The closing track from one of the EPs of the year, Superior Fiction, ‘Lunar Drift’ by Galway’s Eoin Dolan is a slow-burning masterclass in the realms of wistful alt-pop. Released today, the single – which carries one of the finest refrains we’ve heard from an Irish artist in quite some time – comes accompanied with visuals by Dolan’s friend and collaborator David Boland AKA New Pope (who also created the video for the release’s title track).
The nominated artists set to play this year’s Northern Ireland Music Prize have been announced. Previous winner Ciaran Lavery, Brand New Friend, The Wood Burning Savages, Hannah Peel, Ryan Vail (featuring the Arco String Quartet) and Roe will perform at the event, which takes place at Belfast’s Ulster Hall on Thursday, November 11. The event host is Rigsy (BBC Radio Ulster), with the winners of all four categories to be announced by special guests on the night. The evening will end with an after party at Limelight 2. Charlotte Dryden of Oh Yeah said: “After five fantastic years at the…
Of the countless Irish acts we’ve featured over the years, Dublin’s Galants remain one of the most assured. Striking a midpoint between swirling indie rock and blissed-out shoegaze worship, the David Kennedy-fronted quartet re-emerged back in June with ‘In Vain‘. Now, the band with another track from their forthcoming second EP – and one of their most emphatic efforts to date – ‘Follow’. Successfully capturing the band’s aim to meld the power pop of Hüsker Dü with the fuzzy miasma of Swervedriver and Catherine Wheel, the single “reflects on the psyche of the crowd and pressure to use the decisions of others as a…
Having bridged the gap with the equally masterful ‘Liberté’ and ‘D U S T’ (a track Resident Advisor called “surging but melancholy synth pop”) Belfast-based producer and musician Herb Magee AKA Arvo Party is back with ‘D a N S E’. The second single from his forthcoming second album, which is set for release next month, it finds the fast-rising multi-instrumentalist marry spectral electronica with a host of backwashed beats. Listen to the track – and watch its DIY visuals – below. Magee plays our co-hosted Culture Night Belfast bill at Oh Yeah Music Centre on Friday night (September 21).
With just over five weeks to go to this year’s outing, Metropolis have announced new additions for its Saturday line-up. Off the back of Villagers recently being announced to headline and curate the Saturday at the festival, Friendly Fires, Booka Brass, David Keenan and Master of Ceremonies David O’Doherty have all been added. The fourth edition of Metropolis takes place at Dublin’s RDS across on Saturday, October 27th and Sunday, October 28th. Ranging in price, tickets are available to buy here now.
(The actual) David Duchovny will play Dublin’s Academy on Wednesday, February 20. Having released his debut album Hell or Highwater in 2015, and its follow-up, Every Third Thought, earlier this year, the actor, writer, director and – more recently – recording artist will make his Irish gig debut at this show. Tickets are €30 and go on sale on Friday at 9am.
Launched at Voodoo in Belfast tonight, Fragile is a statement of intent from Belfast quartet Fox Colony. From the fuzzed-out tangents of opener ‘Supermarkets’ to the synth-driven ‘Don’t Keep Me Here’, the EP is every bit as much about hooks as it is heart. In fact, equal parts impassioned and vulnerable, Fragile finds Darren Hill, Aaron Crowther, Aidan Lavery and Daniel Hoadley-Simpson strike an all-too rare happy medium between slick and lo-fi – something FM-friendly ode to bygone times, ‘Fractured’, and the EP’s title track confirm. Recorded and mixed by Rocky O’Reilly at Belfast’s Start Together Studio, and released via…
London-based Irish duo Matthew Sutton (Tayne) and Niall Jackson (Bouts/Swimmers Jackson) AKA Sweat Threats know a thing or two about striking a balance between trouncing post-punk and pit-starting party music. The third single to be taken from their forthcoming EP, Sweet Treats, ‘Suffocate’ fits the aforementioned remit and then some. Accompanied with DIY visuals, it’s a typically pulverizing effort that doesn’t slack on the earworms. Sweet Treats is out via Wonky Karousel Records on October 13 (Cassette Store Day, no less.) Sweat Threats play tomorrow The Victoria E17 in Walthamstow tomorrow (Wednesday 12th) night.
Set to take place at Belfast’s iconic Ulster Hall on Thursday, November 15, we’re pleased to team up with the Northern Ireland Music Prize for the Public Vote for the Best Single award. This year, twelve singles – from Arvo Party’s ‘Liberté’ to The Wood Burning Savages’ ‘I Don’t Know Why I Do It To Myself’ – are vying for the prize and £1000 on the night. Check out the full list of shortlisted singles and the voting form below. Go here for full information about this year’s Northern Ireland Music Prize. Arvo Party – Liberté Ash – Buzzkill Brand New Friend…
Tony Wright is going through the most fertile creative stretch of his career right now. Unanimously positive reviews have accompanied the release of the third VerseChorusVerse album, outro, while his new, much-anticipated memoir Another Dickhead (On The Road) is to be launched at Belfast’s The MAC on October 17 – more details on that here – where he also currently happens to be the resident artist. Oh, and he just put in an organic performance co-starring in the heavily relatable Belfast-based short comedy series The Also Rans, the (only partly-fictionalised) tale of a pair of failed musicians. And after all that preamble, we’re today premiering the video for possibly the LP’s finest cut, ‘Chord (Gunn Laws)’. Something…