SONGS OF THE WEEK
Maud In Cahoots – Cure For The Crazy
This kind of sophisticated pop music is not something often born of these shores, but then Maud and Zoe Riordain have always had a more Scandinavian sensibility. Following on from
[ recent single Greatest AchievementOpens in new window ]
,
Cure For The Crazy
reaches for an ambitious atmospheric crescendo.
New Portals – Groove Boy
Watching someone dance can tell you a lot about a person. Just ask Shakira. Belfast duo Ruth and Michael Aicken are at first enamoured by their subject before the trance snaps and they remember the rejection and reality. Still,
Groove Boy
moves with disco-ball rotation and features so many bright spots, it's easy to forgive the lapse in judgement.
CODES - And Arrows and Aarrows
ALLTARS
is the long promised second album from the Dublin band Codes, whose music has changed from skyscraping guitar-rock to a more futuristic electro-rock style that is reminscent of Muse.
And Arrows and Aarrows
crams a lot of epic atmosphere into its three-minute running time (and unusual time-signature) to the point where you convince yourself you heard it on the trailer to the film
Divergent
recently.
Cat Palace – Real Fresh
Fans of the country-indie singer-songwriter Kurt Vile may be interested in the
[ similar sounding new EPOpens in new window ]
from David Blaney's project. Not only does he have song titled
Dat Ass
, a rock wigout called
Sweet Romance
, there's also this Mac Demarco-aping lead track
Real Fresh
.
ALBUM OF THE WEEK
Anderson - Patterns
To pick yourself up again after stumbling on the road to some sort of artistic success is tough. When the rock band The Rags exhausted their creative and musical pursuit,
[ Daniel AndersonOpens in new window ]
found himself back at square one. So he began to build. His own studio specifically. Then an album, produced and arranged by himself, in a building made with his own hands on a plot of land given to him by his godfather.
Patterns
, the thrilling result of all that labour, is an old-fashioned release, an album that ditches the laddish energy of his former band in favour of pretty and bright orchestral arrangements more directly inspired by late-1960s pop and early-1970s singer-songwriters. Anderson's voice has a brittle tone that recalls Paul McCartney. Classic in tone, classic in nature.
NEW ARTIST OF THE WEEK
Tiz McNamara
Metrics aren't everything in this game but when a new artist reveals that they've gotten more than 90,000 plays on Spotify in just two songs, you tend tyo sit up and takenotice.
[ Cork-born, Liverpool-based singer-songwriter Tiz McNamaraOpens in new window ]
has already had a song featured on
Hollyoaks
which may have helped. Her songs are very much in the Bon Iver/The Shins folk vein, but it's new single
Take It In
, featuring low-key but effective electronic production from Scandinavian duo Boxes, that leaves the biggest impression. McNamara plays Hard Working Class Heroes in Dublin in a couple of weeks.
