• Islander Announce Live From Home Concert Set For This Friday

    March 25, 2020 - By 

    Islander draws together four of the finest singer-songwriters in Ireland for a special 2-hour online concert on Friday, March 27. Performing – in half hour increments – are Choice-nominated Maija Sofia, the ambient experimental folk of John Francis Flynn, bouzouki, guitar & piano player Anna Mieke and Junior Brother, who wrote our Irish album of 2019, Pull The Right Rope. Viewers are encouraged to donate whatever you can, if you can, to these artists who have lost at least a month of work, with events cancelled and weekly gigs gone for the foreseeable future. All donations will be split evenly between the artists – you can donate here. Links…

  • Premiere: Joshua Burnside – Nothing For Ya (Whisper Project Session)

    March 23, 2020 - By 

    Bridging gaps between quiet song and forgotten space, one-off performance and liminal place, the now and nevermore, Whisper Project is an ever-evoling series by Belfast photographer and filmmaker Joe Laverty capturing acoustic performances filmed in forgotten spaces. Having previously featured Alana Henderson, Landless, DANI, King Cedar and Lemoncello performing in an array of liminal spaces in Belfast and beyond, Laverty now turns his attention to easily one of the most fêted songwriters from these shores in recent times, Joshua Burnside. Filmed and edited by Laverty, with sound recorded by Phil d’Alton, Burnside’s rendition of ‘Nothin For Ya’ at Vault artist studios feels nothing short of…

  • Premiere: Gaze is Ghost – Abacus

    March 23, 2020 - By 

    It’s majorly reassuring to know that, despite these unprecedented times of lockdown and worldly uncertainty, many Irish artists are, despite facing huge limitations, pushing forward and releasing new music as scheduled. One such act is Gaze is Ghost, comprising classically-trained Strabane composer and songwriter Laura McGarrigle, drummer Casey Miller and Keith Mannion aka Slow Place Like Home. Doubling up as the threesome’s first release with Mannion on backing vocals, synths and electronc production, new single ‘Abacus’ is a gossamer and carefully-crafted alt-pop gem confronting themes of environmental destruction, guilt and responsibility, asking “how the individual can respond to issues that threaten to ovewhelm…

  • Premiere: Ghost Office – The Face of Garbo

    March 19, 2020 - By 

    Arguably Belfast’s finest post-punk pragmatists, Ghost Office are back with ‘The Face of Garbo’, the second single from their forthcoming debut album, set for release later this summer. Marrying propulsive – near King Gizzard-esque – psych-flecked chaos with a macro-anthology narrative of fables spanning across time & disciplines, it’s one of their most artistically complete works thus far. The single was produced by bassist Carl Small, with lyrical duties from guitarist/shared vocalist Joe Gilson, who tells us more: “The song tells three stories, of events that cast their makers into myth. The solar eclipse that proved Albert Einstein’s law of relativity, the opera singer Enrico Caruso being threatened…

  • Watch: Joel Harkin – No Recycling

    March 16, 2020 - By 

    The name Joel Harkin is becoming increasingly synonymous with a brand of lo-fi alternative folk that digs a little deeper. Based in Belfast, the Donegal singer-songwriter’s craft brims at every turn with pathos and pure insight, and is rounded off with a melodic sensibility all his very own. Having recently delivered stand-out sets at Output Belfast and Other Voices Ballina, Harkin’s fast rise is masterfully mirrored on new single ‘No Recycling’. The lead single from his highly-anticipated debut album, Never Happy, it’s a wonderfully heart-stung effort ruminating on family life and witnessing inequality first-hand. Accompanied by a stellar and perfectly…

  • Premiere: Angular Hank – On Your Shoulder

    March 17, 2020 - By 

    Thankfully, the other main immunity we don’t have is to sweet jams, and ahead of their hotly-anticipated forthcoming debut album, Brand New Angle – out this Friday – Angular Hank have shared new single ‘On Your Shoulder’. As ever, they’re as taut with subtly-induced discordant tension as they are free-flowing with slack-pop hooks, springing to mind the likes of masterful craft of Irish peers like Postcard Versions & Careerist. As it stands, Angular Hank are set to hold their album launch at the Workman’s Club on April 3 with support from Skinner – keep posted here.

  • Kneecap Launch Fundraiser Following Cancelled U.S. Tour

    March 13, 2020 - By 

    Like musicians, promoters, crew and venue owners right across the world, the Irish music industry is being hit hard by the global spread and broader ramifications of COVID-19. One such act is fast-rising Belfast Hip-Hop threesome Kneecap. Thrown into the deep-end following several US dates falling through, the group have launched a fundraiser on PayPal to cover a whole host of costs incurred by the forced cancellations. In a statement, the trio said, “A chairde. Like everyone else we are struggling quite a lot now, financially and mentally. In the absence of a record label we had self financed a US Tour,…

  • Stay at Home With the Mary Wallopers This St. Patrick’s Day

    March 13, 2020 - By 

    Yep, the shit has well and truly hit the fan. With gigs and get-togethers being cancelled or postponed left, right and centre, clinging on to any semblance of hope of some sort of real-world St. Patrick’s Day shindig on Tuesday is now out of the question for us all. But all hope is not lost. Yes, Dundalk’s finest forward-pushing folk formation The Mary Wallopers have it all under control. From 8pm on Tuesday evening, the trio will host Stay at Home with The Mary Wallopers, live on YouTube. Posting online, the lads said, “So get a few cans in or a few biscuits and prepare…

  • Premiere: Swimmers Jackson – Bliss

    March 12, 2020 - By 

    There’s reliable, then there’s London-based Dubliner Niall Jackson aka Swimmers Jackson. Whether you look to his output as a member of Dublin indie-rock heroes Bouts, the more in-your-face efforts of Sweat Threats or his solo output as Swimmers Jackson to date, he has a country-spanning, genre-flaunting track record of digging deep to deliver something brimming with pathos and intent. Recorded by Darragh Nolan at Asta Kalapa studios in Co. Wexford (below) new single ‘Bliss’ is no exception to the rule. Taken from Jackson’s forthcoming debut album, Murmuration, it’s a beautifully-crafted tale capturing those longed for moments of happiness and quiet satisfaction. “I spent…

  • Video Premiere: John Blek – Death & His Daughter Fair

    March 12, 2020 - By 

    Cork singer-songwriter John Blek is a rare master of his craft. Whist and masterfully considered, he plays a brand of contempoary folk that can snare a listener with the slightest chord change or incisive turn-of-phrase. Take new single, the quietly mesmeric ‘Death & His Daughter’. A delicate folk dance accompanied by easily one of our favourite videos of the year so far, it’s a feature-length meditation on loss and deliverance that encapsulates motifs right at the heart of Blek’s recently-released fifth solo album, The Embers. Catch Blek at the following shows this weekend, and have a first look at the video for ‘Death & His…