• EP Premiere: Naoise Roo – Sick Girlfriend

    April 23, 2020 - By 

    With singles drip-fed over the course of the last year, we’ve been patiently anticipating the extended follow-up to Naoise Roo‘s masterful debut album Lilith for some time now. Finally, with the cosmos’ on-brand sense of blackly comic timing very much in tact, the Sick Girlfriend EP is out tomorrow. A fully-formed statement that, across just four snapshots, embraces life in all its ugliness and challenges the accountable norms within the industry. Alongside producer Liam Mulvaney, bassist Daniel Fox & Rian Trench on drums & synth, she ably treads the line between emotionally-driven textural experimentation without forgoing her ability to create gargantuan introvert’s pop banger. Much like the subversive, zeitgeist-capturing album of 2020 in Fiona Apple’s Fetch…

  • Premiere: Myles Manley – Aaa Episode 2:

    April 22, 2020 - By 

    When we launched The Thin Air back in 2013, Dublin-based artist Myles Manley was one of the first Irish artists that we shone a light on. In the seven years since, his shapeshifting, at times downright unpigeonholeable brand of pop has always delivered something that stops you in your tracks. Following last week’s opening installment, today we’re pleased to premiere the second of three videos in a new series by Manley. A collaboration by Seamus Hanly, Sebastian MacDermott and Conor O’Toole, the video features Myles suffering a bout of depression and seeking some counselling, following the rejection of MUSIC COOL .IE seen in…

  • Premiere: Bedrooms – Party Piece

    April 21, 2020 - By 

    Back in February, we flew the flag hard for Dublin quartet Bedrooms. Bearing the imprint of indie rock royalty including Dinosaur Jr, Galaxie 500, Guided by Voices and Pavement, we lauded their ability to bridge the gap between dream-pop and gazed-out indie via a straight-up slowcore sensibility. Recorded with Girl Band’s Daniel Fox in his Stoneybatter studio last November, new single ‘Party Piece’ delivers much of the same, the song conjures Dean Wareham stepping in on a stripped-back Cocteau Twins jam. “We sort of wrote this one backwards,” Devin from the band told us. “We had the second half of the song for a…

  • Stream: Dugout – Topsoil

    April 17, 2020 - By 

    It’s been a couple of years since we’ve heard from Belfast quartet Dugout. Making themselves heard in such a supersaturated indie scene, their carefully-crafted indie rock is equal parts fiercely melodic and masterfully economical. A sub-three minute, starry-eyed burst of stellar refrains and =W=-worthy twin guitar harmonies, new single ‘Topsoil’ is a welcome return penned and recorded over the last few weeks in lockdown. Fingers crossed for more of the same in the not-so-distant future. Topsoil by Dugout

  • Premiere: Landers – Clear Blue Sky

    April 17, 2020 - By 

    Fronted by Dubliner Christopher Colm Morrin, Landers are a new-fangled, Berlin-based experimental folk trio with an incredibly promising future ahead of them. Today marks the release of the threesome’s first release. Following a couple of rehearsals, the band recorded live sessions in a large warehouse known as KAOS on the outskirts of Berlin with Aidan Floatinghome, a friend who has also worked with Perlee, Wallis Bird and Hundreds. Over four days, the trio recorded a series of tracks – the process loose, the set-up minimalist and, tellingly, the dynamic intuitive. Out via heyhowareya Records, Clear Blue Sky is a first…

  • Watch: Conchúr White – Lungs (Townes Van Zandt cover)

    April 17, 2020 - By 

    Off the heels of releasing his debut solo EP Bikini Crops last month, Northern Irish artist Conchúr White has returned with a sublime cover. White, who previously fronted the well-received Silences, is clearly at the peak of his powers at the moment. It’s something that’s written all over his take on ‘Lungs’ by legendary Texan singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt. “I’ve been trying to write a little more over the last few weeks as I don’t want my future self being too hard on my present’s lack of activity,” he tells us. “It’s been difficult, however, as everything has felt a little forced. Over…

  • Stream: The Sky at Night – You’re So Cool

    April 14, 2020 - By 

    From the Altered Hours to DIY LK and far beyond, many Irish artists and collective are digging deep to raise funds for Irish charities that need a helping hand more than ever. Among them is Out on a Limb Records. With all proceeds going to Pieta House, the Limerick imprint today re-releases ‘You’re So Cool’ by Kilkenny-based musician Tim V. Smyth aka The Sky at Night. Originally released back in 2013, it’s a quietly spectral gem that marries lullaby-like refrains with drones that burrow deep. Stream/pay-what-you-like below. You’re So Cool by The Sky At Night

  • Stream: Leo Drezden – A Place For You and I/Neo Tolkien

    April 7, 2020 - By 

    It’s been a while since we heard from Leo Drezden. Comprising Rian Trench, Steve McKinney, Dan Le Bolloc’h and Chris Con, the band’s shapeshifting brand of heavy prog instrumentalism has long defied comparison, which is why their return – not least in such trying and unprecedented times – comes not a second too soon. Comprising two tracks clocking in at just over ten minutes, Leo Drezden Present is a suitably emphatic brace from the Irish quartet. While opener, the wonderfully widescreen ‘A Place For You and I’ marries jazz, prog and electronic for a first-rate, Brainfeeder-y trip, ‘Neo Tolkien’ is an ambitious and equally interstellar effort that,…

  • Bleeding Heart Pigeons Announce New Album ‘Stir’

    March 27, 2020 - By 

    Four years on from the release of their acclaimed debut album Is, experimental pop trio Bleeding Heart Pigeons have announce its long-awaited follow-up, Stir, accompanied by lead single, the prescient ‘Real Connection’. Written and recorded in their converted farm-shed in rural West Limerick, the band have been together for twelve years, having signed to Virgin Records as teenagers in 2013 and since moving on to their own new imprint Hlym Records. Stir is set for release on May 22. In contrast to the “album-oriented” process of Is, the band described their approach in Stir as being more song-focused – “each song is its own little world”. Infectious and…

  • Ciaran Lavery Announces New LP, Unveils ‘Count To Ten’

    March 27, 2020 - By 

    Not exactly one to rest on his laurels, TTA favourite Ciaran Lavery has been extra busy as of late. Quite likely the only musician from the small Co. Antrim parish of Aghagallon currently active and based in Brighton, the 33-year-old has just revealed details of his forthcoming fourth album, Plz Stay, bb. The follow-up to 2018’s inspired Sweet Decay, it is, we are reliably informed, a full-length release bearing the imprint of everything from Thom Yorke’s The Eraser and Mitski’s Be The Cowboy to Beastie Boys classic Ill Communication. To accompany the news, Lavery has unveiled easily one of his compelling singles to date. Bolstered by…