AUTRE MONDE

Autre Monde is Paddy Hanna, Padraig Cooney, Mark Chester and Eoghan O'Brien.  They are from Dublin in Ireland and they share a tangled history in many Popical Island Collective related bands including Land Lovers, Skelocrats, Ginnels, No Monster Club and Grand Pocket Orchestra.

Following the critical success of their debut album ‘The Imaginary Museum’, Autre Monde return with ‘Sensitive Assignments’. The album was developed by the band amid profound life transitions, with three of the four members becoming first-time fathers during its creation.

A strict ‘no prior ideas’ rule was used to drive the writing process. In short, there are no pre-written songs: all songs emerged from collaborative beginnings in the rehearsal room, focused by a shared vision honed by discussions, making playlists and constantly pulling at threads. In the songs, you might hear echoes of Clinic, Robert Palmer, Michael McDonald, ‘Blue’ Gene Tyranny, Terry Riley, Portishead, 1970s Zamrock cuts, early 2000s hip-hop, Albert Ayler, Can, Devo... maybe even The Beatles at times. Mostly you’ll hear a clear progression from The Imaginary Museum, a more coherent, more confident band enjoying making music together.

Subject-matter ranges from admiration for the assassinated former leader of Burkina Faso, Thomas Sankara (Pity for Upright Man) to a Franciscan protest song (Here Now, Birdie, Birdie) to the existential and practical adaptation to becoming a family man (Road to Domestos) to a theatrical mini-opera concerning the release of a man from prison (Sensitive Assignment, Parts 1-4).

The album was recorded with longtime collaborator Daniel Fox (Gilla Band) on production and engineering duties at Sonic Studios in Dublin in 2022.

BEAR WORSHIP

Bear Worship is a celebration. It's about positivity and realism, love and friends, passion and nostalgia, and the need for creativity. After a string of well regarded singles which have received airplay on RTE and the BBC, featured in myriad blogs, and ended up in a number of end-of-year lists, Bear Worship’s debut album WAS was released on the 15th June 2017.

The backbone of WAS’s sound is drums and bass guitar, and layered above are swathes of synthesizer, guitar, arpeggios, and harmonies, all topped off with Bear Worship’s distinctive vocals. Sonically it lies somewhere between Grizzly Bear and Animal Collective, with other touchstones being Deerhunter, St Vincent, Oh No Ono, Giorgio Moroder, Air, Tame Impala, and the Beach Boys. The songs were written and recorded between Bear Worship's home studio and Stephen Shannon's Experimental Audio (Adrian Crowley, Barry McCormack, the Late David Turpin, Strands).

In their exclusive album premiere, The Thin Air —who consider Bear Worship as “one of the country’s very best musical talents right now”— describe WAS as a “prismatic traipse of melodically rich, compositionally ambitious alt-pop”. A statement of intent from an artist who believes that, in music, imagination and exploration are paramount.

“While I vaguely resent a track burying itself into my brain for over 48 hours, it’s testament to just how glorious a piece of music this is. And that’s before you get to the utterly sublime production, in which the attention to detail takes the track up another level still." – BBC Across The Line (Shimmerings, Track for the Day)

9/10 - “Ultimately, this is probably the most musically experimental and adventurous Irish album you’re likely to hear this year” (Hot Press Magazine).

Album of the Week - “Karl Knuttel’s debut album under the moniker of Bear Worship has a hypnagogic quality to it, last heard so prominently in music when Animal Collective were at their Merriweather Post-Pavilion height.” (The Irish Times).

BOA MORTE

Boa Morte formed in Cork, Ireland in 1998, rising from the dust of a couple of ragged but respected indie bands. Their debut album, 'Soon It Will Come Time To Face The World Outside (2002), was released to widespread critical acclaim. Those impressed by the record included Uncut, Mojo, Q Magazine and John Peel. The band toured throughout Ireland and the UK playing with the likes of Teenage Fanclub, Howe Gelb and Calexico.

Boa Morte’s second album, “The Dial Waltz” (2009) followed a similar aesthetic and was equally well-received, Q magazine hailing the record as a “supremely elegant sound-track for staring into your half-empty pint.” 

On their latest release, ‘The Total Space’ Boa Morte edge deeper into the woods of ambient, drone and synthesised sound with little to guide them but their innate melodic compass and instinct for unorthodox song. Daniel Presley, the perma-nomadic Texan producer, flew in to safeguard the Boa Morte fundamentals: emotive yet unsentimental vocals; a disquieting ease with space and silence; percussive interventions on drum-shell, tom-rim and cymbal-cup; an aversion to rhythm guitar; harmonies that add rather than dilute personality, and a bloody-minded patience when it comes to pacing.

CALMEA

I know now I didn’t know, what it meant to really go is Eunice Saraiva’s (frontwoman of Dublin band of all living things) debut self-released EP under her solo moniker Calmea. Originally from Lisbon, Portugal, Eunice has been living and making music in Ireland for 5 years. While still releasing and performing with the band, she is now undertaking a more personal and gentle approach to her music. Calmea is a made-up word, similar to the Portuguese adjective ‘calma’, meaning to be relaxed and at peace. This alias felt fitting due to the ambient folk, ethereal and textural sound Eunice created in this EP, alongside sound engineer, and producer, Ber Quinn. She draws inspiration from acts such as Cassandra Jenkins, Indigo Sparke and Sea Oleena.

