• EP Premiere + Interview: THVS – Everyday Hexes

    July 15, 2015 - By 

    Forming from the embers of Belfast riff-wielding institution Comply or Die, heavy rock three-piece THVS are on the precipice of completing the first stage of their instantly ear-grabbing metamorphosis. Officially released on Friday (July 17), we’re pleased to present a first listen of their expectedly visceral four-track EP, Everyday Hexes, also chatting to frontman Michael Smyth about the writing and recording of the EP, the formation of the band and their plans for the future. Hi Michael. First thing’s first, how did THVS come about? The band came about after a band practice got cancelled so Matt and I decided to go up and play anyway.…

  • Premiere: Contour Shreds – Remixes EP

    June 30, 2015 - By 

    Having impressed at Body & Soul last weekend, Dublin electronic duo Conan Wynne and Anna Doran AKA Contour are right up with our acts to catch at the Red Bull Music Academy stage at this year’s Longitude Festival in Marlay Park. With just under three weeks left to that slot, we’re pleased to premiere a brand new remixes EP from the pair. A self-described “compilation of remixes, reinterpretations, and general reconfiguration of our musical friends and our sounds” the release features reworkings by Sounds of System Breakdown, R.S.A.G, Fran Hartnett, Emma Nicolai and Contour themselves, as well as an original mix of…

  • Premiere: Travis Is A Tourist – Loosen Up

    June 29, 2015 - By 

    In a land and age increasingly over-saturated with every conceivable ilk and fashion of singer-songwriter, Travis Gilbert AKA Travis Is A Tourist manages to carve his own path of folk-pop, one imbued with a real, almost touchable sense of purpose. The follow-up to his ear-grabbing 2013 debut EP, Gilbert will release the five-track Weakdays on July 6, a release defined by Gilbert’s wonderfully crafted admissions of open-eyed restlessness, doubt and destiny. Seeking to “marry the robust rock of artists such as Ryan Adams with a slice of Prince-esque R’n’B” the EP’s lead single ‘Loosen Up’ distils the essence of Weakdays across three and a…

  • Premiere: My Tribe Your Tribe – Will To Survive

    June 17, 2015 - By 

    Set to play Body & Soul at the weekend, Dublin duo My Tribe Your Tribe really caught our attention back in February with the dreamy, subtly cascading alt-electro of ‘Only a Horizon’. Going several steps further, their new single, ‘Will To Survive’, was obviously written with those imminent summer festival sets in mind. Danceable in all the first places, it looks both inward and outward, evoking the vocals of Ben Gibbard, and a musical marriage between Caribou and early Arcade Fire. ‘Will To Survive’ – produced by James Darkin at Temple Lane Studio – will be officially released on November 6.

  • EP Premiere: Patrick Gardiner – Carcassonne

    April 1, 2015 - By 

    Ahead of its launch at Belfast’s Voodoo on April 9, we’re pleased to present an exclusive first listen to Carcassonne, the second EP from Co. Down singer-songwriter Patrick Gardiner. A subtly eclectic mix of incisive, occasionally wry and consistently considered acoustic tale-telling, the five-track release sees Gardiner’s earnest words drive forth full-band tracks underpinned with some instantly memorable melodic threads and pop nuances. Better still is Gardiner’s guitar-playing throughout, proving very much representative of a craftsman who has played and commanded the instrument from a young age. Go here for the Facebook event page for the launch show and stream the EP below.

  • EP Premiere: R51 – Pillow Talk

    March 23, 2015 - By 

    Belfast-based quintet R51 have come on leaps and bounds over the last couple of years. Having cultivated a perfectly pulverizing live show and an effects-laden, shoegaze-tinged noise-pop craft that continues to surprise and intrigue, the Melyssa Shannon-fronted quartet will launch their debut EP, Pillow Talk, at Belfast’s Bar Sub on Wednesday night (April 25). In his review of the EP for the Thin Air, Will Murphy said, “Each one of the songs has something to recommend, be it the Sigur Ros vibe permeating throughout the EP closer, ‘Seaweed’, the spaced out verses on ‘I Hate That Too’ or the monstrously huge chorus on ‘Pillow…

  • Premiere: White Sage – Way Beyond Our Means EP

    March 8, 2015 - By 

    Beyond running Dublin’s newest record shop, Little Gem, or performing as part of I Heart The Monster Hero and GODHATESDISCO, Andy Walsh has been concocting his own solo sonic wizardry as White Sage. Evoking the likes of Kraftwerk, Cluster and Harmonia, his superb debut EP, Way Beyond Our Means, is a self-proclaimed “sonic exploration of thought, emotion, dreams and imaginings through melody, countermelody and rhythms created using conventional and unconventional recording techniques.” Released via Little Gem Records on March 20, the EP – performed and recorded entirely by Andy Walsh between November 2013 and June 2014 – was layered using an early 20th century Ritzmar…

  • Premiere: Go Wolf – Running (Live)

    February 17, 2015 - By 

    Over the last couple of years, Belfast electro-pop band Go Wolf have progressively cultivated a perfectly balmy, synth-driven sound underpinned with an impressive command of subtly brilliant, enamouring melodies. Ahead of their OLD FANG-hosted EP launch at Belfast’s Menagerie on March 6, Scott and Hannah from the band have recorded a stripped-back version of ‘Running’ at OLD FANG HQ – a performance that really captures that aforementioned melodic knack. Watch the performance below and go here to buy tickets to the band’s EP launch right here

  • Premiere: Cat Palace – Cat Palace EP

    February 5, 2015 - By 

    Every once and a while you stumble across a voice that just stops you in your tracks. A self-proclaimed “devotional” artist, Dublin’s David Blaney AKA Cat Palace falls firmly within that bracket. Placed somewhere between The Blue Nile, Talk Talk, REM and Bonnie Prince Billy, his unaffected, ache-laced vocals and stripped-back acoustic liturgies forge to concoct something bordering on the mystical. Featuring singles ‘Cage’ and ‘Hear Me Lord’, as well as three other tracks, his debut EP commands, broods and sates in fine fashion, capturing an Irish singer-songwriter doing something very singular indeed. Cat Palace is released at Dublin’s Bello Bar on Saturday…

  • Premiere: Darling – It’s Just One Look

    January 28, 2015 - By 

    Ahead of its release on Friday, we’re pleased to present an exclusive first look at the video for ‘It’s Just One Look’ by Dublin duo Gary Harding and James McGuire AKA Darling. Directed by Michael Kelly, the video is a wonderfully retro affair, capturing the band and their rousing alt-pop to a tee. In fact, their exuberance is perfectly tangible. The song is the follow-up to the band’s equally impressive 2014 singles ‘Echoes’ and ‘Sail Away’ and will feature on their new EP, also set for release on Friday. Pre-order it here. Darling launch the EP at Dublin’s Sugar Club on Saturday night.…