• Iceage – Seek Shelter

    May 21, 2021 - By 

    Iceage’s place in contemporary alternative rock is somewhat anomalous – not so much that of an outsider looking in, nor a casual observer. Rather, Iceage are nonchalant contrarians. While post-punk has enjoyed something of a renaissance in recognition with the advent of straight-up rockers (Fontaines D.C., The Murder Capital, Idles, Shame) and experimentalists (Black Midi, Black Country, New Road, Squid); the Danish quintet – their lineup now complete with the addition of guitarist Casper Morilla – have stood apart from this third wave, following their own course rather than casting their anchor as the rising tide lifted so many other…

  • For Ruin – Relapse EP

    May 11, 2021 - By 

    For some sections of the workforce, the lockdown’s biggest consequence was a surfeit of free time. This allowed some musicians to devote more time to their creative pursuits. This was the case for Cork band For Ruin, whose mainstay John Murphy used some of that recovered time to record eight slices of highly melodic death metal, the band’s first output since it was put on hold in 2013. Relapse is the second release drawn from this batch, following on from September’s Elapse EP. In a case of great precognition, Murphy began constructing his home studio around three years ago, the…

  • Fears – Oíche

    May 6, 2021 - By 

    In late 2020, Constance Keane, aka Irish producer and songwriter Fears, and Emily Kendrick set up TULLE, a record label run for and by women, gender non-conforming and non-binary people, with the aim of creating a platform for underrepresented artists in the music industry. After self-releasing music as Fears for a few years, Keane wanted to create a permanent home for her art, while also challenging the cis white male dominance of the scene at large. The first release on TULLE is Fears’ own debut album, Oíche, a collection of ethereal electronic songs that delve deep into the themes of…

  • Lighght – Holy Endings

    May 5, 2021 - By 

    In just a short few years, Cork artist Lighght has built an impressive catalogue shaded with horror, humour and poignancy. The jagged noise of debut EP The Skin Falls Off the Body was a meditation on pain, a response to a past trauma. Debut album Gore-Tex in the Club, Balenciaga Amongst the Shrubs dealt with the recovery process in a transformative manner, manifested in a sprawling work that introduced doses of melodic synths, busy percussion and forays into spoken word and the organic sound of the solo harp. His newest release, Holy Endings, is his most consistently relaxed work, downplaying…

  • 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…

  • Xiu Xiu – OH NO

    April 2, 2021 - By 

    The twelfth album from the always-challenging, always-experimental group Xiu Xiu is a study of severed relations, and the way one copes with that pain. While their previous work teems with lyrical provocation and queer euphoria, OH NO finds them stepping outside of their (dis)comfort zone in favour of an emotional overhaul: it may be their most radical decision of all. The irony of it all is that, while exploring their new soundscape, Jamie Stewart and co. don’t rock up alone, and opt instead to invite a cast of collaborators in for a selection of modest duets.  Stewart notes in the…

  • 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…