• Watch: Cherym – Listening To My Head

    June 10, 2021 - By 

    Without question, Derry pop-punk trio Cherym have emerged as one of the real success stories from these shores in recent times. Earworming to high heaven, their razor-sharp, harmony-laden craft is something we fully look forward to experienced live, once again, when the time is right. In the meantime, the soap video for the Hannah Richardson-fronted band’s new single ‘Listening To My Head’ is scratching the itch. A mini soap opera condensed to three minutes, it really drives home Cherym’s uniquely joyous M.O. Check it out below and revisit our recent interview with the band here.

  • Premiere: Jake Wallace – Empyrean

    June 3, 2021 - By 

    As one-fifth of Belfast doom merchants Elder Druid, Jake Wallace knows a thing or two about the power of heft. Today, he offers a new vantage point to view his craft Taken from his debut solo EP, Lacuna – which is officially released via Black Tragick Records tomorrow – two-minute instrumental ‘Empyrean’ is a masterfully restrained effort that shines a light on the many hues of Wallace’s full-spectrum sound, Speaking about the EP, Wallace said, ‘The project came about as a result of lockdown and a few rainy afternoons in Belfast. I had never recorded any acoustic music at all, although I had…

  • Watch: Colm Warren – Just Me

    May 28, 2021 - By 

    Belfast-based singer-songwriter Colm Warren has unveiled the video for his new single, ‘Just Me’. Directed by musician, videographer and filmmaker Matthew Killen, it’s a striking accompaniment to a song that delicately explores the solace that can be gained in one’s own company. Off the back of singles including ‘Choked’ and ‘Shame’, Warren – who is the former frontman of NI punk band The Twenty – further carves out a niche for himself as an artist wielding carefully considered songwriting with real candour. Have a first look below.

  • Premiere: Niall McDowell – Do You Think I’m Pretty?

    May 18, 2021 - By 

    In the summer of 2019, Belfast artist Niall McDowell marked his arrival via ‘Valentine’, a candid and homespun five-minute statement of intent. Following a string of equally promising releases including ‘You Have My Heart’, new single ‘Do You Think I’m Pretty?’ is a vivid snapshot of an artist swiftly on the rise. A self-proclaimed “chaotic ode to the moments within a relationship that are too specific to call out, in fear of seeming too much,” the song – his first song to be played with a full band – is a wonderfully wistful that bears the imprint of artists including…

  • Q+A: Nathan O’Regan of Songbook

    December 1, 2020 - By 

    We catch up with Belfast-based musician and promoter Nathan O’Regan about the origins, success and upcoming – downright unmissable – festive installment of monthly invitational session Songbook on Tuesday, December 8th. Hi Nathan. First of all, for those not familiar with Songbook, briefly tell us about your original motivations for starting the night back in the summer of 2017. Songbook began with the intention of filling what I saw to be a massive hole in the Belfast music scene. Having started gigging here in 2013, I was lucky to have fallen in with an incredible group of players but was…

  • “While injustice persists, we won’t shut up.” The Fight Is Not Over – Here’s Why

    July 9, 2020 - By 

    Out today via Belfast imprint Third Bar, The Fight Is Not Over is a fist-clenched snapshot of a scene of artists that insist upon making their voices – and music – heard. Kristen Sinclair gets the full lowdown on the four-track live EP from Problem Patterns, Strange New Places, Sister Ghost and Gender Chores, and digs deep to trace the trajectory of a movement that has no intentions to slow down any time soon. EP artwork by Jacky Sheridan Buy The Fight Is Not Over on 12″ vinyl here. ‘The Fight Is Not Over’ reads the slogan emblazoned across the jackets…

  • Watch: Song Sung – Telling Tales

    May 27, 2020 - By 

    Monaghan born, Brooklyn-based twin sisters Georgina and Una McGeough aka Song Sung first came to our attention via David Holmes’ stellar Late Night Tales compilation back in 2016. Along with the likes of Belfast drone-pop heroes Documenta, their take on 10cc’s ‘I’m Not In Love’ proved a wonderfully spectral peak from the release. Four years on, the pair are primed to release their debut album, This Ascension Is Ours, on July 3st. Teaming up once more with Holmes – who co-wrote and produced the album with fellow composer and Unloved bandmate Keefus Ciancia – it promises ten tracks of sublime spectral pop from the Irish sister duo. New single ‘Telling Tales’ is…

  • 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…

  • Monday Mixtape: Cherym

    February 10, 2020 - By 

    From Pixies to Lana Del Rey, Hannah Richardson, Nyree Porter and Alannagh Doherty aka Derry pop-rock trailblazers Cherym take us on a guided tour of their all-time favourite songs. Photo by Ciara McMullan Hannah Charly Bliss – Black Hole Charly Bliss are ultimately my favourite band. This was the first song I heard of theirs. I love how Evas sugary sweet vocals are complimented by the fuzziness of the guitars. The music video for this is everything you expect it to be, full of colour and glitter. Literally everything I have ever loved in a band. Tancred – Sell My Head…

  • Stream: Ciaran Lavery – Can I Begin Again

    January 27, 2020 - By 

    Over the last few years, Ciaran Lavery has proven himself to be, in both song and approach, much more than your cut-and-dry, run-of-the-mill singer-songwriter. The globetrotting Northern Irish artist’s gestation as a songwriting voice, from the days of his old band, Captain Kennedy, via albums such as Sweet Decay and Let Bad In, right up until the present moment has been nothing short of remarkable. All along the way, his clear reluctance to kowtow to expectation has informed easily one of the most colourful and consistently rewarding trajectories of any Irish solo artist in recent years. Lavery’s new single ‘Can…