Songs of the week
Tell No Foxx – Dust
One music trend we could do less with these days is atmospheric gauzy production. Putting a full whack of reverb onto every instrument does not equal real feelings. However, Wicklow three-piece Tell No Foxx have created a gloomy bedroom pop ballad with a pulsing bassline, howling effects and modulated vocals which works because there's a very good tune still present.
Silences – The Sea
The new single from young Armagh five-piece show Silences is the sound of a band who are cultivating their own identity in the fields of folk and indie music. The Sea contains some production largesse and a clarity to the arrangement, that ends up sounding like a grand take on Coldplay musically with a gentler vocal delivery.
White Sage – Parnell Street June 1955
When not running a record shop (Little Gem near Rutland Place, off O'Connell Street in Dublin) or curating LGBT-supporting compilations (Record Store Gay) or making music in bands (I Heart The Monster Hero, GODHATESDISCO), Andy Walsh is eh, also making music with another project. The White Sage EP Way Beyond Our Means was just released and this brilliantly-titled wistful krautrock-inspired instrumental is the clear highlight.
New artist of the week
Leo Drezden
Drawing from prog, jazz, math-rock and cinema soundtracks, Wicklow band Leo Drezden are continuing Ireland's now established penchant for instrumental rock music.
They just released their debut album Multi-Moment and there's currently a live EP that was recorded in Derry that's available for download thanks to Smalltown America.
If you're in Dublin on Saturday, you can catch them at 12 Points' festival's late night club in Sweeney's on Dame Street.
Video of the week
Young Wonder – Enchanted
It might look like a location from Lord of The Rings or Game Of Thrones but the new video for Young Wonder's Enchanted was shot in achingly beautiful setting of The Gearagh in West Cork.
Extra elements that lift the video? In this year of Irish Design, its costumes by David O’Malley and headpieces by Tiggi Halliday.
Director: Feel Good Lost
Album of the week
Villagers – Darling Arithmetic
The third album from Conor O'Brien might just be his most important, as it is where the songwriter really reveals and explores his own self: his sexuality, his feelings, his pain and his love. Stripped back to elegant accompaniment that rarely goes beyond piano, mellotron, guitar and voice, Darling Arithmetic is a clear line in the sand for one of Ireland's best living songwriters.
