• Watch: Amy Montgomery – Jupiter 4 (Sharon Van Etten Cover)

    April 8, 2020 - By 

    One of many Irish acts spending their time wisely as of late, Amy Montgomery’s music carries with it a kind of intent and fervour that is increasingly hard to gone by. Via snarling, octaves-spanning vocals, the Lisburn singer and multi-instrumentalist has spent the last couple of years making a name for herself on the live front. It is, after all, a domain that she graces far more naturally than most. It’s something on full, Technicolour display on Montgomery’s brand new cover of Sharon Van Etten’s ‘Jupiter 4’. Across five minutes, it’s an equal parts sorcerous and unravelling rendition that sees the…

  • Watch: Joel Harkin – No Recycling

    March 16, 2020 - By 

    The name Joel Harkin is becoming increasingly synonymous with a brand of lo-fi alternative folk that digs a little deeper. Based in Belfast, the Donegal singer-songwriter’s craft brims at every turn with pathos and pure insight, and is rounded off with a melodic sensibility all his very own. Having recently delivered stand-out sets at Output Belfast and Other Voices Ballina, Harkin’s fast rise is masterfully mirrored on new single ‘No Recycling’. The lead single from his highly-anticipated debut album, Never Happy, it’s a wonderfully heart-stung effort ruminating on family life and witnessing inequality first-hand. Accompanied by a stellar and perfectly…

  • Watch: God Knows – Who’s Asking? (South West Allstars Remix)

    March 4, 2020 - By 

    Prepare yourself for something special. A handful of days on from striking gold with the four-track Who’s Asking? EP, the unstoppable God Knows has unleashed one fierce edit of the release’s title track. Although a highlight in its original form, the Rusangano Family rapper has assembled a veritable dream team for a SertOne-produced South West Allstars remix. Uniting Denise Chaila, Citrus Fresh, Hazey Haze, Gavin DaVinci and Strange Boy Nature, it’s a supreme, frisson-inducing version that – paired with Stephen Hall’s video – absolutely demands your attention.

  • Premiere: Like Chandeliers – Scars

    December 13, 2019 - By 

    Dublin three-piece Ronan Jackson, Nigel Farrelly and Christopher Barry aka Like Chandeliers have been concocting supremely sleepy sounds since 2016. Doubling up as their latest and greatest effort to date, new single ‘Scars’ is a wonderfully balmy dose of dream-pop, marrying broad, Badalamentian washes of synth with twinkling arps and Kranky-worthy, spoken-word vocals. Think Devotion-era Beach House, playing in the corner in a back room of the Bang Bang Bar, quietly relaying the heart-stung pangs and unknowability of it all in super slo-mo. It’s something Rita Macedo’s beautifully understated visuals for the track taps into and then some. Have a first listen and look below.

  • Watch: Aoife Nessa Frances – Blow Up

    October 22, 2019 - By 

    Co-produced by Cian Nugent, ‘Blow Up’ by Dublin-based artist Aoife Nessa Frances stems from a sonic netherworld inhabited, at different points, by the likes of Nico, Broadcast and Pentangle. Blurring the lines between folk, psychedelia and otherworldly pop, it’s a wonderfully-crafted paean, redolent of bygone times, all while occupying its very own woozy, yet supremely lucid territory. Marrying mellotron, strings and more, the song – which is accompanied by some sublime visuals courtesy of her sister, Anna McCarthy – is taken from Frances’ forthcoming debut album, Land of No Junction. It’s released via Basin Rock on January 17th. Borrowing its title from the…

  • Watch: Malojian – DIRT

    September 18, 2019 - By 

    It’s a truth universally acknowledged dark, strange times always yield the best art. Which conveniently bring us to the new single from one of the country’s very best singer-songwriters, Stevie Scullion aka Malojian. Honing in on the towering shitehawkery of Johnson, Trump & co., media corruption and more, it’s a masterful, major-keyed riposte to the worldly forces that conspire to make fretting, sleepless wrecks of us all. Featuring animations by Michael Winchester, check out Colm Laverty’s accompanying video for the unexpected but very happily-received new single below.

  • Watch: Hatchet Field – Jolene

    August 29, 2019 - By 

    Once a riff-wielding Goliath in Belfast instrumental rock wizards The Continuous Battle of Order (and, before that, WeAreKnives) the musician known as Hornby is as shapeshifting and wonderfully unpredictable as they come. Nowhere is that more apparent than on his current solo project, Hatchet Field. Wielding darkly and masterfully sparse tales, the odd live performance has revealed an artist whose visionary prowess, though significantly more muted than previous full-band efforts, is no less compelling for it. Last week, Belfast imprint Black Tragick offered some insight into that world by unveiling a new Hatfield Field cover. Dedicated to his mother on the tenth anniversary of her passing, a stark and slow-burning Dolly Parton…

  • Watch: Citrus Fresh (PX Music) – ‘DiCaprio//Antenna’

    August 26, 2019 - By 

    It has been a wild year for Citrus Fresh. Following the release of the acclaimed Somewhere in Ireland series, one of Limerick’s finest performers, under the PX Music label, has been storming around the country in a flair of avant-garde Hip-Hop. After the release of his debut EP Early Days/Late Nights in May the enigmatic artist has garnered a cult status amongst fans due to the intense visceral performances of his deeply personal tunes. With such a buzz surrounding the rapper presently he has chosen today to drop his first music video. ‘DiCaprio//Antenna’ is filmed by Cathal Histon at 126…

  • Watch: Tandem Felix – Making Dinner on Valentine’s Day

    August 29, 2019 - By 

    It’s a truth universally acknowledged that many craftspeople are songwriters, but not all songwriters are craftspeople. David Tapley aka primary songwriter of alt-country maestros Tandem Felix, however, fits the bill and then some. Look no further than the newly-released ‘Making Dinner on Valentine’s Day’. Speaking about the track, Tapley said, “‘Making Dinner on Valentine’s Day’ is the closing song off our upcoming record, Rom-Com. There isn’t really much to say about it that you can’t hear for yourself, the lyrics are almost like a diary entry” – Bed Stuy, New York. 14th of February 2016. There was an official weather warning from the…

  • Watch: MELTS – Seesaw

    August 7, 2019 - By 

    On their new single, ‘Seesaw’, Dublin five-piece MELTS hit the sweet spot between BJM-leaning, lysergic-dappled garage that pushes forward and wonderfully blissed-out psych conjuring old masters including Jefferson Airplane and Syd-era Pink Floyd. Recorded live at the Meadow by the Deaf Brothers, mixed by Rian Trench and mastered by Fergal Davis, the track – which doubles up as the band’s most inspired single effort to date – features visuals courtesy of Gavin Ovoca and the band. Delve in below. Supported by Grave Goods and Fonda, MELTS launch the single at Dublin’s Bello Bar on Friday, September 20.