• 17 for ’17: Maija Sofia

    January 31, 2017 - By 

    Maija Sofia was reared in remote Connemara, lived in London and now resides in Dublin. Places with their own unique idiosyncrasies and experiences awaiting the inhabitants of such diverse environments. Experiences that inform the decisions we make and the things we create. Maija Sofia’s songs – soft, melancholic compositions guided by the harp and guitar –   encapsulate the creative output born from a wonderment spurred by isolation, something that is omnipresent. She has been compared to Kate Bush, Pj Harvey and Elliott Smith and there are traces of those great artists in her sound but Maija Sofia is a true…

  • Baring Her Soul: An Interview With Dublin’s Samantha Kay AKA Soulé

    January 26, 2017 - By 

    Last year was momentous for Dublin urban-electronic singer Samantha Kay AKA Soulé. She released her debut single ‘Love No More’ which featured regularly on national airwaves, played her first headline show in Dublin’s Workman’s Club, all this while concurrently working on her debut album under the guidance of Diffusion Lab. She ignites an innovation within the Irish music R’n’B scene, one that is becoming as prominent amongst a dominance of guitar lead indie and rock bands. Ahead of performing alongside Booka Brass and BARQ at Jameson’s Bow St. Session at Dublin’s The Sugar Club tonight, Zara Hedderman talks to Kay about…

  • Inbound: MUNKY

    January 25, 2017 - By 

    If you’re becoming slightly jaded with run of the mill music and want to expand your ear to something different, MUNKY are the antidote. Today, the Dublin quartet released the video for their new single ‘Hunter Gatherer Blues’, four minutes of infectious disco-infused rock. Zara Hedderman spoke to their frontman, Zac Stephenson about the video, their influences and their forthcoming debut headline gig in Whelan’s on February 1. Who are MUNKY? MUNKY are Zac Stephenson (lead vocals, guitar),  Sam Russell (drums), Conor Lawlor (lead guitar) Niall Donnelly (bass). What brought you guys together to form the band? Zac: I met Conor…

  • Foxygen – Hang

    January 23, 2017 - By 

    “And it all but seems my lifetime dreams have ended.” Not the most encouraging sentiment to begin a song with, but at least it’s honest. That is how ‘On Lankershim’, the current single by  Californian avant-garde duo Foxygen, commences. It strikes a searing contrast to a lyric from ‘Shuggie’ from their 2013 album, We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic which proclaims, “If you believe in yourself you can free your soul”. Foxygen formed twelve years ago when high school pals Jonathan Rado and Sam France began experimenting with psychedelic arrangements. In more recent times, there have…

  • Inbound: Jesse Heffernan

    December 8, 2016 - By 

    Jesse Heffernan’s musical style has developed and matured naturally with each experience and influence met by the Dublin singer songwriter throughout his varied trajectory. The laid back, atmospheric tendencies of his expanding catalogue draws from the modes of articulation perfected by classical figures (Marvin Gaye, Van Morrison and John Martyn) and specific elements of contemporary musicians such as the lo-fi guitar reverb of King Krule’s early single, ‘Out Getting Ribs’, which is re-enacted on Heffernan’s ‘Electric Shoes’ This diversity gives density to his mellow melodies and soulful vocals which effortlessly lull you into a state of uninterrupted calm, a rarity…

  • Merch For Choice: An Interview With Repeal Project’s Anna Cosgrave

    October 3, 2016 - By 

    Fashion as political activism is a powerful medium to raise awareness and create a sense of solidarity. Vivienne Westwood was one of the first designers to utilise the immediacy of clothing to start conversations about universal issues. Recently in Ireland, men and women have been wearing jumpers with the word REPEAL across their chest. They represent a nation wanting their country to be progressive and respectful by giving women a fundamental human right that has been denied throughout the history of Catholic Ireland and inhumanity of the Eight Amendment in our Constitution. Anna Cosgrave, founder of the Repeal Project, has…

  • Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam – I Had a Dream That You Were Mine

    October 3, 2016 - By 

    The Walkmen formed in 2000 following the disintegration of two Washington bands, The Recoys and Jonathan Fire*Eater. They relocated to New York City and actively moved away from the indie garage of their contemporaries led by The Strokes. The Walkmen’s music was, instead, guided by a collective love for lo-fi production and the sound of vintage instruments which made some of the most interesting modern music to behold throughout the six studio albums they recorded over their fifteen year tenure. When the band dispersed, frontman Hamilton Leithauser released a debut album entitled Black Hours, in 2014. It was a mixture of sombre reflection and jovial melodies…

  • Warpaint – Heads Up

    September 26, 2016 - By 

    Warpaint are a band that divide opinion. In 2010, they became an almost instant underground success with ‘Undertow’, the lead single from their abstractly alternative album, The Fool. The album stood out in the year when Beach House released Teen Dream, Vampire Weekend’s Contra and Broken Social Scene’s Forgiveness Rock Record dominated radio airtime. Warpaint sought to be different with a sombre and grittier edge in the midst of bands shedding lightness and exuberance lyrically and musically. Unfortunately, they lost momentum with their subsequent self-titled album from 2013, which was met with mixed reviews, upon which the Californian quartet went on a…

  • Angel Olsen – My Woman

    September 5, 2016 - By 

    I’ve never been able keep a diary. Having to articulate and make sense of the thoughts that muddle my mind used to be a terrifying and daunting ordeal. The first song I heard by Angel Olsen was ‘The Waiting’, from her first full length studio album, Half Way Home. In this song, she sings about fruitlessly and foolishly waiting for someone to reciprocate a feeling of fulfilment that we are capable of giving to ourselves. It just takes a little time to reach that realisation.That shift from interdependence to independence allows you to appreciate the inevitable contentions in life as a twenty-something with an unfettered honesty…

  • Lisa Hannigan – At Swim

    August 23, 2016 - By 

    Prior to the release of Lisa Hannigan‘s third solo album, At Swim, a wave of commentary washed away any preconceived perceptions people may have towards her musical style as she unveiled glimpses into a fuller, darker deftness to her repertoire. At Swim comes after a five year interim from her last record, Passenger. The eleven songs, lasting a concise thirty-nine minutes, are more pared but by no means feel compromised or lacking in either content, tone and instrumental arrangements to her previous albums. The discernment gone into making this record adds to the substance and timelessness of the songs born from sublime…