• SOAK, Rainy Boy Sleep + Rosseau @ Roisin Dubh, Galway

    June 14, 2015 - By 

    It’s a bright Friday evening at the start of the summer and as the first act of the night, Derry two-piece Rosseau (below), quietly take to the stage there is an immediate sense that the crowd here tonight are feeling that atmosphere of warmth. The room is quietly fluttering with an eagerness to be enveloped by some of the best music the North Coast has to offer. Having formed roughly six months ago and only releasing their debut EP at the start of June, Rosseau’s tender guitar and drum combo is still very much in its germination phase with only…

  • SOAK w/ Rainy Boy Sleep + Rosseau @ Empire, Belfast

    June 12, 2015 - By 

    With the news of a top 40 UK album under her belt, SOAK embarked on a tour to support the debut record, Before We Forgot How To Dream, starting off in Belfast’s very own Empire Music Hall before playing a sold out show in Dublin. Derry based band Rosseau and Rainy Boy Sleep open the show, with the former take to the stage just fifteen minutes after doors opened. Having just released their first EP the day before, Rosseau’s brief set is filled with some of the most melodic and twinkly guitar parts imaginable, and with the dynamic range of vocalist Colm on full show –…

  • SOAK – Before We Forgot How To Dream

    June 10, 2015 - By 

    Youth is a wonderful and bliss experience, and it passes us by too quickly. Bridie Monds-Watson, still in her teenage years, has been able to pen the most relatable experiences and over the past few years, her progression into an artist has unfolded before our eyes. Having written single ‘Sea Creatures’ years before it made it to the Radio 1 A List, SOAK has been gaining traction across the UK ever since. With notable fans across the Beeb and even further afield, along with appearing at numerous festivals across the UK, it wasn’t long before Rough Trade took notice and…

  • Roving Eye: SOAK in Berlin

    May 26, 2015 - By 

    Are you craving a 72-hour raving session in a techno temple? Do you want to watch an impromptu Opera performance in a leafy park? Are you hankering after a jazz jam in a smoky basement? Whatever your passion Berlin will satisfy. I never understood the fascination people had with Berlin until the latest Roving Eye took me on my virgin visit to this glamorous yet gritty city; so easy to navigate, serving up a smorgasbord of life, entertaining you for as long as your stamina can sustain its offerings. I’d travelled to see Bridie Monds-Watson AKA SOAK perform in Kantine…

  • New Acts Announced for Electric Picnic 2015

    May 5, 2015 - By 

    As we posted about last week, Blur are amongst several new acts set to play this year’s Electric Picnic. Also confirmed to play the annual Co. Laois festival – set to take place from September 4-6 – are Interpol, FKA Twigs, Grace Jones, Mac DeMarco, Sam Smith, Despacio, Yasiin Bey (Mos Def), MK, Gavin James, Printer Clips, Julio Bashmore, Paul Kalkbrenner, The Riptide Movement, The 2 Bears, SOAK, Viet Cong, Fickle Friends, Kwamie Liv, Honne, Fat White Family, Dawes and Benjamin Clementine. Blur and Sam Smith join Florence and the Machine as the festival’s headliners. With many more acts to be announced,…

  • Watch: SOAK – Blud

    April 15, 2015 - By 

    With her debut album, Before We Forgot How To Dream, set for release via Rough Trade on June 1, SOAK has unveiled the video for ‘Blud’. Capturing different aspects of the Derry’s artist’s recent skatepark tour and more, the release is the second version of the video, the first, pre-Rough Trade video being released last year. Win tickets to SOAK’s Belfast show at the Empire on June 10 here.

  • HWCH ’14 special guests announced

    September 18, 2014 - By 

    The special guests (or honourary “Heroes”) of Hard Working Class Heroes 2014 have been announced. Set to join an already extremely impressive line-up of new and emerging Irish musical talent, the MayKay-fronted Fight Like Apes (pictured), Meath indie rock five-piece Ham Sandwich and fast-rising Derry singer-songwriter SOAK will perform throughout Dublin from Thursday, October 2 to Saturday, October 4. The organisers of the annual festival of hotly-tipped homegrown music have also announced details of HWCH and the City – a music trail of free, all ages gigs in some of Dublin’s best and most unique shops, restaurants and coffee shops. Go…

  • Stream: SOAK – B a noBody

    September 9, 2014 - By 

    The follow-up to her breakthrough release ‘Blud’ – released via CHVRCHES‘ single imprint – Derry singer-songwriter SOAK has unveiled her new single, ‘B a noBody’. Titled in such a way to such suggest her keyboard still needs repaired, the track is a sparse yet impressively layered anti-call to arms. Reverb-ridden, edging towards a semi-inevitable crescendo, the track was recorded across a summer that saw the songwriter pen a deal with Rough Trade for her forthcoming debut album, which is currently being recorded. SOAK will play the following dates in November: November 5: London – St. Giles In The FieldsNovember 6: Manchester – The CastleNovember 7: Derry – Christ Church       November 8: Dublin – The…