• For Those I Love – For Those I Love

    April 16, 2021 - By 

    For Those I Love was initially released in the summer of 2019 to very little fanfare. Uploaded by its creator, David Balfe, to Bandcamp and a few other places, the intention was to simply share it with his friends and put it out there. Through word of mouth, and a few spot articles here and there, it came to be highly regarded amongst those in the know until, in the industry equivalent of the blink of an eye, the project was taken offline. Then, on 23rd August 2020, a 47-minute mixtape entitled Into A World That Doesn’t Understand It, Unless…

  • Brian Mc Namara – Maidin

    April 7, 2021 - By 

    Brian Mc Namara is a Dublin sound artist and musician, two occupations that come together in his twenty-minute ambient work Maidin. The piece resulted from a recording Mc Namara made of a morning walk through Glasnevin’s National Botanic Gardens. After creating a drone accompaniment reflecting on this experience, he weaved the two recordings together to form a meditation on the meaning of sound and memory. By blending natural sounds with music arising from the deliberative human source, Mc Namara suggests a continuity between the two, the musician a conduit for the world around them. He previously used this technique in…

  • Arab Strap – As Days Get Dark

    March 29, 2021 - By 

    In this era of endless band reunions, it’s still easy to tell apart the cash ins from those that are meant to be. When Arab Strap’s Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton amicably went their separate ways in 2006 after six albums in ten years, it still felt somewhat premature. Their short run of reunion shows from 2016-17 were some of the best of their career, but the band was put back into hibernation as the pair resumed their individual projects, admirably turning down more big money offers and stating that the band would only continue if they could produce some…

  • Sal Dulu – Xompulse

    March 26, 2021 - By 

    Xompulse, the first album from Dublin producer Sal Dulu, attempts to bottle the eerie tranquillity of the urban night in ten tracks. Dalu has talked about working in the nocturnal hours, and feeling his creativity strengthened by sleep deprivation. With this free-flowing release, he has also managed to tap into a wider feeling that everyday life is beginning to resemble the night-time haze. Recent events have accelerated the spread of home working, and the blurring of the bedroom and the office leaves little room for real life to break the somnambulism. Dulu envisioned Xompulse as an approximation of the dreamworld.…

  • Bad Operator & Artois – 130 University Street EP

    March 9, 2021 - By 

    130 University Street acts as a wonderful tribute to Menagerie Bar, once the host of Belfast’s drum & bass night, Crilli. Artists Bad Operator & Artois collaborate to celebrate not just the venue, but the many nights that Crilli have hosted to showcase the best in d&b. With two tracks a piece, the EP is driven by jungle beats with a clubby flavour, capturing both the party highs and meditative lows of a night out.  Bad Operator’s ‘Smiley Faces’ welcomes you in, hitting you with a voice saying: “Hello everybody”. With the title being a subtle nod to the well-known…

  • Gnarkats – The Dreamer

    March 3, 2021 - By 

    Grunge-pop outfit Gnarkats explore themes of heartbreak and insecurity on their new EP, The Dreamer. The three-piece Belfast band, consisting of Louis Nelson, Stuart Robinson and Jordan Evans, examine the ups and downs of love through the lens of an insecure protagonist, grappling to speak his truth while battling with his emotions.  The EP opens with ‘Dreamers’, a bombastic single with riffs and drum rhythms that call to mind the likes of Biffy Clyro. It sets the tone for what’s to follow, with a nod to themes of insignificance and the journey to self-acceptance as Nelson states that he’s “tired…

  • Yurtis Mayfield – Round Trip

    March 2, 2021 - By 

    The first thing the viewer sees is a strip of bright light, shining in front of the rocky path at their feet. Then the framing comes into focus, a dark cave coloured by lush greenery. It’s a glimpse at paradise, but it’s also the album art for Round Trip, the debut release from Galway DJ-turned-producer Yurtis Mayfield aka Adam Ryan. It fuses themes of science and environmentalism within electronic trappings, exploring the realisation that earth’s endangered grandeur is best recognised after a period of inner and outer space travel. Ryan covers these ideas in a pleasingly eclectic selection, incorporating pulsing…

  • This Ship Argo – Always the Bees: Never the Honey

    February 16, 2021 - By 

    Belfast’s Aileen McKenna, aka This Ship Argo, named her new album, Always the Bees: Never the Honey, after an old Irish curse: “May you find the bees but not the honey”. With a vengeful origin encased in natural imagery, it is a fitting title for an album that dwells first on negative emotions, only to later dispel them through pastoral sonic escape. The electronic compositions across these nine-tracks are deceptively low-key. McKenna includes a run of instrumental tracks in the first half, which reward close listening. She pays attention to each track’s subtle development, with peripheral sounds reappearing as primary…

  • R.A.P. Ferreira – Bob’s Son: R.A.P. Ferreira in the Garden Level Café of the Scallops Hotel Bob’s Son

    February 11, 2021 - By 

    R.A.P. Ferreira in the Garden Level Café of the Scallops Hotel, the full title of the latest project from Rory Allen Philip Ferreira, aka R.A.P. Ferreira (aka Scallops Hotel, fka milo) is, according to the his Bandcamp “this album is an ode to the poet bob kaufman / the inventor of frink and beat / the progenitor of abomunism / the chief bomkoff / connoisseur of oatmeal cookies.” There are few rap artists as singular or prolific as Ferreira. The Chicago-born, Nashville-based rapper has released at least one project a year since his Greatest Hits Vol.1 debut mixtape (as Nom…

  • Arlo Parks – Collapsed in Sunbeams

    January 29, 2021 - By 

    Reflecting on the trials and joys of young adulthood, the eagerly anticipated debut album from young Londoner Arlo Parks basks in the nostalgia of teen love, friendship and heartache, and explores sexuality and mental health in a tone that is both vulnerable and self-assured. With a mature indie-pop sound, Parks divulges sensitive and personal subjects with a complexity that extends beyond her years. At just 20, Arlo Parks has already begun to make her mark on the music industry. With two EPs under her belt, the songwriter has quickly gained a loyal following and earned praise from renowned musicians including…