SONGS OF THE WEEK
Mango – What Are You Sayin?
Pulverising low-end, cloudy rap production and a thick Dublin accent? Mango is an outlier of rap music in Ireland, taking inspiration from grime and beyond. This third single (produced by Mathman) from the former member of member of The Animators has swagger and style, so hold tight and watch that lip.
The Notas - Sick in Sin
The Notas first came to prominence in Dublin in 2011 with their emotionally driven multi-cultural indie-rock atmospherics. Two EPs followed a year later but then all went quiet. It turns out the young band were in London busy living and playing music. Their new song,
Sick In Sin
, has a nocturnal metropolis feel with vocals that nod to Future Islands (vocalist Maurice Hans has long been singing in the style).
Meltybrains? – Step
Enter the strange sonic world of Meltybrains? once more. From the charmingly-titled
Kiss Yourself
EP,
Step
is a heady mix of orchestral, treated vocals, low-end, keys and drums. As if someone described a James Blake song to them down the phone.
AE MAk – Sing Hey Love
Aoife McCann and Ellie McMahon's music absorbs light and shoots its out into the world in a polychromatic prism.
Sing Hey Love
is a highlight from their just-released
I Can Feel It In My Bones
EP
ALBUM OF THE WEEK
This Side Up – Full Fat
Sligo isn't known to be a hotbed for hip-hop,but there's gold near the west coast. This Side Up formed at a vinyl night in Tricky McGarrigles pub eight years ago and Myster-E, Shaool & Noone have been making beats and rhymes ever since. With the return of A Tribe Called Quest and recent shows from Jurassic 5 and KRS-One, This Side Up's old-school style that relies on bumping instrumentals, samples and positive vibes is most welcome right now. Guests include UK cohorts Verb T and MoreOne, while fellow Irish rappers Spekulative Fiktion and MC Muipead feature.
Full Fat
is a head-nodding success from three Sligo guys who pleasingly rap in their own accents. Link up.
NEW ARTIST OF THE WEEK
Soulé
A part of the new breed of R&B and soul musicians coming up in the country, Soulé is a singer whose recent live showings at Hard Working Class Heroes, a fine Kendrick cover and debut electronic/drum and bass-influenced single
Love No More
have ears piqued.
VIDEO OF THE WEEK
HAWK – Mirror Maze
Directed by James Byrne
It was decided that a video about body image and how people present themselves would use mirrors to show that. However, the team struggled with setting up angles in order to keep the camera out of the picture and they cursed themselves in the process. "The song is about feeling lost between the different ideals we have about body image and femininity. We wanted to very simply represent that using multiple reflections to create a sense of suffocation between between vanity and self-doubt. We spent most of the shoot with James Byrne (director) trying to work out angles where we could pick up specific reflections and keep the camera out of shot and realised that none of us really understand the laws of physics as well as we should. We picked up many years of bad luck in broken mirrors and would like both thank and apologise to Matt’s mum for the loan and damaged return of every mirror in her house."
