• One of These Albums Will Win The NI Music Prize Tonight

    November 12, 2020 - By 

    Much like the RTÉ Choice Music Prize every year, the annual Northern Ireland Music Prize is almost always too close to call. This year is no different. Going online for the first time due to social distancing restrictions, this year’s shortlist is a luminous, no-filler reflection of the state of independent music in the North right now. From the Americana-tinged alt-folk of Mark McCambridge aka Arborist to the considered electronica of Phil Kieran; the shapeshifting indie rock of Belfast threesome Careerist, to the ruminative pop of Kitt Philippa, it’s a list that also features stellar albums from Our Krypton Son, Herb…

  • Irish Tracks of the Week – October 23rd

    October 23, 2020 - By 

    Tragically, it’s not a Bandcamp Friday. But it is a Friday, which means a rake of first-rate new music from right across the land. Here’s our pick of the lot from today and the rest of the week, featuring Seamus Fogarty, LAOISE, Kyoto Love Hotel, Arborist, JyellowL, For Those I Love, Eve Belle, Amy Montgomery, Sal Dulu, Wyvern Lingo and more. Kyoto Love Hotel – You Unfold You unfold by Kyoto Love Hotel Arborist – The Mountain Will Come to You/A Heart in Minor The Mountain Will Come to You | A Heart in Minor by arborist LAOISE – Healthy Seamus…

  • Monday Mixtape: Arborist

    September 28, 2020 - By 

    As a counter to my aimless life as a singer-songwriter, my wife works in bioengineering, researching the cause of pelvic floor muscle injuries during childbirth, contributing to the mitigation of the life-impacting disorders that result. In what is ultimately a human rights issue, the physical price paid by women, stemming from discrimination to lack of basic support in such a fundamental and necessary area, is symptomatic of a wider issue and the music industry is not immune. As grim as these times are for the arts, we probably will have an opportunity to build things from the ground up again, with…

  • Track-by-Track: Arborist – A Northern View

    February 10, 2020 - By 

    Released last week, A Northern View cements Mark McCambridge aka Arborist’s rep as one of the country’s most distinctive songwriting voices. Whether you look to opener ‘A Stranger Heart’, the sublime ‘Here Comes The Devil’ or, in fact, any one of the album’s eleven carefully-crafted tales, it’s a filler-free feat of mottled, forward-pushing folk-pop from the Belfast-based artist. Let’s go one further: for our money, it’s the Irish album of the year so far. Ahead of its official launch at the Menagerie in Belfast on February 28th, McCambridge gives us generous track-by-track breakdown of the release below. A Northern View by arborist A…

  • Arborist – Home Burial

    November 28, 2016 - By 

    If there is a unifying and constant sensation which runs throughout Arborist‘s Home Burial like some arterial chord it is that of gloom. A cursory glance at the cover art paints a startlingly accurate depiction of what the next 40 odd minutes entails: a gothic, rustic farmhouse sits against a grey, unsettled sky with an impending destructive force looming on the horizon. While it looks like the sort of place Robert Smith might spend a Summer holiday, it does set the stage perfectly. This is not an album of joy, redemption, and salvation, it’s forlorn expedition through the emotional wilderness as our…

  • Arborist – Home Burial

    October 14, 2016 - By 

    Master craftsman Mark McCambridge finally releases his debut album, Home Burial, under the guise of indie-Americana outfit Arborist, on November 11. Drawing influence from the wise, heartfelt likes of Bill Callahan & Jason Molina in terms of eclectic-yet-familiar instrumentation paired with thoughtfully-penned personal songs, it also features an indie rock pairing with Kim Deal on last year’s single, ‘Twisted Arrow‘. Recorded at Start Together Studios with Arborist drummer Ben McCauley, the album is launched in Belfast at Mr Tom’s Lounge in Lavery’s on October 28, with support from Dublin indie outfit Tandem Felix. Stream ‘I Heard Him Leaving’, Arborist’s interesting gender-subverting play on traditional Americana:

  • Premiere: Arborist – I Heard Him Leaving

    September 12, 2016 - By 

    With a sound in which subtlety holds sway where a scream would fall short, Mark McCambridge AKA Arborist is a craftsman of nuance. With his debut full-length album, Home Burial, set for release on November 11 via Kirkinrola Records, the Belfast-based singer-songwriter’s recent single ‘A Man of My Age’ garnered comparisons to such venerated figures as Leonard Cohen, Bill Callahan and Jason Molina with very good reason. In knowing there’s no need to clothe a skeleton, McCambridge’s knowingly stark, wonderfully composed songs put the cutting phrase and heavy allusion centre-stage, each lyric lit by softly lilting Americana folk betraying both longing and hope…

  • Watch: Arborist – Twisted Arrow

    May 6, 2015 - By 

    Released as a stream back in March, Belfast-based folk songsmith Mark McCambridge AKA Arborist has unveiled the video for his new single, ‘Twisted Arrow’, featuring guest vocals from none other than Kim Deal. Directed by Stephen Agnew, it’s a suitably mellow accompaniment to the Americana-tinged single, which was officially released on Monday. Watch the video below.

  • Stream: Arborist – Twisted Arrow (feat. Kim Deal)

    March 16, 2015 - By 

    In one of the more curious, unlikely – and, let’s face, envy-inducing – collaborations headed by a Irish singer-songwriter in quite some time, Belfast-based folk songsmith Mark McCambridge AKA Arborist has unveiled his latest effort, featuring backing vocals from none other than Kim Deal. Speaking about the collaboration, McCambridge said: “The harmony part was always there, from the moment the song was written and recorded here in Belfast.  But it needed a unique voice.  Fancifully, we drew-up a shortlist of desirable candidates with Kim far and away top of the list.  So, we contacted her – as you do – and after a…

  • Echo & The Bunnymen w/ Arborist @ Mandela Hall, Belfast

    February 19, 2015 - By 

    Thirty-seven years in, Echo & The Bunnymen’s repute as one of the most vital and influential British rock bands ever is long beyond contention.  Notwithstanding a couple of reunions and several line-up changes, Ian McCullough and co – founding guitar/songwriter Will Sergeant and a considerably more callow touring band – have battened down the hatches for the long run, summoning their pioneering post-punk “glory days” on stage where recent recorded material has just fallen short of that early vitality. Tonight they offer up the timeless magic once more, an undeniably legendary proposition. With a steady stream of expectant heads herding into the Mandela Hall, singer-songwriter Mark…