SONGS OF THE WEEK
The Swedish Railway Orchestra – Northern Lights
When not DJing the Workman's Club, writing for
Hot Press
, or making indie music, Rob Smith has another project of an electronic flavour that he's been working on called
[ The Swedish Railway OrchestraOpens in new window ]
. An album is released this week and the lead single is a jaunty electronic number which Smith says is a perfect soundtrack to “Dublin night life in flickering slow motion,” as proven by the video.
August Wells – She Was A Question
The former Rollerskate Skinny musician Ken Griffin formed August Wells with John Rauchenberger in New York a few years ago. A second album
Madness is the Mercy
is coming next week and the band are leading with this baroque baritone flugel-horn-featured single.
Wallis Bird - Control
Having taken nearly two years to make her fifth album, the Berlin-based Irish singer-songwriter Wallis Bird has revealed a stomping pop song as a follow-up to the
[ slow-burning ChangeOpens in new window ]
.
Son of The Hound – I.O.U.
Coming on like bar room bluesy-rock, the Omagh singer-songwriter Michael McCullagh's new single has a rough old-school charm to its melodies.
RELEASE OF THE WEEK
James Vincent McMorrow – We Move
The Dublin singer-songwriter moved from folkie to textural pop artist between his first two albums and his third album makes a leap to another new place, informed by McMorrow's love of R&B, soul and vintage pop. Working with a producer for the first time in Nineteen85 (producer of Drake hits
Hotline Bling
and song of the summer contender
OneDance
, no less), the songs on
We Move
have more confidence and drive than on second album
Post Tropical.
That renewal opens up space for songs like
Last Story
to sound like a yacht rock track, the R&B soul of
One Thousand Times
and electronic low-end to flourish on
Get Low
and
Evil
. McMorrow's falsetto sounds stronger than ever and lyrically, McMorrow is more direct than ever addressing an eating disorder on
I Lie Awake Every Night
, his own character on
Evil
and the relationships to those in his life on
Get Low
. The album's last song
Lost Angeles
feels like resolve with the line “don't let fear control you,” repeated as mantra. Onwards.
NEW ARTIST OF THE WEEK
Eoin Glackin
Dublin singer-songwriter Glackin has a cheery folk-pop style as heard on recent EP
Club Classic,
the four-tracks on the release have a radio-friendly breeziness to them. Glackin previously released two albums in 2011 and 2013 so he's not brand new but what has changed on his new material is a more immediate songwriting style that prompted Ed Sheeran to tweet he was “smashing it”.
VIDEO OF THE WEEK
Bobby Basil x Wastefellow - Poppybella
Directed by Hugh Mulhern
Dah Jevu's Bobby Basil and young producer Wastefellow team up on a weird-alt hip-hop tune and the video maintains the vibe with neon-lit shots, peeled mandarins and time-lapsed flowers coming into bloom.
