• Vault Lines: Clara Tracey

    January 18, 2024 - By 

    Belfast-based artist Clara Tracey muses on a formative musical memory from her upbringing in Co. Fermanagh, ‘The Spanish Lady’ by Maighréad and Triona Ní Dhomhnaill Photo by Monika Ruman When asked to contemplate the vaults of my musical experience, I don’t really feel qualified, especially seeing as this is one of the few legitimately “cool” music magazines. As someone who came into an eclectic musical awareness really only in the last ten years, what went before feels like a fairly classic blur of A Woman’s Heart and whatever Gay Byrne and co were playing on nineties RTÉ (nothing against that…

  • Irish Tracks of the Week – 19th January

    January 18, 2024 - By 

    Dig into the best Irish tracks of the week, featuring the return of Belfast jazz-punk quartet Blue Whale, Fears, Chalk, Villagers, David Hedderman, Conchúr White and more Blue Whale – Otic Brawl Chalk – Claw Fears – 4th of the 1st affinity by Fears Conchúr White – 501s Villagers – That Golden Time David Hedderman – Pokerface An Auld Lad and Peng Weng – Ballad Of A Bad Wife (Kaua​ʻ​i ʻ​ō​ʻ​ō) an auld lad sung peng weng. low crows nest by Peng Weng The Psychs – The Bullet Song Ro Yourell – Dance With You

  • Monday Mixtape: Stray Planets

    January 15, 2024 - By 

    Off of the back of ‘Glowing Rectangles’—his stellar new single featuring Dara Kiely of Gilla Band—John Butler of Dublin collective Stray Planets delves into a small selection of his favourite songs, from Judee Sill, Gabriel Faure and Supergrass to The Supremes, Haruyo Oguro & Tomoko Sasaki Photo by Justin Young Sagittarius – Glass An evocative track from an album I love called Present Tense. Good one to listen to on headphones walking in town through a tide of faces. Harpers Bizarre – High Coin This track is more up my street than where I live. A perfect marriage of beauty…

  • Irish Tracks of The Week – 12th January

    January 12, 2024 - By 

    Our very first Irish Tracks of the Week of 2024 is a strong one. Delve into our favourite new Irish tracks and albums of the week, featuring Lucy Gaffney, Stray Planets featuring Gilla Band’s Dara Kiely, Sprints, NewDad, HAVVK and more Lucy Gaffney – Locked Up Never Fade Stray Planets – Glowing Rectangles Sprints – Letter To Self Letter To Self by SPRINTS NewDad – White Ribbons HAVVK – You Say You Won’t Ailsha – Go Tobann Honas – Cash Machine Def Nettle – Four Years

  • Inbound: Fiona O’Connell

    January 9, 2024 - By 

    Emerging artists of the Irish folk sort have been making waves across these pages with distinctive takes on the traditional form. With mystical melodies and ethereal vocals, Dublin’s Fiona O’Connell transcends genre with her sweet, yet melancholic sound. A rising star in the indie folk scene, she has been in the habit of weaving delicate blends for the last decade. Combining traditional influences with electronic, pop and ambient measures, O’Connell is forging a path of her own. Her debut single ‘Easily’ assumed a breezy ebb and flow of nostalgia, with haunting vocals, a gentle guitar melody and resonant percussion creating…

  • The Absolute State Of Us: How Array Collective Works

    January 5, 2024 - By 

    As they head into 2024, Belfast’s Turner-prize winning art group Array Collective throw some light on how collaboration, humility and converging passions work for them How does Array work? Whenever we are asked to talk to students or audiences, the questions we are asked most often are along the lines of, “How do 11 artists make one artwork? What does it mean to be a collective?”. It seems mind-boggling to many people that there is no one in charge (us too sometimes, to be fair). During a press interview not so long ago, a journalist wondered, “How can anyone make…

  • The Low-End Theory: An Interview John ‘Spud’ Murphy

    January 4, 2024 - By 

    Stevie Lennox chats with Spud Murphy about his crucial role in sculpting the soundworlds of Lankum, Black MIDI, ØXN and more Photos by Loreana Rushe In an inauspicious arch underneath the Dart line in North Dublin you’ll find John ‘Spud’ Murphy, working away in his longtime hub of Guerrilla Studios. “So it still is like a cave, which has pros and cons,” he says. “You’re in a cave. And there’s no external light, but you don’t know what time of the day it is. So you just keep working and you’re not looking outside going, oh, it’s beautiful outside. You…

  • The Thin Air’s Top 100 Irish Releases of 2023

    December 20, 2023 - By 

    When we signed off our top releases of 2022 this time last year with “Your move, 2023,” we honestly couldn’t fathom what was to come. With Elaine Howley, Gilla Band, Aoife Nessa Frances and One Eye One Leg among countless heavy hitters in a truly banner twelve months, there was a sense that, for all our limitless belief in what sets us apart as an island, we had hit a bit of a peak – one to be equalled, at best, in the coming twelve months. Blessedly, how wrong we were. Lifting our collective jaw off the floor to compile…

  • Irish Tracks of the Week – 15th December

    December 15, 2023 - By 

    It’s our final weekly round-up of the year, featuring new music from Cathal Francis, ALYXIS feat. CMAT, Anderson Nightmare, Sinéad White and more Cathal Francis – Elle ALYXIS feat. CMAT – Grip Anderson Nightmare – Ready For You Sinéad White – Common Denominator Common Denominator by Sinéad White Erika Severyns – Ireland Erika Severyns · Ireland Rory Nellis – Forget You Love (Live) Owls – Bury Me Big Tears – I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend Conor Furlong – In My Arms

  • L’esprit de l’escalier: An interview with Perlee

    December 12, 2023 - By 

    Ahead of playing Dublin and Belfast this weekend, Berlin-via-Navan duo Perlee discuss the magic of taking chances, putting their stamp on dream-pop and releasing one of the Irish LPs of the year, Speaking From Other Rooms Speaking From Other Rooms is one of the most accomplished Irish albums of the year. It spans soundworlds and explores some really strong themes like self-actualisation, destiny and long-distance love. It feels like you invested a lot of your soul into the release. Looking back, does it feel that way to you? Thanks for saying so. There were so many beautiful Irish releases this…