• Watch: All the Luck in the World – Contrails

    February 1, 2018 - By 

    All The Luck In The World are set to release their third album The Blind Arcade on February 23. The Berlin-based Irish trio formed in 2011 and have since developed quite the following both at home and abroad thanks to their brand of atmospheric, emotional alternative-folk and carefully crafted stories. ‘Contrails’ is the third track to be shared from the album and once again shows the band’s increasing maturity and dedication to their craft. Like ‘Landmarks’ and ‘Golden October’ before it, ‘Contrails’ invokes the likes of Frightened Rabbit, Mutual Benefit and Little Green Cars in its execution of a acoustic pop sensibilities without any corners cut…

  • Stream: O Emperor – Make It Rain

    January 29, 2018 - By 

    O Emperor are back with ‘Make It Rain’, their first new music in over two years. The Cork via Waterford five-piece have “[Emerged] from a sustained period of blurblobitude” with a sound that pushes forward the krautrock, afro-disco and psych leanings of their past two releases, 2015’s Lizard EP and 2013’s Vitreous LP. And about time too. Since their 2012 debut Hither Thither, the band – which, if you didn’t know, features one of our 18 for ’18 artists Phil Christie AKA The Bonk on vocals and piano – have steered further and further away from folkier territory and into more obscure realms. It was heard in the eerie krautrock of…

  • Album Stream: Sleep – Portals

    January 26, 2018 - By 

    Sleep is the alias of Dublin-based electronic artist Shane Cusack. A producer of vast, enchanted drones and ambient soundscapes, he recently released his debut mini-album Portals via the Urban Arts Berlin label. A richly textured collection, this five-track release is specifically designed to guide you into slumber when nothing else seems able to. On his regular midnight show on Dublin Digital Radio, Cusack produces an hour long mix exclusively to cater to the first hour of the sleep cycle. On Portals, he achieves something much the same, only this time the music is his own (naturally). Inspired by the likes of Wolfgang Voigt’s GAS, William Basinski and Alvin Lucier Cusack “explores a variety…

  • Watch: Kojaque – Bubby’s Cream [Prod. jar jar jr]

    January 26, 2018 - By 

    Kojaque has shared his first new music since last year’s raucous ‘Wificode’. The Dublin rapper/producer and founding member of the Soft Boy Records collective is in typically reflective, honest form on the gorgeous ‘Bubby’s Cream’, produced by fellow softboy Jar Jar Jr.  The single is taken from his forthcoming Deli Daydreams EP, set for release on 23 February which documents the week in the life of a deli worker. “The project meanders through the daydreams of KOJAQUE, the main protagonist, as he contemplates love, life and loneliness in the lead up to the annual work Christmas party,” the MC, real name Kevin Smith explains. “The…

  • 18 for ’18: The Sunshine Factory

    January 25, 2018 - By 

    We continue 18 for ’18, our feature showcasing eighteen Irish acts we’re convinced are going places in 2018. Throughout January we’re going to be previewing each of those acts, accompanied by words from our writers and an original photograph from one of our photographers. Next up, The Sunshine Factory. Photo by Abigail Denniston The Sunshine Factory want to be as inescapable as The Brian Jonestown Massacre. At least, that is according to an interview with The Thin Air last November where they also name dropped the likes of My Bloody Valentine, Spaceman 3 and Joy Division as influences. Unlike so many other…

  • Stream: Tayne – Sacrifice

    January 24, 2018 - By 

    London-based, Galway-native Matt Sutton AKA Tayne has shared his new single ‘Sacrifice’. Following last year’s ‘Heartbeat’, the former It Was All A Bit Black And White frontman, continues his ventures into the world of deranged electro-pop with this new venture, taking off a forthcoming EP. ‘Sacrifice’ is a song for those times when you want the sheen and melody of pop music but also feel like chucking a chair across a room. Savagery and distortion combed with vibrancy and gloss, Sutton is making music to suit fans of The Naked and Famous, All Tvvins or Carly Rae Jepsen‘s Emotion…provided you filtered those songs through a distortion pedal and…

  • 18 for ’18: A Ritual Sea

    January 23, 2018 - By 

    We continue 18 for ’18, our feature showcasing eighteen Irish acts we’re convinced are going places in 2018. Throughout January we’re going to be previewing each of those acts, accompanied by words from our writers and an original photograph from one of our photographers. Next up, A Ritual Sea. Photo by Loreana Rushe Formed in 2016 and currently working on a highly anticipated debut full-length, Irish / French dream-pop prospect A Ritual Sea may be fairly fresh, but from what we’ve heard so far, the four-piece are far from ‘wet behind the ears’. Via ‘Serpentine’, seemingly the only public offering released to…

  • Stream: Sal Dulu – Tyko

    January 22, 2018 - By 

    Sal Dulu emerged from the undergrowth and into our inboxes last week and we were immediately absorbed. The Dublin-based producer/multi-instrumentalist’s new track ‘Tyko’ is a stunning work of delicate balearic percussion, field recordings and found sounds, warm synths and vocals by one Xao. It is only the third track that the 25-year-old producer has made available, with ‘Antasma’ and ‘Duluoz Dream’ nestling quietly on Soundcloud and displaying the same level of subtle –often jazz based – intricacy, great pacing and quiet emotion. We’re not sure what to expect from Sal Dulu in future but with three tracks of this quality we could…

  • Stream: Maija Sofia – Flowers

    January 22, 2018 - By 

    Maija Sofia has teamed up with ambient folk songwriter Kerry Devine for a split 7″ released via Trapped Animal. ‘Flowers’ is the first new music we’ve heard from the Dublin-based, Galway native songwriter since last summer’s ‘Persephone’. One of our 17 for ’17 picks last year, Sofia’s brand of literary, emotive folk music is given a dynamic lift this time round with the aid of a full band, a new venture for the artist that has paid off massively. In describing the song and her decision to bring in some more players, she said, “The lyrics of ‘Flowers’ came to me…

  • Premiere: Warriors Of The Dystotheque – Hashtag feat. Tony Jarvis & Si Hayden

    January 22, 2018 - By 

    Warriors Of The Dystotheque are a trio of sound engineers, musicians, producers and DJs based in Derry, Coventry and New York respectively. Infusing dub electronics, jazz, psyche and garage, they are about to release their new album Madness in the Method. The group have been a quiet presence in the scene they find themselves in for years, having played DJ sets and touring gigs among the likes of Orbital, The Prodigy, The Happy Mondays, Pop Will Eat Itself, Saint Etienne and DJ Food. On this album then, they seem to be taking elements and stylistic flourishes from all of those contemporaries and…