• Premiere: Strange Boy feat. Hazey Haze – Hahaha

    June 17, 2021 - By 

    Back in April, we had the pleasure of premiering one of the Irish songs of the year so far: ‘Waiting’ by the fast-rising Jonen Dekay aka Strange Boy. Two months on, the Limerick rapper is on the cusp of releasing his highly-anticipated debut album, Holy/Unholy. Dropping next Friday, June 25th, the 10-track album features collaborations with the likes of Clannad’s Moya Brennan (‘Beginnings’) and Seán McNally Kelly (‘Forgotten’). Elsewhere is an outright peak from the album, ‘Hahaha’. A collaboration with fellow Limerick rapper Hazey Haze, it’s a masterfully believable effort that marries marrying skeletal trad with bars of pure-cut personal truth. Have a…

  • Watch: Cherym – Listening To My Head

    June 10, 2021 - By 

    Without question, Derry pop-punk trio Cherym have emerged as one of the real success stories from these shores in recent times. Earworming to high heaven, their razor-sharp, harmony-laden craft is something we fully look forward to experienced live, once again, when the time is right. In the meantime, the soap video for the Hannah Richardson-fronted band’s new single ‘Listening To My Head’ is scratching the itch. A mini soap opera condensed to three minutes, it really drives home Cherym’s uniquely joyous M.O. Check it out below and revisit our recent interview with the band here.

  • Irish Tracks of the Week – June 4th

    June 4, 2021 - By 

    This week is one of extreme abundance across the board, with the first collaborative release from Joshua Burnside & Lemoncello’s Laura Quirke, SORBET’s debut album, Nerves, Skinner, Tuath, Hex Hue, Jake Wallace, Punching Peaches, Ciaran Lavery, Soda Blonde, VerseChorusVerse, Royal Yellow, and some cuts from a cover compilation to benefit No More Dysphoria including F.R.U.I.T.Y., Problem Patterns, Big Daisy and many more. Joshua Burnside & Laura Quirke – Taking The Wheel Laura Quirke & Joshua Burnside – Taking the Wheel by Joshua Burnside SORBET – This Was Paradise This Was Paradise by SORBET Nerves – Leigue Leigue by NERVES Tuath – That…

  • Premiere: Jake Wallace – Empyrean

    June 3, 2021 - By 

    As one-fifth of Belfast doom merchants Elder Druid, Jake Wallace knows a thing or two about the power of heft. Today, he offers a new vantage point to view his craft Taken from his debut solo EP, Lacuna – which is officially released via Black Tragick Records tomorrow – two-minute instrumental ‘Empyrean’ is a masterfully restrained effort that shines a light on the many hues of Wallace’s full-spectrum sound, Speaking about the EP, Wallace said, ‘The project came about as a result of lockdown and a few rainy afternoons in Belfast. I had never recorded any acoustic music at all, although I had…

  • Video Premiere: Skinner – Beer Me, Jim

    June 4, 2021 - By 

    Dublin musician and producer Aaron Corcoran aka Skinner has swiftly carved out a niche for himself in the Irish indie scene. Today, he underscores that promise with Gunge, a five-track EP melding slouching punk with a lo-fi jazz bent. A highlight is closer ‘Beer Me, Jim’. Written from the “perspective of a young Irish person in lieu of finding a path in a country facing high rents, growing social inequality and a future that is worse off than the generations that have come before,” it’s a sax-laced and decidedly earworming effort from the 23-year-old. Zoning in on the escapist ritualism…

  • Watch: Tuath – That Looks Like A Good Spot For Some Luxury Apartments

    June 1, 2021 - By 

    Fresh off the nihilism train and galvanised against unfettered capitalism and government-sanctioned mass property development, Donegal’s finest, Tuath are back with ‘That Looks Like A Good Spot For Some Luxury Apartments’, the final single from their forthcoming Research and Development EP. The band pushing the extremes and cranking tension between glossy production and pointed critique, it’s drawn from all manner of establishment-bothering works – from Adam Curtis’ culture-jamming neoliberal explorations and Mark Fisher’s theory of the ‘slow cancellation of the future’ that’s been happening since around 1994, through to one of the last truly anarchic and anti-capitalist movements in music, vaporwave. The single’s accompanying satirical cover…

  • Premiere: VerseChorusVerse – Algorithm & Blues

    June 1, 2021 - By 

    Last week, North Coast artist Tony Wright aka VerseChorusVerse returned with his fourth solo album, what if we won. It marked a vital, full-length statement from one of the country’s most distinctive songwriting voices. Lead track ‘Algorithm & Blues’ sets the pace with typical aplomb. Darkly and unraveling, it’s a track whose dense disorientation is wonderfully mirrored in Wright’s accompanying visuals. According to the Belfast-based artist, it was “recorded in January in a locked-down, quarantined Heathrow airport hotel room at about 2 am after binge-watching Atlanta.” Truly, it doesn’t get more DIY than that. Have a first look below.

  • Watch: Colm Warren – Just Me

    May 28, 2021 - By 

    Belfast-based singer-songwriter Colm Warren has unveiled the video for his new single, ‘Just Me’. Directed by musician, videographer and filmmaker Matthew Killen, it’s a striking accompaniment to a song that delicately explores the solace that can be gained in one’s own company. Off the back of singles including ‘Choked’ and ‘Shame’, Warren – who is the former frontman of NI punk band The Twenty – further carves out a niche for himself as an artist wielding carefully considered songwriting with real candour. Have a first look below.

  • Ireland Music Week 2021 Applications Now Open

    May 24, 2021 - By 

    The application process for Ireland Music Week 2021 has opened. Organised by First Music Contact, the annual artist showcase will return – in one form or another – across October 5th to October 8th. Whether it’ll be an in-person or online affair is yet to be confirmed, pending COVID-19 restrictions. What is clear, though, is that you can apply to perform by going here and clicking “Apply to Play”. Applications must be made through a Breaking Tunes profile and the closing date for applications is Friday June 18th at 6pm. “Last year IMW was one of the first global events to…

  • Mdou Moctar To Play Belfast and Dublin

    May 24, 2021 - By 

    Trailblazing Tuareg guitarist Mdou Moctar will play Ireland next year. Off the back of the release of his stellar new album, Afrique Victime, the Niger-based musician plays Dublin’s Sugar Club on April 8 and Belfast’s Ulster Sports Club on April 9 as part of a forthcoming European tour. Tickets are on sale here and here. Check out Mdou Moctar’s recent Tiny Desk concert below.