• EP Premiere: Fonda – No Begonias

    May 7, 2020 - By 

    Our love for Fonda is no secret. Over the last few years, incarnations of the Liam O’Connor-fronted band have split time between Limerick, Glasgow and Galway. Its latest incarnation, compromising John Ahern of Hey Rusty, Paul Cosgrave of Slow Riot and Sean O’Mahony of Inner City Radio, feels like a definitive formation – the logical ultimate form of a band conspiring to make O’Connor’s tales come to life. Recorded last year by Chris Quigley of Cruiser and mixed by Micheàl Keating of Bleeding Heart Pigeons, the band’s new EP, No Begonias, is a masterful consolidation of their mission statement to date. From highlight ‘The Way Out’…

  • Premiere: SIIGHTS w/ JyellowL – Blue Skies

    May 7, 2020 - By 

    Last month, Irish-Scottish electro-pop twosome Mia Fitz and Toni Etherson aka SIIGHTS unveiled the lead track from their self-titled debut EP. Having clocked up over 180k streams over the last few weeks, ‘Blue Skies’ now comes with a stellar remix featuring an artist we handpicked as one to watch back in 2018, fast-rising Dublin rapper JyellowL. “We reached out to JyellowL and having him involved has been amazing,” SIIGHTS said. “He’s so talented, we love what he brought to the track and the personal perspective he shared lyrically. This song means a lot to us and was hard to write. We have…

  • Album Premiere: Swimmers Jackson – Murmuration

    May 7, 2020 - By 

    Dublin musician Niall Jackson has put the work in. As one-fourth of Dublin indie-rock quartet par excellence Bouts, a pivotal member of London-based Irish punk trio Sweat Threats, and a weaver of first-rate indie-pop in his own right as Swimmers Jackson, he’s never been an artist wanting for motive or inspiration. Tomorrow (Friday, May 8th) sees the release of the long-awaited Swimmers Jackson debut album, Murmurations. From beatific singles ‘Summer’s Here’ and ‘Bliss’ to earworming highlights including ‘Replaceable’ and ‘Pain In The Heart’, Jackson summons a ten-track triumph that runs the gamut from the gossamer, lullaby-like gems to emphatic full-band efforts.…

  • Watch: Natalia Beylis and Tola Custy Short Film ‘Black Birds Slowed Down’

    May 5, 2020 - By 

    Dublin-born, Leitrim-based film maker and musician Willie Stewart has unveiled his latest film. A visual response to a residency held at Glor in Ennis, Co Clare with artist, musician and Stewart’s fellow Woven Skull member Natalia Beylis and musician Tola Custy, the half-hour long Black Birds Slowed Down is a quietly compelling documentary, honing in how artists different musical backgrounds compare approaches and influences on music and creativity.

  • EP Stream: Shammen Delly – The Peoples Temple OV Big Tom

    May 1, 2020 - By 

    Without a doubt our favourite hauntological, psychogeography peddler around, Donegal experimental electronic auteur Aengus Friel, AKA Shammen Delly has released his mythological magnum opus, created in the midst of lockdown. This latest heady, hazy trip-hop-influenced concoction was recorded at his own ‘Red Dunge’, inspired by country & Irish legend Big Tom‘s 70s little-known wilderness years: “This is a vivid reimagined vision of a time when Big Tom and his Mainliners were leaders of ‘The Peoples Temple’ in Monaghan back in the late 70’s and would travel around the country summoning new followers for the sacred dances around stone circles and beaches. His followers…

  • Stream: Denise Chaila – Down

    May 1, 2020 - By 

    ‘Leigh anois go curamach / Can’t define who I am with a Trocaire box’ Back in February, we featured Limerick-based Zambian-Irish rapper and poet Denise Chaila as one of a handful of Irish acts we’re convinced are set for huge things in 2020 and beyond. A few weeks and breathtaking set at Other Voices Ballina later, Chaila has knocked it out of the park with new single ‘Down’. Produced by MuRli, it’s a slick and instant classic. Denise’s independent label, narolane records, said, “It may be called ‘Down’ but the energy is all the way up on this one. A…

  • Watch: Bleeding Heart Pigeons – Trapped (VR Music Video)

    May 1, 2020 - By 

    We’ve featured a fair rake of Irish music on TTA today (there is most definitely something in the water) and none more worthy than the latest from Limerick trio Bleeding Heart Pigeons. Conjuring everyone from Grizzly Bear to Caribou, the Mícheál Keating-fronted band’s new single ‘Trapped’ is a nuanced and unravelling triumph. Taken from the band’s forthcoming second album, Stir, the song features strings from none other than Post Punk Podge and comes accompanied by a stellar monoscopic BR video, courtesy of Keating, with assistance from Graham Patterson, Conor Buckley and Hugh Heffernan. Watch below. Stir is released on May 22.

  • EP Stream: Philip Watts d’Alton – Reflections

    May 1, 2020 - By 

    Much too young to be considered a veteran, and far too accomplished to be considered anything resembling a newcomer, Belfast musician and producer Philip Watts d’Alton is a rare breed indeed. An in-demand producer, serial collaborator, founding member of NI alt-folk heroes Master & Dog and a craftsman in his own right, his songs stem from a place of pure, unadulterated candour and spirit. Thankfully, the music more than matches up with the intent. New EP, Reflections, more than sees to that. Across four tracks, d’Alton delivers a wholehearted, exquisitely produced EP that is well worth 15 minutes of your time. Reflections by Philip Watts…

  • Album Stream: Department of Forever – Flickering Light

    May 1, 2020 - By 

    Last May, we premiered the rapt and immersive ‘A Simulation of Here’ by Irish sound designer and musician Steve Fanagan aka Department of Forever. The closing track from his sublime album, Unseen Pictures, it hit home and then some. One year on, Fanagan’s sublime soundscapes can be heard in Normal People, the TV adaptation of Sally Rooney’s best-selling novel of the same name. New release Flickering Light contains four of those tracks and a couple more. “The original recordings for this release were improvised on a piano one night in late 2018, when I was living in a house share in London, before…

  • Stream: Skelocrats – Princeps

    May 1, 2020 - By 

    One of the gleaming jewels in the crown of Dublin collective Popical Island, Skelocrats dropped off the radar following the release of their second album, the still-excellent Bella Bella, back in 2015. One-off  single ‘You’ll Never Make Me Talk’ aside, their absence has been felt by many of us naturally predisposed to collaboratively-minded, fuzzed-out garage pop. Which is why we’re beside ourselves to share ‘Princeps’, the new single from Skelocrats. Brilliant and brisk at 2 minutes in length, it’s a song about strained devotion to the leader, and the first taste of the band’s forthcoming third album. Some things have changed: Paddy “supported…