• Video Premiere: Neil Brogan – New Development

    As frontman of Sea Pinks, Belfast’s Neil Brogan established – and consistently re-established – himself as one of the island’s most distinctive songwriting voices. On albums such as Dreaming Tracks and Soft Days, he delivered nuanced, sun-bleached indie-pop sound and made it sound effortless. Last year, Brogan ventured out solo with Life Itself, a stellar four-track EP, and Weird Year, a collection of demos with all the markings of an artist at his peak. Taken from his recent album – and one of the Irish albums of the year at that – Magnolia Day, new single ‘New Development’ distils this fact down to exactly…

  • Sea Pinks Announce Indefinite Hiatus; Stream Single ‘Running Down the Clock’

    Tomorrow, Belfast’s finest purveyors of sun-kissed jangle-pop Sea Pinks will mark 10 years in existence with a new EP. Arriving exactly a decade on from the Neil Brogan-fronted band’s debut single, ‘Japanese Knotwood’, it doubles up as an ending – an inexorable line drawn under the sand – for one of the country’s most prolific and consistently on-form bands. On the heels of its title track, we’re pleased to present a first listen to the release’s new single ‘Running Down The Clock’. Sure enough, even at the eleventh hour, Sea Pinks are a band that sound like no other. Centering on the onward march…

  • Sea Pinks – Rockpool Blue

    With the difficulty of making a proper living from music these days, it’s not uncommon to see the release schedules of bands on the more DIY end of the spectrum slow right down as they’re increasingly forced to balance music with work commitments and other general life admin. And yet, with the release of their seventh album a mere eight years on from their debut, Belfast’s Sea Pinks may surely by now have overtaken even Dublin’s No Monster Club for the title of Ireland’s most prolific band, and while one could be forgiven for assuming a case of quantity over…

  • Win Tickets to Sea Pinks LP Launch

    We have a pair of tickets to give away to the launch of Sea Pinks’ new album this weekend. The Neil Brogan-fronted threesome will release their seventh album, Rockpool Blue, at Belfast’s Black Box on Friday, September 28. Support on the night comes from Music City and Fears. To be in with a chance of snapping up the tickets, e-mail info@thethinair.net with the answer to the following question: Sea Pinks are named after a coastal flower. What’s the Latin name for it? Rockpool Blue by Sea Pinks

  • Sea Pinks – Rockpool Blue

    Belfast’s foremost purveyors of jangle-pop, Sea Pinks, have announced their latest album, Rockpool Blue, out on September 28. The 28 minute album is their seventh LP since their 2010 inception. Recorded in four days over a six month period by engineer Ben McAuley at Start Together Studios, Belfast. Sonically blissed-out and dripping – moreso than any record before – it thematically tackles the pressure of adult responsibilities against the internal imposter syndrome that comes with it. Following bassist Steven Henry’s departure, frontman & guitarist Neil Brogan has taken on bass duties, with Davey Agnew on drums. Stream first track ‘Watermelon Sugar (Alcohol)’ below: Rockpool Blue…

  • Sea Pinks’ Neil Brogan on Minimum Wage – BBC Sessions (& Others)

    Sea Pinks frontman Neil Brogan reflects on the pleasures and slight pitfalls of compiling and releasing new compilation Minimum Wage – BBC Sessions (& Others). See below for video premiere for lead single ‘Minimum Wage’. A few months ago we went into a studio in Amsterdam and recorded three songs. We were on tour at the time and it seemed like a good thing to do on our day off. When I came to think about what to do with these tracks I remembered we had recorded some other songs for the BBC. After being broadcast just once years ago most…

  • Stream: Sea Pinks – Minimum Wage

    Belfast’s ever-productive Sea Pinks are back with Minimum Wage – BBC Sessions (& Others) on December 8. Collecting the Neil Brogan-fronted threesome’s eight BBC sessions since 2012 and three new recordings, the compilation-of-sorts will mark the band’s first foray since the release of the excellent Watercourse back in May. The release’s frenetic, fuzzed-out title-track is something of a departure for the band. Recorded at the all analogue Lullabye Factory studio in Amsterdam during a day off on their 2017 European Tour, it’s all minimalist force and fury with a smirk. Driven forth with Brogan’s sneering refrain of “I’m sick of complaining”,…

  • Album Stream: Sea Pinks – Watercourse

    Just off the back of the release of their fourth album, Dreaming Tracks, Belfast three-piece Sea Pinks graced the cover of the second issue of our magazine back in November, 2014. Almost three years on, album number six, Watercourse, finds the Neil Brogan-fronted band at the peak of their most ruminative, surf-dappled and jangle-popped best. Striking yet another keen balance between dream and power pop, the album’s ten tracks slot into a half-hour running time – testament, not that it’s necessarily needed, to the refined punch and finesse of the band’s craft to date. Speaking of the album, Brogan said, “The…

  • Stream: Sea Pinks – Into Nowhere

    Never ones to be shy of new tunes, Belfast-based jangle-pop trio Sea Pinks have just announced their sixth album, Watercourse, and with it, have made new single ‘Into Nowhere’ available to stream. Watercourse is the band’s sixth album since their 2010 inception, the trio, fronted by singer/guitarist Neil Brogan – also of Cruising – started recording the album at Belfast’s Start Together Studios with Ben McAuley – producer with Documenta, Girls Names and Robyn G Shiels – in Summer 2016 through until the Autumn, initially with the intention to write just an EP. You can stream ‘Into Nowhere’ below, and pre-order Watercourse on Bandcamp – due for release on May 26 through…

  • Sea Pinks – Watercourse

    Dreamy Belfast-based jangle-pop trio Sea Pinks release their new album, Watercourse on May 26 through Belfast-based indie label CF Records. Being their sixth album since their 2010 inception, the trio, fronted by singer/guitarist Neil Brogan – also of Cruising – started recording the album at Belfast’s Start Together Studios with Ben McAuley – producer for Documenta, Girls Names and more – in Summer 2016 with the intention of recording an EP, until they had recorded 16 songs, which ultimately were pared down to 10, for yet another concise Sea Pinks LP, some of which were mixed by Collin Dupuis, known for work on Angel Olsen‘s My Woman.…