Having just announced her new album, Take Her Up To Monto – due for release on July 8 through Play It Again Sam – Roisin Murphy has unveiled the LP’s lead track, ‘Mastermind’. The album was recorded along with long-time collaborator Eddie Stevens, during the same sessions as its predecessor, the Choice & Mercury Prize-nominated Hairless Toys. Never one to ignore the bigger picture of her art, Murphy is also to self-direct each video from the record. Stream ‘Mastermind’ below:
Colin Blunstone is the lead singer of the legendary British band The Zombies, and has enjoyed a successful solo career since the band split in 1969. Eimear Hurley caught up with the singer fresh off of his solo tour in the UK and Holland, and ahead of a busy summer touring schedule with his solo band and the Zombies. Hi Colin. You have enjoyed a fantastic musical career so far, spanning five decades. Can you tell me about your experience of being an artist in the 21st century compared to when you first started? The business is almost unrecognisable from…
Belfast’s Pleasure Beach have had an interesting first year of life. Having garnered almost immediate attention with their debut single ‘Go’ the band were left to cut their teeth on the live circuit with eyes and ears already planted firmly on them. The five piece took to their high-profile support slots with precociousness and charm despite their sets often comprising of 50% covers. Their debut EP Dreamer to the Dawn was a dazzlingly colourful release with ‘Go’ playing on the same field as The War on Drugs and Bruce Springsteen while ‘Hayley’ was a delicate, sleepy number that radiated with an emotional “soundtrack ready” charm. The band has…
Fancy a game of Countdown? Of course you do. Dublin composer and bandleader Max Zaska yesterday debuted the brand new video for his most recent release ‘Got to Go’. It’s a soulful number that shows Zaska and his troupe of supremely talented musicians continuing on the same trajectory as previous releases In Your Own Sweet Time and Different Light, crafting songs that are effortlessly accessible while still maintaining satisfying and adept jazz technicality. ‘Got To Go’ is another fine example of the joyous work of the bandleader and guitarist as he puppeteers the band in a smooth, charming dance of soul, funk, blues and…
In the early years of Record Store Day, depending on where you lived in Ireland your choice of independent record shops to visit may have been limited or even nonexistent. But despite the growth of downloads and streaming in the eight years since the day started, while some old shops have died away, many more have sprung up in their place, and many of those who had nowhere to go in 2008 are now spoiled for choice. As the number of limited edition releases grow and major labels further muscle in on the event it’s easy to grow cynical and…
Off the back of his excellent collaboration with MC Bobby Basil of hellish rap duo Dah Jevu, Wastefellow links up with director Conor Donoghue to create a beautiful digital haze to accompany the dazed and confused video for ‘Wonder’, the first single from his upcoming Amazed, A Maze! EP. Wastefellow is Dublin based experimental producer Diolmhain Ingram Roche. Citing influences from Flying Lotus to Sunn O))) and back via Tim Hecker, Wastefellow’s work is densely layered and innovative and placing slick hooks and honest vocals over unworldly synths and chewed up samples. On ‘Wonder’, a forlorn lead line, spacious beats…
“I’ve only got five strings now, but I’ll play on anyway!” Liverpool born support act Louis Berry is nothing if not enthusiastic, with the guitar malfunction that occurred only two songs into his set seemingly only spurring him on to deliver an even more frantic than usual perfromance. Berry’s snotty delivery is a true asset when delivering the sort of hard-nosed, retro rock n roll that he and his three band mates specialise in, and the Scouser’s throbbing energy sparked a warm response from the already impressively large Limelight 2 crowd, as he tore through numbers such as ‘.45’ and…
Primal Scream are the definition of British indie-rock royalty: former Jesus and Mary Chain drummer Bobby Gillespie’s genre hopping crew – which has welcomed contributors as diverse as Kevin Shields, the Stone Roses’ Mani, Robert Plant and Kate Moss – have constantly evolved their sound, from the jangle of early singles such C86 standout ‘Velocity Girl’ to the generation defining acid house crossover smash Screamadelica. After refusing to cash in on its success with following records, the band have embraced Stonesy boogie – Give Up But Don’t Give Out, Riot City Blues -, pulsating Krautrock – XTRMNTR -, B-movie soundtrack – Vanishing Point– and everything in…
The late alternative rock icon Jeff Buckley was recently the subject of a documentary on BBC Radio Ulster’s Across the Line featuring contributions from friends, fans and fellow artists. The programme’s highlight, however, was a charming anecdote from Buckley’s sole Belfast date: after playing to a half empty Limelight, the practically unknown Buckley and his band were bemused when their simple tour rider request for ‘beer and soda’ saw them greeted with trays of filled soda farls on their arrival to the dressing room. Buckley’s confused encounter with Belfast’s finest luxury serves as a reminder of his relatively limited fame during his own lifetime: the small,…
The modern folk music scene is all too often seen as the playground of minimal imagination. In recent years it has divided opinion more than most and rightfully so, suffering as it does from sub-par input with lazy, introspective lyrics and generic instrumentation. Such is the dilution of the genre, it takes something special to stand out and demand attention. Ciara O’Neill’s album, The Ebony Trail is a largely sparkling piece of work with inventive themes, ideas and directions yet it is also an album which occasionally fails to match its own high standards. Ciara takes a worn out trope and twists it into something…