SONGS OF THE WEEK
Winter Aid - Penny Sweets
As a music blogger, Shane Culloty had enough of recommending the art of others and decided to give it a go himself. As it turns out, he was adept at making considerate independent singer-songwriter music and his first release racked up more than eight million plays on Spotify. His full-length album
The Murmur of the Land
is out this week and from it,
Penny Sweets
is a twinkly synth-lullaby highlight in low light.
Silverbacks - Dirty Money
A relatively new Dublin-based band deliver a short and sharp dose of arched nostalgic noise-rock which takes inspiration from rock bands like Sonic Youth and Television.
The Sink The Fat Moon
EP is released on May 19th.
FireToy - Another World
(feat. Eoin Hally)
A brooding electronic debut single from the former drummer of Cork bands Pale Rivers. That band’s singer Eoin Hally joins him on this production which is dense and monochromatic.
KNDCE - Sleepless
Dreamy indie-pop from a new six-piece band who do the done thing and add a rap verse from Johnny Climax to their new single. Catch them live in Dublin at Gigonometry on Thursday May 11th at The Workman’s Club.
Sive - Wingless Bird
The Kildare singer-songwriter and musician Sadhbh O'Sullivan has a track record for songs that jump between folk, chamber pop and acoustic inventiveness. The lead song from her second album
The Roaring Girl
has elements of all three with looped acoustics, layered harmonies and an arrangement that beams with brightness.
ALBUM OF THE WEEK
Ships - Precession
Sorca McGrath and Simon Cullen have been making music together for five years and they’ve now hit the milestone of a debut album release. And my, is it worth the wait.
Precession
is one of the most beautiful and dynamic sounding records you’ll hear this year. Its production is detailed with lots of little sonic treats that easy to pick up on but hard to create. Characterised by synthesiser-driven electronic pop, the nine songs here have groove, funk and space, which draws from the past and sounds very much of the now. Whether its the gleaming disco-funk of
All Will Be,
the psychedelic space-rock of
I Can Never
which is reminiscent of Tame Impala, the deep peaks of
Around This World
or the electro delay of
None Of It Real,
McGrath and Cullen deliver commanding vocal performances too that bury these triumphant tunes deeper. One of my records of the year.
NEW ARTIST OF THE WEEK
Cry Harridan
Cry Harridan are more brazen than most in their pursuit of the ideal that a good band should feel like a stylish gang. A self-described “gang of musicians and artists,” their two songs so far suggest a penchant for the grandstanding of Arcade Fire with a more mainstream pop edge. Their developed aesthetic, DIY videos and fresh energy feels primed for industry attention. Catch them at Music Cork next month.
VIDEO OF THE WEEK
Daithí (feat. Sinead White) - Aeroplane
Daithí O’Dronai and Sinead White’s latest collaboration was inspired by old Irish TV dramas such as Glenroe. “True to the people of Ireland at the time, the characters in these shows all seem to have a hard time expressing their feelings, and we wanted to write a song that imagined what was going on in their heads, while they stumbled through talking to their love interest,” explains Daithí. Daithi found footage of a short film from the 1990s shot in his hometown in Co Clare which centres on lonely rural Irish bachelors.
