Dive into the very best new Irish music of the week, from Adore, VARO, CMAT, Laurie Shaw and more. Adore – Show Me Your Teeth VARO – The World That I Knew The World that I knew by VARO CMAT – Take a Sexy Picture of Me Laurie Shaw – Your Side of the Bed Fiona Lucia – Fire Fire by Fiona Lucia Aonair – Bittersweet Rescue Barry Peak – The Odes EP The odes e.p. by Barry Peak
Living legends don’t come more legendary than Michael Rother. Thanks to Foggy Notions, the founding member of NEU!, Harmonia, and early Kraftwerk will perform a career-spanning set at the Button Factory on 19th September, drawing from NEU!, Harmonia, and his solo work. Expect deep dives into the Motorik grooves and ambient experiments that have made him a godfather of forward-pushing sound. From the Autobahn to the outer reaches, Rother’s influence runs deep – Bowie, Eno, Sonic Youth have all tuned into the frequency he helped invent. Joined by Hans Lampe (La Düsseldorf), Franz Bargmann (ex-Camera), and the brilliant Vittoria Maccabruni…
The Army, The Navy live at The Workman’s Club in Dublin with support from Johanna Warren. Photos by Ian Davies
Across recent years, Connor McCann has quietly carved out a rare space as one of Ireland’s most potent songwriting voices. Not simply admired within Belfast’s folk and session circles, he’s someone whose craft speaks directly to that uneasy place where memory, melancholy and perseverance meet. Whether threading grand themes through hushed confessionals or finding wry humour in post-crisis survival, McCann has shown again and again that he’s not just in the business of writing songs: he’s offering an ongoing document of what it means to live honestly, awkwardly, and sometimes gloriously, in this place and time. With After the End,…
RÓIS live at the Workman’s Club in Dublin with support from Lullahush. Photos by Seán Kelly
Elaine Howley, Search Results, NewDad, Tolü Makay, YINYANG, Anthony Layde and others all hit the mark this week, but let’s not kid ourselves. The real headline is Mark McCabe, back behind the decks with the 25th anniversary of our de facto national anthem, ‘Maniac 2000’. Sambuca? Mark McCabe – Maniac 2000 (25th Anniversary Edition)
All of us at The Thin Air are deeply saddened to hear of the recent passing of lighting designer Conor Biddle. Conor’s work shone brightly across so many stages, lighting up live performances from some of the best acts in the country. We’ve gone through our photography archives to share this tribute to Conor and some of his beautiful work. Our heartfelt condolences go out to his husband Sean, family, friends, and the many colleagues across the music industry who were so lucky to work with him.
Fresh from a 25-date run supporting Alison Moyet, Iona Zajac finds herself at a powerful threshold. A singular voice in contemporary folk, she’s about to step into an even brighter spotlight, joining The Pogues as vocalist on their sold-out UK tour, which kicks off today, before heading stateside later this year. And while the stages keep growing, so too does her voice – fierce, precise and haunted by light. Off the back of her sublime single ‘Summer,’ and with new music around the corner, spoke to her about stillness and intensity, funeral marches and murder ballads, and why singing with…
Orla Gartland live at the 3Olympia Theatre in Dublin with support from Hohnen Ford and Niamh Regan. Photos by Seán Kelly.
With their debut LP All Smiles Tonight due in a couple of months, Poor Creature headlined Whelan’s in Dublin with support from Nev Clay. Photos by Erin Plaice.