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.
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…
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.…
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…
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.
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.
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.
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.
Counting their main influences as Jeff Buckley, Amy Winehouse, Tame Impala, Matt Corby, Mac DeMarco and The Beatles, new-fangled Derry outfit Scenery have already struck a keen balance between throwback and contemporary. A slickly-produced single conjuring at least a couple of the aforementioned acts, ‘Fool For You’ is a swooning ballad that, falling comfortably into the former camp, reveals the band’s pop prowess and melodic flair. Scenery launch ‘Fool For You’ alongside Orchid Collective and Emer McLaughlin at Bennigans in Derry tonight. Have a first listen to the single via Soundcloud below.
With groups like the Gloaming making some not insignificant waves, Irish trad music seems to be gaining more and more ground, in a crossover context. It’s within a framework that a band like Rue can finally get the respect and due recognition they deserve because lord knows the Dublin-based group has earned it. Made up of Lynched alumni Cormac MacDiarmada, Brian Flanagan, and Radie Peat, the trio specializes in carefully crafting their own reinterpretations of classic standards from both sides of the pond. While they may not have much in way of material at present, what they do have is…