• Premiere: Jealous of the Birds and Ryan Vail – Love Is A Crow (DIE HEXEN Remix)

    February 24, 2017 - By 

    Whether teased out via whim or intention, collaboration is often the key to unearthing untested majesty. In the case of Jealous of the Birds and Ryan Vail, ‘Love is a Crow’ recently saw two worlds collide in perfectly curious fashion with the former’s spoken word spirals and vocals melding with the latter’s bubbling electronica and chopping rhythms. Taking the collaborative buzz one step further, Dee Lucille AKA DIE HEXEN’s remix of the track is a spectral masterclass, quietly dragging the original through a velvet netherworld of Badalamentian synth-work, heaving textures and warped vocal refrains. Have an exclusive first listen to that below.

  • Album Stream: Group Zero – Structures and Light

    February 24, 2017 - By 

    Written, recorded and mixed intermittently in a Belfast bedroom over four years, Structures of Light by Girls Names’ Cathal Cully AKA Group Zero is an album that bears the hallmarks of an artist slowly unravelling and refining his prowess in a new realm. A project stemming from a deeply-resonant viewing of Heinz Mack’s Pyramid of Light, the album – which is released via Belfast imprint Touch Sensitive – traverses brittle cold wave gems, pre-dawn electro throwdowns and shivering industrial instrumentalism over ten tracks, each as commanding as the last. Order Structures and Light via Touch Sensitive on vinyl and cassette here.…

  • Stream: Bad Sea – Tell Me (What I Mean)

    February 23, 2017 - By 

    One of our featured 17 For ’17 acts, Dublin duo Bad Sea have, as expected, burst into 2017 with a head full of steam. Ahead of supporting Julia Jacklin at Whelan’s in Dublin on February 25 and playing London’s Notting Hill Arts Club on March 5, their swooning new single ‘Tell Me (What I Mean)’ melds Americana-tinged jangle with Angel Olsen-esque pop finesse. Most certainly worth a repeat listen, this one.

  • Premiere: Candice Gordon – The Laws of Nature

    February 22, 2017 - By 

    Evoking everyone from Anna Calvi and PJ Harvey to Le Butcherettes’ Teri Gender Bender and Grace Slick, Berlin-based Dublin artist Candice Gordon is a force to be reckoned with. Having previously recorded an EP with Shane MacGowan, she is set to release her debut full-length album, Garden of Beasts, via Proper Octopus Records on March 3. The lead single from that release (which is an exploration of human nature, the hubris of identity, dispossession, and the conflict between the allure of savagery and the desperation for salvation from that) ‘The Laws of Nature’ is an exceptional six-minute slice of throwback noir-pop, conjuring backwashed images…

  • Watch: Talos – Odyssey

    February 20, 2017 - By 

    Having been on an increasingly impressive trajectory over the last four years, Cork producer Eoin French AKA Talos will release his highly-anticipated debut album, Wild Alee, on April 21. A new single taken from that, the lush electro-pop of ‘Odyssey’ makes for a nigh on five minute ballad of swirling textures and emotive incandescence. Speaking of the track, French said, ““In any endeavour we find ourselves at the point of doubt. Those moments where you question yourself. That’s what the line, ‘In this odyssey, it’s hard to leave…’ refers to. It’s a beautiful and testing cycle. “I was asking myself some pretty big questions.…

  • Stream: Maija Sofia – Persephone

    February 14, 2017 - By 

    One of our featured 17 For ’17 acts, we are pretty convinced 2017 is set to be a big year for Dublin’s Maija Sofia. Haven’t carved out her own path over the last while, the Connemara-reared artist has just unveiled her latest – and almost certainly greatest – single effort to date, ‘Persephone’. A self-described ode “to the many talented women throughout history who have been oppressed and overshadowed at the hands of an abuse” the track – which marries a wonderfully cloistered atmosphere with an intimate, lo-fi air – was produced and recorded with London electronic artist Gazel. In short: we…

  • Video Premiere: Strength NIA – La Floresta

    February 14, 2017 - By 

    Hands down their strongest single effort, ‘La Floresta’ by Derry outfit Strength NIA is a track that perfectly sums up the beating heart of the Rory Moore-fronted band’s experimental alt-pop craft to date. With its uncanny melodic surge and rhythmic panache, it makes for an extremely transmitting three-and-a-half-minutes from the fast-rising act. The single – which is set for official release on February 28 – also comes accompanied with rather brilliant video courtesy of Conor McFeely. Have a first watch and listen below now.

  • The Sad & Beautiful World of Sparklehorse at The MAC

    February 13, 2017 - By 

    On April 8 we will co-host a special, two-part event The MAC as part of Belfast Film Festival celebrating the life and music of the sadly-missed Mark Linkous, aka Sparklehorse. Following a screening of Alex Crowton and Bobby Dass’ new documentary ‘The Sad & Beautiful World of Sparklehorse’, the evening will also feature a Q+A with the filmmakers, as well as a live, one-hour performance, ‘A Night of Sparklehorse’ with Belfast-based singer-songwriters Tom McShane, The Mad Dalton, Heliopause, Pixie Saytar and more. Tickets are available from The MAC, priced at £10.50 & £12.50. Things kick off at 8pm.

  • Watch: No Monster Club – Sion

    February 13, 2017 - By 

    Not exactly an outfit to needlessly sit on or tease out new material, Dublin’s No Monster Club are a band whose prolific output has never been cause to wonder about quality or consistency. Released as a single back in February last year, the slinking art-pop of ‘Sion’ is a perfect case in point, something we’ve been happy to re-visit in the form of its brand new video, an accompaniment featuring what main man Bobby Aherne calls words “vaguely meta” video footage featuring the very parade the song is written about. Sure enough, it syncs up wonderfully well.

  • Stream: Slow Riot – Pink December

    February 10, 2017 - By 

    Much like The Twilight Sad, Joy Division, Editors, Interpol and many others besides, Limerick three-piece Slow Riot have always had a strong knack in forging a stark, post-punk aesthetic with authentic pop sensibilities. Set for release on Monday, their new single ‘Pink December’ – which melds building minimalism with claustrophobic patterns reminiscent of early Cure – is no exception to that rule. We’re fans. Check it out.