• Premiere: Anthony Layde – Aphids

    September 5, 2024 - By 

    A couple of months ago, I had the pleasure of being invited to the latest edition of Soft Gut Songwriting Camp. As I tried to sum up here, in under two days, I saw some of the island’s top talent in both songwriting and production come together to create some truly outstanding original music. But one collaboration in particular stood out for me—and many others in attendance at Analogue Catalogue that weekend. ‘Aphids,’ the new single from Northern Irish artist Anthony Layde, felt singular. With Layde’s masterfully vulnerable refrains paired with the soaring register of Belfast art-pop artist J SHIELDS…

  • 3Arena Set For Massive Pogues Show

    September 2, 2024 - By 

    The Pogues will mark the 40th anniversary of their seminal debut album, Red Roses For Me, with an unmissable show at Dublin’s 3Arena on December 17th. Founding member Spider Stacy will lead the performance, reprising his recent critically acclaimed performance of the band’s debut. Coming just over a year after the passing of Shane MacGowan, the night will also feature a top-tier lineup of guests, including Ian and Daragh Lynch from Lankum, Junior Brother, Grian Chatten and Tom Coll from Fontaines D.C., Nadine Shah, John Francis Flynn, Kojaque, Iona Zajac, and Stick In The Wheel. Additional guests are expected to…

  • Brian Jonestown Massacre Set For Belfast and Dublin Shows

    September 2, 2024 - By 

    Hold on to your love beads: one of the all-time greats, Brian Jonestown Massacre, are coming back to Ireland next year. Having stopped off in the cities early last year, the Anton Newcombe-fronted psych-rock masters will return to play Belfast’s Ulster Hall on 11th February 2025 and the 3Olympia in Dublin on 12th February. The shows are part of an 18-stop tour across Europe in January and February, kicking of off in Hamburg on 28th January and finishing at Cardiff on 20th February. Check out the full dates below. Reflecting on BJM’s recent output, 2022’s Fire Doesn’t Grow On Trees…

  • Ciaran Lavery Set For Lyric Theatre Show

    August 21, 2024 - By 

    Ciaran Lavery has announced details of a new live music experience at the Lyric Theatre. One of the highlights from this year’s Belfast International Arts Festival programme, which takes over the city from 16th October until 23rd November, Light Entertainment follows the acclaimed Northern Irish artist as he battles against crippling creative self-doubt and the allure of procrastination-inducing distractions in a last-ditch attempt to create his next hit record. Sound familiar? Collective consciousness within the sphere of self-doubt and so much more aside, Lavery – who you’ll know as one of the island’s finest, most reliably shapeshifting artists – is…

  • Premiere: Adjunct Ensemble – How Dare You Be Free!

    August 21, 2024 - By 

    In a sonic flash that feels both fleeting and eternal, Adjunct Ensemble’s ‘How Dare You Be Free!’ emerges as a six-minute sorcerous effort – a masterful act of improvisational conjuring featured on the forthcoming Habits Of Assembly – Live At Café OTO. Under the direction of fêted Belfast composer and musician Jamie Thompson, whose radical improvisational instincts are matched by his uncompromising political commentary, the project assembled a world-class lineup: Stephen Davis on drums, John Pope on bass, Sam Comerford on tenor sax, and Thompson himself on piano and electronics. Recorded live at the legendary Café OTO, their session transforms…

  • Premiere: TRAMP – The Birds (Lowered Suspension)

    August 21, 2024 - By 

    TRAMP’s music is pure-cut alchemy. Since forming in 2019, the Donegal/Derry quartet has become a singular force in our cross-border DIY scene, packing out venues and nabbing the prestigious Artist of the Year Award at the 2023 Northern Irish Music Prize along the way. Comprised of Siânna Lafferty, Ellie McFadden, Fionnbarr Doran, and Ciaran ‘Steamy’ McCay, TRAMP returns this Friday, 23rd August, with their most incisive effort yet, ‘The Birds (Lowered Suspension).’ Off the back of their stellar fundraising track ‘Postcard from Poland‘ and a series of blistering shows across the island, the single doubles as a statement of intent…

  • Premiere: Bedrooms – crusher/birds of prey

    August 19, 2024 - By 

    It’s hard to believe it’s been over four years since we first sang the praises of Bedrooms. Their third single, ‘Bus Lanes’, was a perfect introduction to a Dublin trio who knew their way around the subtleties of indie rock—a band who could surely tell apart echoing the cool restraint of Luna and the reflective depth of Damon & Naomi—all while quietly carving out their own space. Now, four years on, the band are on the cusp of unveiling their long-awaited debut album, Perfectly Still. Reuniting with Bill Ryder-Jones at YAWN Studios—the same space where they crafted their 2021 EP…

  • Silverbacks Announce Third LP, Share Video for ‘Something I Know’

    August 6, 2024 - By 

    Silverbacks have announced details of their highly-anticipated third studio album and shared a new single, ‘Something I Know’. Arguably the island’s finest guitar band, the indie-rock six-piece – and long-time TTA favourites – will release Easy Being A Winner on Friday, 18th October via Central Tones/Cargo. Accompanying the news is their stellar new single ‘Something I Know’. A month on from LP3’s first single, ‘Selling Shovels,’ the band’s latest effort filters the influence of My Bloody Valentine, Guided By Voices and Stereolab, turning up the contrast yet more on their supremely-crafted indie rock. Speaking about the song, lyricist and guitarist Kilian O’Kelly…

  • David Holmes’ God’s Waiting Room to Return

    August 2, 2024 - By 

    God’s Waiting Room is coming back to Belfast later this year month David Holmes’ iconic club night has made for some of the most unforgettable happenings in the city over the last few years. With each event summoning its very own pure-cut – some might even say lysergic – magic, its return on Saturday, 31st August is certainly not one not to be slept on As ever, it’s another blinder of a bill, with Holmes being joined by both Luke Una and Tony Morris. Talk about a holy trinity. It’s all happening between the walls of Malone Rugby Club this…

  • Under The Drum Festival Announces First Ever Programme

    July 26, 2024 - By 

    A brand new music festival set at the foot of the County Antrim Hills, just thirty minutes from Belfast, is set to hold its first ever iteration on Saturday 28th September. Set just outside Ballyclare, it takes its name from Drumadarragh, one of the hills overlooking its intimate setting of Breckenhill. Atop the bill are NI Music Prize-winning alternative folk artists, the supremely talented Joshua Burnside and Arborist, with the likes of indie-psych quartet Junk Drawer, Galway garage punk masters Oh Boland, Derry alt-pop artist Roe, experimental rock quartet Blue Whale, Brand New Friend, Cian Nugent, London act Arliston, Susie Blue, jangle-pop master Neil Brogan, Demi O’Hara…