Dublin lo-fi rock duo Sundara O’Higgins and Niamh Hegarty AKA Hunk have unveiled a brand new track, ‘Precipice’. Taken from their forthcoming debut EP, Fledgling – set for release on November 22 – the track is a wonderfully fully-formed effort with swathes of nocturnal noise, slightly off-kilter harmonies and a general air of Grass Widow about it (far from a bad thing in our book). Stream the track via Soundcloud below.
In the latest installment of Inbound, we talk to Martin Corrigan, main man with new-fangled Belfast-based electronic three-piece Skymas. With collaboration at the heart of the project, Corrigan tells us about the band’s musical manifesto, the influence of philosophy and the band’s debut double A-side, Primer. Hi Martin. Firstly, how did Skymas come about? Did you all know each other before getting together as a musical unit? Nick owned a clothes shop that I was buying a T-shirt in. He was standing behind the counter playing air bass to ‘Elephant Talk’ by King Crimson. We started talking. Three weeks later…
On the day of its official release, Dublin instrumental quartet Alarmist talk us through each track on their brand new – not to mention exceptionally good – EP Pal Magnet. Read their words and stream each track individually below! Aztec Dreams In this song we were trying to be quite intense but in an unconventional way, with these old-school guitar tones and blippy melodies rather than heavy rock riffs. A couple of us had gotten really into the 1950s producer Joe Meek and his albumI Hear a New World, which is full of these twangy slapback sounds and primitive early synths, and that…
Off the back of the release of their stellar debut album – Nothing Good Gets Away – our gig of the week this week will see Dublin indie rock band Bouts return to Belfast for a special album launch party on Friday, November 1. Supported by two of the North’s finest indie bands, Hurdles and Go Swim, the four-piece will play the wonderfully tucked-away Menagerie in the heart of the Holylands – their first show here since they supported Amateur Historians in the same venue early last year. Go here for the show’s event page, check out our interview with Bouts…
One of the downright catchiest songs we’ve heard from a new Irish act in ages, Dublin duo Gary Harding and James McGuire AKA Darling have unveiled their debut single, ‘Echoes’. A starry-eyed, three-and-a-half-minute hit in the making – calling to mind everyone from Two Door Cinema Club to Ed Zealous – the track was produced by Stephen Lipson, an English producer/engineer who has worked with the likes of Annie Lennox and Pet Shop Boys. Check out the Feel Good Lost-directed video to the song below.
Ex-Panama Kings frontman and current And So I Watch You From Afar guitarist Niall Kennedy has unveiled his wonderful debut solo EP under the music-making moniker A Bad Cavalier. Having been recording songs for the project the last 14 years, the four-track Ex Libris is the first A Bad Cavalier release, recorded in Belfast and largely mixed and mastered on the road in Europe and America. Stream or pay a minimum of £3 for the EP below.
Having kept their collective head down over the last few months, Dublin band Alarmist have resurfaced in fine style via their new single, ‘Bunda Internacionale’. The lead single from the band’s forthcoming new EP Pal Magnet, the song’s bobbing, shifting instrumentalism strikes a wonderful balance between the warped textures of Tera Melos and the Ethio-jazz groove of Mulatu Astatke. Pal Magnet is available for digital download on November 1st. Stream ‘Bunda Internacionale’ via Soundcloud below.
Taken from their forthcoming second album – set for release at some point next year – Dublin indie-rock duo We Cut Corners have unveiled their excellent new single, ‘YKK’. Set for release via Delphi on November 25, the short track is a simple but characteristically infectious little slice of the two-piece’s craft. To coincide with the release – the band’s first single in over a year – We Cut Corners are set to play four dates over the next while: Thursday, October 17: CMJ showcase, Fat Baby, Rivington St, NYC Friday, October 18: The Planetary/The Great Escape Party @ CMJ, Pianos, Ludlow…
For the latest installment of Track Record, the Crayonsmith lads arrived at my house armed with their favourite records, brownies and plenty of stories of why these albums mean so much to them. All three of them agreed that Public Strain by Women is one of the best albums ever. We chatted about the others over tea and here’s what they had to say: Women – Public Strain Ciaran Smith: “This record has everything and is a good example of where our three tastes meet. Amazing lo-fi recording job by Chad Van Gallen and loads of killer hooks. ‘Venice Lockjaw’ has…
With Halloween just around the corner, Dublin four-piece The Mighty Stef have unveiled the video to their aptly-titled new single, ‘Vampire, Hold Me Tight’. Directed by Lindsey Byrne, the video “acknowledge[s] the use of some projections from a certain classic British film that has long been a favourite among the group” AKA Robin Hardy’s 1973 horror classic The Wicker Man. Taken from their forthcoming fourth album – produced in Los Angeles by Alain Johannes in Spring – the track will also features on the band’s introductory three-track release, Iveagh Flats EP, which is set for release on November 7. Watch the…