• Full Line-Up Announced for AVA Festival

    The full line-up has been revealed for this year’s AVA Festival. Taking over the Titanic Slipways in Belfast across June 3-4, the festival has announced that Overmono, LSDXOXO, ELLLL, Jon Hopkins, Gemma Dunleavy, Ross From Friends and many more will join previously announced acts including Bicep, VTSS and I Hate Models. Check out the full line-up below. Go here to buy tickets.

  • SOAK Announces New Album, Irish Shows

    SOAK has announced details of a new album, as well as Irish dates later in the year. The Derry singer-songwriter, born Bridie Monds-Watson, will release their third album, If I Never Know You Like This Again, via Rough Trade Records on 20th May. The follow-up to 2019’s Grim Town, the album is made up of what Monds-Watson describes as “song-memories”. It was co-written with long-time collaborator Tommy McLaughlin and recorded at Donegal’s Attica Studios. Accompanying the announcement is news of upcoming Irish dates in February and May. See below for those, as well as the the lead single from If I…

  • Caribou To Play Dublin Next Week

    Caribou’s Dublin show is back on. Following the postponement of the January 19th date, the Canadian producer and musician – aka Dan Snaith – will perform at Dublin’s Vicar Street on Tuesday, February 1st. Original tickets remain valid. Both as Caribou and in the guise of Daphni, Snaith has played Dublin a number of times over the years, including a show at Vicar Street back in 2014.

  • Stream: CMAT – Lonely

    CMAT has returned with a stellar new single, ‘Lonely’. Taken from her forthcoming (and massively anticipated) debut album If My Wife New I’d Be Dead, it’s another wonderfully-woven country-pop gem from the Meath sensation otherwise known as Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson. “It took me years to finish this song because I couldn’t figure out the point of it,” CMAT said. “Then the pandemic happened, and suddenly I realised that everybody was in the boat that I had been long accustomed to (my sea legs are beefy in this regard). I realised that the point of isolation is maybe to learn to…

  • 2021 Choice Music Prize Shortlist Revealed

    The shortlist for the 2021 RTÉ Choice Music Prize Album of the Year has been announced. Presented in association with IMRO and IRMA, the shortlist is yet another strong genre-spanning affair, featuring the likes of Bicep, For Those I Love, Kojaque, Villagers and Elaine Mai. Check out the full shortlist below. Bicep – Isles (Ninja Tune) Mick Flannery & Susan O’Neill – In the Game (Rosaleen Records / Rosa Productions) For Those I Love – For Those I Love (September Recordings) Orla Gartland – Woman on the Internet (New Friends Music) HousePlants – Dry Goods (Bone China Records) Kojaque – Town’s…

  • Video Premiere: wornoc – Deep Within

    Via singles including ‘Signs’ and ‘Rising Tides’, Dublin-based artist Conor Walsh aka wornoc has carved out a niche in forward-pushing alternative-electronic sounds from these shores. At the heart of his craft is a sensibility rooted in the push-and-pull of post-rock – all gossamer phrases one moment and surging release the next – inspired by the likes of God Is An Astronaut, Olafur Arnolds and Bonobo. New single ‘Deep Within’ is a distilation of just that. Inspired by a memory of his time spent in Norway on the island of Stord, it’s a halcyon trip, building sparse synth and guitar motifs before a swelling finale. Accompanying the…

  • Watch: Hatchet Field – Leave The Bodies Where They Lay (live)

    Over the years, Belfast musician Hornby has melted fizzogs and blown a fair few minds as the guitarist in bands such as We Are Knives and The Continuous Battle of Order. Earlier this year, his five-track debut offering in the guise of Hatchet Field, Survival Is Triumph Enough, proved a ruminative detour and a masterfully skeletal affair. Released via Belfast imprint Black Tragick – whose roster boasts the likes of Peng Weng and head hellion/hallion Robyn G Shiels – its foreboding death folk struck a sparse, altogether special chord, laying bare the subtleties of an artist who can be full-blown,…

  • And So I Watch You From Afar Reveal Details of Multimedia LP Jettison

    And So I Watch You From Afar have revaled details about that their forthcoming multimedia LP, Jettison. Originally debuted via a series of live shows in Belfast and throughout the UK early last year, the project takes shape as a standalone audio-visual release. Featuring the Arco String Quartet, as well as a gripping visual accompaniment courtesy of artist Sam Wiehl, the nine-track album will be released via Velocity Records and Equal Vision Records on 18th February 2022. “Nothing in our repertoire comes close to the ambition of this latest project,” said the North Coast instrumental rock band in a statement.…

  • Stream: Big Daisy – Poinsettia

    Belfast quartet Big Daisy have unveiled a new festive single titled ‘Poinsettia’. Capping off a busy year emerging as one of the island’s first indie-pop propositions, it is – true to form – a wonderfully lo-fi gem from the four-piece, honing in on the true spirit of the season. “‘Poinsettia’ is a Christmas love song,” said the band.” The main lyric “Christmas without you baby, I would be so blue” is sang with heart at the thought of being without your true love at Christmas time.” Stream the song – which was recorded in the attic of Big Daisy’s home by the…

  • The Cure To Play Belfast and Dublin

    The Cure are set to play Belfast and Dublin next year. As part of a new European tour, the English goth rock legends will play Dublin’s 3Arena on December 1st 2022 and Belfast’s SSE Arena on December 2nd. Support for both shows comes from the Twilight Sad. Tickets go on sale this Friday (December 10) at 9AM.