CAOILIAN SHERLOCK

Indie songwriter Caoilian Sherlock debut album ‘Teenage Jesus’ is a psychedelic stomper filled with Tame Impala-esque synths and a thunderous chorus straight out of the 90s songbook. What began as an attempt to rewrite a version of Bob Dylan’s ‘It Ain’t Me Babe’, turned into a tongue-in-cheek commentary on the political establishment. Showcasing Sherlock’s dry wit and casual nature as witnessed on previous singles such as ‘Sucker For Love’.

With over a decade of experience writing songs, he has honed his craft through playing guitar involvement in various outfits such as The Shaker Hymn and The Tan Jackets, who combines psychedelic indie rock with impactful and insightful pop music.

In 2017, he released his debut EP "The Faraway" under the moniker Saint Caoilian, following a successful year of support shows with artists such as Roy Harper, Ryley Walker, and Sean O'Hagan, as well as a tour throughout Ireland with Joan Shelley and Nathan Salsburg. During this time, he also performed at several music festivals, including Body & Soul, Another Love Story, Sounds From A Safe Harbour, Quiet Lights, and It Takes A Village.

Throughout his journey, Caoilian's sound evolved from a pure folk style to a more experimental approach, as he recorded numerous demos in the various homes he lived in while residing in Cork City. In 2019, he assembled a live band called The Big Children and began recording his first solo output, drawing inspiration from a diverse range of artists from John Prine to Cate Le Bon; The Walkmen to Thomas Dolby.

 In 2021, he released a four-track EP titled ‘Big Child’. Having finally found a sound that he was comfortable with, he released several singles recorded with Brendan Fennessy of O Emperor fame. The songs, "Shades Of You," "Sucker For Love," and "Don't Let Me Forget About Her," are charming lo-fi pop tracks with catchy choruses that balance carefree nonchalance with poignant introspection.

"His first solo single allows that raspy sweetness to dominate a song of bright laid-back blues folk" - Irish Times (Single Of The Week)

"An instantly infectious romantic ditty that wobbles and builds through simple lyricism and tender instrumentation. Sherlock is one of Cork’s strongest songwriters right now and ‘Shades Of You’ is a wonderfully charismatic pop song." - Nialler 9
 

THE CASANOVA WAVE

Hailing from the seaside village of Tramore in Co. Waterford, Ireland, The Casanova Wave is the creative outlet of Brian McCartan. Emerging as one of Ireland’s brightest electronic acts in the Autumn of 2010, the ‘shimmering, chiming electro-pop’ on his eponymous debut EP was described by Jim Carroll of The Irish Times as “leaving you wanting more”. His sound could be described as a happy-go-lucky mix of warm electronica complemented with live instrumentation and an array of looped sounds. In many respects his sound is a reflection of summer with melodies that burst with bouncing rhythms, bright guitars and pulsing synths. 

JAMES DARKIN

James Darkin is one of Ireland's most sought after producers and engineers. Well known from his role as Head Engineer of Temple Lane Recording Studios, James has worked on sessions with Kanye West, Will.i.am, and Rihanna for 'Love The Way You Lie', over his decade plus on the scene. He has produced albums for The Mighty Stef, Propeller Palms and the debut record from Wounds, ‘Die Young, signed to Razor & Tie Records in the US.  Recent mix credits include Hozier, Plutonic Dust and the forthcoming album from Funeral Suits, as well as remixes for Katie Kim, R.S.A.G and Come On Live Long. His original compositions cross numerous genres, touching on electronica, rock and hip-hop among others. James’ track “We’re In” is featured in the Panti Bliss documentary ‘The Queen of Ireland'.  

The songs on his debut electronic album, ‘Go No Matter What’ set a dark and sometimes sinister tone moving across a rich mercurial landscape.  With influences ranging from Trent Reznor to Clint Mansell ‘Go No Matter What’ takes the listener on a visceral journey

DEAF JOE

As Deaf Joe, Irish musician Joe Harney's cinematic music hovers somewhere between electronic and acoustic, between beats and ambience, between straight-up songs and immersive moods. He has released five studio albums, various EPs, collaborated with many Irish producers and artists, and also written for contemporary theatre and dance. His music has previously featured in TV and film, most notably his song 'Joanna' featured in MTVs Teen Wolf.

On his latest album, Kalachuchi (March 9th 2022), the Edinburgh-based artist’s exploration of orchestral pop comes into focus. Across thirteen songs Harney navigates love, longing and loss framed in widescreen electronica. Recorded in Scotland, Denmark and his native Ireland over three years, Kalachuchi is a cathartic release born from, and quietly deferential to, solitude. Across its 40 minutes, Harney picks apart everything from the tug-o-war of close relationships to the cosmic restlessness of getting older. He is excited to be working with Tremolo for its release. 

