks, Rising Damp, Percolator, Extravision and many more. With cover art by Nathanaël Roman, it will be accompanied by…

  • Irish Tracks of the Week – May 29th

    May 29, 2020 - By 

    How better to reboot our weekly round-up of the very best new Irish music than with tracks by Denise Chaila, Our Krypton Son, Naoise Roo, Brigid Mae Power, Paddy Hanna, Bantum, Just Mustard and more? Delve in below. Denise Chaila – Chaila C H A I L A by Denise Chaila Our Krypton Son – White Sun Our Krypton Son · White Sun Naoise Roo – Sick Girlfriend Just Mustard – October (Live) Sinead White – The World Stops Spinning Song Sung – Telling Tales Havvk w/ Participant – Operate HAVVK · Operate Ft. Participant Brigid Mae Power – Wearing…

  • Album Stream: Joel Harkin – Never Happy

    May 19, 2020 - By 

    Over the last few months, Donegal singer-songwriter Joel Harkin has steadily cast a spell upon us and many others via first-rate singles ‘Vada’, ‘No Recycling’ and ‘Thought I’d Go Home’. Collectively, they are but three peaks from Harkin’s exquisite debut album, Never Happy, which is released today. Produced by George Sloan at Half Bap Studios, it’s a masterfully focused, filler-free release from the Belfast-based artist, distilling his brand of alternative folk down to ten tracks, each as inviting and incisive as the next. Delve in below. Never Happy by Joel Harkin

  • Our Krypton Son To Release Deluxe Album Raising Funds for NHS, Unveils ‘Sunlight in the Ashes’ Remix

    May 1, 2020 - By 

    We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: Derry singer-songwriter Chris McConaghy aka Our Krypton Son is one of the finest writer of heart-stung tales this island has ever seen. While his 2017, Northern Ireland Music Prize-nominated second album, Fleas & Diamonds, still proves Technicolour testament to this fact, McConaghy’s 2014 self-titled debut album set the scene in exceptional fashion. Across 11 songs, he swiftly established himself as an artist with an uncanny knack for mining elemental human truths as perfectly formed dream-pop gems. On Wednesday, May 6th, McConaghy is releasing a deluxe reissue of Our Krypton Son, with all proceeds going…

  • Stream: Joel Harkin – Vada

    May 1, 2020 - By 

    In just under three weeks, Belfast-based songwriter Joel Harkin releases his debut album, Never Happy. A ten-track distillation of the Donegal artist’s singular alt-folk vision, it filters the influence of artists as disparate as Conor Oberst, Modest Mouse, Bjork and Gregory & The Hawk to deliver a compelling statement of intent. The follow-up to March’s ‘No Recycling‘, new single ‘Vada’ is an outright highlight from the album.  “The song creates a world in which my mates from Letterkenny and the main character of my favourite film, the 1991 classic ‘My Girl’, exist in the same universe,” Harkin says. “It’s about how they…

  • Premiere: The Zang – Drinking With You

    May 1, 2020 - By 

    The music-making moniker of Belfast artist Chris Molloy, The Zang is a project that’s ultimately about having a sense of humour even in the darkest of times. The opening track and lead single from Molloy’s forthcoming debut album, ‘Drinking With You’ is an earworming pop rock gem, doubling up as equal parts a celebration of human connection and the joy of spending time with loved ones, versus the feeling of detachment and loneliness that we are all capable of enduring. Across three minutes, it makes for a subtly anthemic, harmony-laden effort that demands a repeated listen. Released in Oiltape Studios in Belfast…