• Stream: Arvo Party – Tired Eyes (fear. LARKS)

    July 10, 2018 - By 

    Ahead of making his solo debut performance at Mandela Hall’s curtain call on July 27, Belfast musician and producer Herb Magee AKA Arvo Party is back with collaborative new single ‘Tired Eyes’. Featuring sublime guest vocals from Fiona O’Kane AKA LARKS, it’s a first-rate, FM-flirting electro-pop gem that not only confines within its unfurling four minutes Magee’s keen versatility as a producer – it doubles up as a stop-gap ahead of the release of Arvo Party’s second album, which is pipped for release next month. Details to be announced. In the meantime, give this a blast or two.  

  • Stream: Remains of Youth – Settle West/South Africa

    June 28, 2018 - By 

    Back in July 2016, Belfast alternative quartet Remains of Youth returned after a long hiatus with There Is Hope Without Progress, a five-track EP we said brimmed the band’s “carefully-considered musicianship, strong sense of urgency and deft vitality”. One memorable, TTA-promoted gig at Lavery’s in Belfast later, the band dropped off the radar again but now, two years on, they’ve re-emerged with two of their strongest efforts to date, ‘Settle West’ and ‘South Africa’. Where the material that comprised the TIHWP EP struck a chord with us, these new tracks find the Adam Shirlow-fronted band at their most inspired and inspirited. Striking…

  • Stream: DANI – Samson and Goliath

    June 28, 2018 - By 

    A multi-instrumentalist with a remarkable knack for eking out sublime, burrowing melodies evocative of Irish traditional music, Belfast-based singer-songwriter DANI has returned with ‘Samson and Goliath’, a three-minute gem of pastoral alt-folk exploring the concept of “disconnection and being unable to recognise oneself.” Having spent last year facilitating music workshops and performing in Colombia and Indonesia, namely working in the field of conflict transformation, this is the sound of a musician who is renewed and ready to take her rightful place in being recognised as one of the island’s most singular alt-folk talents. Listen to the single – and check out its artwork – below.…

  • Premiere: Peter J. McCauley – Where Do We Belong

    June 22, 2018 - By 

    We last heard from Belfast singer-songwriter Peter J McCauley when he released his five-track EP Liminals back in 2016. Two years on, the multi-instrumentalist and vocalist — who previously released music under the moniker Rams Pocket Radio — is back with one of his most nuanced and carefully-crafted single efforts to date. Threaded with some subtle electronic ambience, it’s a wonderfully sparse piano-and-vocals paean to the eternal conundrum of not knowing where one is going, but taking solace in both perspective and faith in que será, será. Have a first listen to the single below.

  • Watch: Our Krypton Son – Falling In Love Is A Suicide Mission

    May 23, 2018 - By 

    Quite possibly the island of Ireland’s finest songwriter, Chris McConaghy AKA Our Krypton Son has returned with new single ‘Falling In Love Is A Suicide Mission’. A carefully-crafted, elegiac peak from his critically-devoured second album Fleas & Diamonds, the single is accompanied with wonderfully minimalist visuals courtesy of Tristian Crowe. Watch the video and have read of an exclusive written accompaniment to the track titled ‘The Old Plymouth’ by McConaghy below. The Old Plymouth Harry Dean Stanton lights a cigarette and stands at the water’s edge. The flickering lights of Dupont tremble in a graveyard of stars. He snorts at…

  • Watch: Glass Wings – For A Little While

    May 17, 2018 - By 

    Glass Wings is the music-making moniker of Belfast-based artist Stephen Jones. Following on from the release of Jana from Barcelona – a carefully-crafted, acclaimed EP released back in May last year – he has recently recorded his forthcoming full-length debut album with Phil D’Alton of Master & Dog. Lead single ‘For A Little While’ set the tone for a body of work exploring personal and societal coming of age in an increasingly uncertain world. Directed, filmed and edited by Josh Brogan, check out the video for the single below.

  • Premiere: The Mad Dalton – Seafaring Man

    April 13, 2018 - By 

    Officially launched at Belfast’s Love & Death last night, ‘Seafaring Man’ is the new single by Belfast-based Scots-Canadian singer-songwriter Peter Sumadh AKA The Mad Dalton. Taken from his forthcoming debut album, Open Season – which will be released in June following a successful pledge campaign – it’s another full-bodied slice of wistful Americana that, rather than getting ensnared in the images and memories of the past, aims two eyes firmly on the horizon. Open Season is launched at Belfast’s Black Box on June 14. Have a first listen (and look at Chris Molloy’s video) below.

  • Stream: Arvo Party – Liberté

    April 12, 2018 - By 

    It came as no surprise to us when we discovered that Herb Magee aka Arvo Party was nominated for last year’s Northern Ireland Music Prize. In his review of the Belfast-based producer and musician’s self-titled debut album, Cathal McBride said, “With great Irish electronic acts like Solar Bears and Adultrock having called it a day within the last year, Magee sounds more than ready to take up the mantle they’ve left behind.” Seven months on, Magee continues to uphold this promise in style. A masterfully propulsive six minutes of electronica blurring sonic lines via late 1990s trance worships, simmering ambience surges,…

  • Stream: Aislinn Logan – Spree

    April 5, 2018 - By 

    London-based Belfast singer-songwriter Aislinn Logan has released a new single, ‘Spree’. Marking a tonal and compositional shift from previous singles, it’s a strong, markedly well-produced effort from the artist. Logan said of the track, “The music I’m making just now is certainly a shift from what came before, but for me I feel like I’m getting closer to the thing I wanted to make when I started. It’s definitely becoming more aligned with the music I listen to – it’s a bit more committal. I don’t really listen to that much folk music now; I used to – big time,…

  • Stream: Gnarkats – Enigma

    March 30, 2018 - By 

    Belfast three-piece Gnarkats recently teamed up with Paul Mahon of the Answer to record a new track, ‘Enigma’. Released this week, the single is a starry-eyed burst of gazey alt-indie with a lyrical undercurrent of feeling isolated in toxic relationships. Speaking of the recording said, “Paul was amazing to work with, he loved the songs and we all got on really well. He put so much effort in to our music, had great suggestions and got the best performances out of us. We are very proud of the two tracks we worked on with him and it was truly a dream come true for [guitarist] Jordan…