• SOAK – Grim Town

    A northern voice cuts through the chatter; “this train is for the following categories of passenger only—recipients of universal credit or minimum wage, the lonely, the disenfranchised, the disillusioned, the lost, the grieving”. You pull your jacket closer to fend off the chill air that fills the carriage, wiping at the window with your free hand. It’s foggy outside, you make out nothing but a few barren trees and distant hills. With a heave the train begins to move, and before the conductor has even announced the destination you know where you’re going. Bridie Monds-Watson’s (aka SOAK) sophomore album Grim…

  • This Month In Irish Music: January

    In the first of a new regular series, Colin Gannon rounds up the very best Irish tracks released of the month just gone, featuring SOAK, Arvo Party, ELLL, Problem Patterns, James Joys, Sister Ghost, Gadget & The Cloud , Maria Somerville and more. Problem Patterns — Allegedly In a month where the R&B musician R. Kelly—after painfully long years of swerving accountability for persistent, unsettling claims of heinous abuses—may finally have his day of reckoning in a court, new Belfast-based feminist punk group Problem Patterns’ snarling debut single, ‘Allegedly’, lands a certain potency. The word allegedly—itself a necessary adverb used in copy…

  • Life Trainee: An Interview With SOAK

    It’s been three years since Derry born singer-songwriter SOAK broke into public consciousness with her emotionally raw and beautifully-crafted debut album Before We Forget How To Dream. After heaps of critical praise, a Mercury prize nomination, an Irish Choice Music Prize Album of The Year victory and a little time away from the limelight, the 22 year old is back with a new song ‘Everybody Loves You’, the promise of a second album coming soon and a tour at the end of November. Ahead of her show at Belfast’s Oh Yeah Centre on November 26 (tickets here), Kelly Doherty spoke…

  • Music City 2016 Announce First Line-up

    Returning for its fourth consecutive year, the first line-up announcement for this year’s Music City in Derry – “the festival where everyone can play” – has been revealed. Set to take place from July 4-10,  Choice Music Prize winner SOAK, The Strypes, Girls Names (pictured), Saint Sister, The Willis Clan, Overhead The Albatross, R.S.A.G, Bitch Falcon, David Kitt, Malojian, Best Boy Grip, Chris McConaghy AKA Our Krypton Son, The Clameens, Paddy Nash & The Happy Enchiladas, Strength, Triggerman, Ruth McGinley and Gerard McChrystal will make up the bill. Taking place in various squares, neighbourhoods, shops, pubs and clubs throughout the city, more acts…

  • Choice Music Prize 2016 @ Vicar Street, Dublin

    The Choice Music Prize celebrates the diversity and talent present in the Irish music scene. Tonight’s show in particular shows the vast range of bands and artists, both up-and-coming and those who have already well and truly made their mark. Whilst there may only be two awards up for grabs – Song of the Year and Album of the Year – the 12 bands that perform illustrate the real reason why we’re all here. Before announcing the winner of the former prize, there are performances and interviews for Today FM. Although the interviews fall slightly flat at times (simply because the crowd talk…

  • Northern Ireland Music Prize 2015 @ Mandela Hall, Belfast

    “Don’t stop going to silly rock and roll concerts. Don’t stop enjoying silly rock and roll… if we keep going, they can never win. Now let’s go play some silly rock and roll!” Neil Hannon, The Divine Comedy On a night that not once threatened to descend into a sombre affair, there remained a feeling of solidarity within the Mandela Hall in Belfast on Saturday night. Undoubtedly one of the most important dates in the Northern Irish music calendar, in this third instalment of the NI Music Awards we once again saw performances from some of the best acts this…

  • Playlist: Mercury Music Prize 2015

    From Wolf Alice, Slaves and Jamie XX to Ghostpoet, Aphex Twin and our very own SOAK, the 2015 Mercury prize shortlist is a typically diverse affair once more this year. With this year’s prize held in association with BBC Music, the winner will be announced on Friday, November 20. Our money’s on Jamie XX but, of course, we’d be delighted to see SOAK take it. In the meantime, check out our Mercury Music Prize 2015 playlist below.

  • SOAK w/ Sea Legs & Jessica Doherty @ Playhouse, Derry

    Small in physical stature but massive in national and international impact, Bridie Monds-Watson, the artist otherwise known as SOAK, has established herself as a confident and chameleonic performer – casually costumed yet commanding, modestly mannered yet musically masterful. These are not words one uses lightly, but they are well earned in the Derry chanteuse’s case; her meteoric rise and the reception of debut album Before We Forgot How To Dream are testament to this. And she expectedly, deservedly returns to loud applause at a packed out homecoming gig in Derry’s Playhouse Theatre, accompanied by a worthy pair of support acts…