• Video Premiere: Caolán Austin – Walking into the Furnace (ft. Our Krypton Son)

    November 6, 2024 - By 

    Yes, the world can be an unforgiving place. And yes, we often feel outpaced by both time and grace. But if there’s one thing we’re utterly convinced of, without a shadow of a doubt, it’s that good music will forever guide the way; cat’s eyes on the strange expressway that is waking life. That thought crossed my mind back in June, when Caolán Austin released ‘Walking into the Furnace,’ the first track from his new solo project. After spending recent years getting his flowers as one of the island’s most in-demand producers at Smalltown America, the Derry artist is now…

  • Premiere: TRAMP – The Birds (Lowered Suspension)

    August 21, 2024 - By 

    TRAMP’s music is pure-cut alchemy. Since forming in 2019, the Donegal/Derry quartet has become a singular force in our cross-border DIY scene, packing out venues and nabbing the prestigious Artist of the Year Award at the 2023 Northern Irish Music Prize along the way. Comprised of Siânna Lafferty, Ellie McFadden, Fionnbarr Doran, and Ciaran ‘Steamy’ McCay, TRAMP returns this Friday, 23rd August, with their most incisive effort yet, ‘The Birds (Lowered Suspension).’ Off the back of their stellar fundraising track ‘Postcard from Poland‘ and a series of blistering shows across the island, the single doubles as a statement of intent…

  • Video Premiere: PostLast – Scavenge

    June 20, 2024 - By 

    Earlier this month, PostLast released their second single – and one of our Irish tracks of the summer thus far – ‘Scavenge’. Conjuring the likes of Mazzy Star and Beach House at their most subtly widescreen, it was a fresh introduction to a duo wielding an irresistible alt-pop sound from the off. Comprising HAVVK’s Julie Hough and Stephen McHale of BARQ, the project launched back in April with the sublime ‘Connect 4’. Across three minutes, it unveiled a songwriting pair with a kind of alchemy that perfectly deviates from their respective bands. Having first connected while completing a joint headline…

  • Video Premiere: Two Nice Catholic Boys – Never Wonder

    November 7, 2023 - By 

    Formed in 2020 as a collaborative music project between writer and illustrator Ruairí McCann and writer and filmmaker Maximilien Luc Proctor, Two Nice Catholic Boys smudged the lines between avant-garde pop and spectral ambience on two LPs, Cities in Stitches and Seconds, last year. It’s a wonderfully rewarding arc that the McCann and Proctor – who are also both co-editors of the film and music website Ultra Dogme – pare back with aplomb on their label debut, Three Cheers for the Distant Observer. Out on 21st November via one of the island’s finest indie imprints, Bluestack Records, the four-track that sees…

  • Video Premiere: Nick Carlisle – End of Terrain

    September 21, 2023 - By 

    Nick Carlisle is an auteur who has well and truly made his stamp on the landscape of DIY music culture in these isles. Originally from Dromore in Co. Down, the Brighton-based composer, performer and producer has deftly spanned whole soundworlds in projects such as Peepholes, Bamboo, Katy and Nick and Lean Logic. Last year, he even ventured out solo with his sublime, QFT Belfast-comissioned score for 1922 silent film Häxan. Pay attention and you’ll trace a revelatory journey that leads to his upcoming album Bloody Saturnalia. Taking its title from Sebastian Haffner’s Defying Hitler, it’s a self-produced effort that sees…

  • Video Premiere: Ṣelu – For You

    September 14, 2023 - By 

    Featured as an Inbound artist in the Autumn issue of the magazine – which you can read below – Ṣelu is someone we feel confident is worthy of your attention and destined for great things. His new single ‘For You’ is a minimalist soul ballad dealing with the tribulations of being human, especially in this age of living vicariously through curated social media and the isolation of remote work. It’s a song that essentially asks people to remember life isn’t all about your personal achievement and what you choose to share online – it’s your contribution to those around you…

  • Video Premiere: Danny Carroll – Cheesemonger

    September 7, 2023 - By 

    We’ve long championed former Shrug Life frontman Danny Carroll as a forerunner in the conversation around Ireland’s greatest current-day lyricists. Continually capturing his milieu in sardonic, vivid detail, age has sharpened his instincts and composition, yet tempered his self-deprecative tendencies – to a point. That point is exactly what Carroll’s latest single, ‘Cheesemonger’, finds itself wrestling with throughout. The track is featured on Volume IV of the Litany of Failures compilation of which Danny Carroll is co-curator. It comes out tomorrow on digital & vinyl, and we’re pleased to give you a first look at the video for ‘Cheesemonger’. It…

  • Video Premiere: girlfriend. – Trust

    August 4, 2023 - By 

    Back in the mists of time (2016) we introduced the first iteration of North Dublin alternative band girlfriend, tipping them for Big Things in the future. Judging by the cost of living yadda yadda help, it’s now the future and it seems that, for all our high praise back then, we might have actually, inadvertently lowballed the band in question. In their final Super Saiyan form as a five-piece, girlfriend. are taking their rightful place as one of Ireland’s most vital bands. “Vital how?” you ask? We hear you, and we see your concerns, but there’s a fair chance you slept on ‘Trust’. Released in March, off the…

  • Video Premiere: Drew Makes Noise – Flame

    July 11, 2023 - By 

    As one-quarter of sadly-missed Northern Irish band Ed Zealous, Andrew Wilson played a sizeable role in soundtracking what’s long been held as the country’s indie heyday. But why look back? In Wilson’s case, it seems lightning most certainly strikes twice. Fast-forward to 2023 and the Belfast-based artist is digging deep to further his prismatic alt-pop craft as Drew Makes Noise. Where recent singles like ‘This Matter’ and ‘Hey’ were lysergic and widescreen in equal measure, new single ‘Flame’ is a feat of masterful restraint. One of several peaks from his stellar debut solo album Let The Whole Tape Run, it’s…

  • Video Premiere: Krisdeberg – HHH

    July 6, 2023 - By 

    After a long period locked away in the recording studio, Dublin-based electronic quartet Krisdeberg (not to be confused with the Irish prince of power ballads, Chris de Burgh) return with their new single HHH ahead of releasing their self-recorded and self-produced work that draws from a well of diverse influences such as new wave, noise rock, acid house and indie electro. We’re delighted to bring you an exclusive first look at HHH, which visualises the communication breakdown between people through a Beckett-esque theatre setting of humour, isolation and horror.  The video features members of the band and an omnious bottle of wine, while uniquely exploring how disparate two perceptions…