KEITH DIFFLEY

Keith Diffley is a songwriter/music producer/musician based in the West of Ireland. With a focus on Pop, Alt/Pop, Chill, Electro and Rock he’s able to easily move between genres to create dynamic and infectious earworms.

After years of playing in guitar bands and various other group projects, Keith decided recently to release some of his own material under the artist name Diffly, collaborating with Denitia on the single ‘Hearts Don’t Break Alone’ and Jimmy Burney on ‘I’m Not Missing You’.

Closer to home, Keith has contributed to tracks with FiCat and is working with a number of other artists as producer/songwriter for future releases.

GINNELS

Ginnels is Mark Chester, Paddy Hanna and Bobby Aherne from Grand Pocket Orchestra and No Monster Club, with Squarehead’s Roy Duffy and Ruan Van Vliet. They describe their gloriously excitable and gorgeous music as “like your favourite Byrds and Feelies records being drowned out by your dickhead neighbour’s stoned ‘noise jams’. Except actually good”.

After releasing two acclaimed releases in 2011, the self titled album ‘Ginnels’ and the mini album ‘Mountbatten Class’ (Long Lost Records), In 2012, Ginnels decided with infinite wisdom to record a 20-song, hour-long, double mess of an album called ‘Crowns’. Following a fantastic reception for the (now out of print) double, with appearances on many end of year lists and many more glowing reviews, the band were approached by Spanish label Tenorio Cotobade in 2013 to put out an LP, ‘Plumes’ comprising a selection of previously released tracks from the first three albums.

‘A ‘Country Life’ is a bit of a departure in so much as it’s the first Ginnels release to involve ‘proper drums’ and also the first non-compilation LP release by the band. Meant from the beginning to be a focused ‘pure pop’ 37 minute album, a direct response to the supposed ‘death of the album’ and an attempt to try and make something shiny and unashamedly not lo-fi, ‘A Country Life’ takes its cues from classic songwriting and a desire to air grievances in public. That said, with absolutely no budget, the drums being recorded in a cupboard and everything else recorded in a 6’x6’ box room, some things haven’t changed. 

HOSTESS

Hostess is the new solo moniker of former Cap Pas Cap front-woman, Gráinne Dee, who released her debut LP, ‘A Simple Life’ in October 2018 on After the Quake Records. The record is the product of a period following the demise of Cap Pas Cap, when Dee hunkered down to solitary demo building in her Dublin City home seeking a response to personal tumult that a blank canvas can afford. From these lo-fi experiments came eight daubs of melancholia - swathed in lugubrious synth and plaintive vocal lines buried in the ether - which Dee then brought to long-time collaborator Stephen Shannon (Estel/Cap Pas Cap) at Experimental Audio Studios in early 2017. Loss and alienation are explored across all eight tracks but this is not what defines the album. From the PIL-esque ambiguity of Frustration’s ‘mother dreaming of falling cats’ to the gospel-echo strains of album closer Simples, we are left with a sense of something remembered and worked through. For a critically acclaimed album that came close to never being recorded, perseverance has won through to produce a compelling debut that tingles in its immediacy and will swell the heart of anyone who has come out the other side. Alongside such notaries as U2, the cranberries and the Pogues, RTÉ have declared A Simple life as one of the best Irish debuts ever.

KATIE KIM

Hour Of The Ox is Katie Kim’s latest release and will mark the long-awaited return of singer, multi -instrumentalist and songwriter Katie Kim for her sixth full-length album.

The Dublin based artist enters a new epoch with this raring release. A sonically opulent and majestic new territory, written and recorded while in the process of moving to New York and subsequently mixed after being forced back to Ireland during a global pandemic.

Hour of the Ox tells a story of longing and desperation for something connected. An incompatible, disparate but

devoted view of the world, told through lush strings, an orchestra of synthesizers, up front vocals and live minimalist drums.

Produced, arranged and recorded by Katie Kim and long-time collaborator John “Spud” Murphy (Black Midi / Caroline / Lankum) across Dublin, the sprawling Irish countryside and New York, this collaboration between the two, may be their most ambitious. Featuring a roster of previous bandmates, friends and allies.

Katie Kim (Katie Sullivan) has been writing and recording for over 15 years.

Mood is central to the expansive musical landscape throughout her releases. Whether they be bedroom, field or studio recordings. Darkened corners, icy atmospheres and hypnotic knife edge soundscapes. Piano chords stretch to infinity. Cinematic in scope and tectonic in delivery, many have used her scores in documentaries, film and TV to help deliver their stories. She has collaborated extensively with many artists over the years, throughout the genre spectrum and continues to scout the unexplored.     

LAND LOVERS

Founding members and key contributors to the Popical Island collective in Ireland (Paddy Hanna, Tieranniesaur, Squarehead, Ginnels, No Monster Club, etc.), Land Lovers are central to the ever-growing Dublin guitar pop scene in recent years. The band have also toured with and opened for the likes of Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks, Yuck, The Mantles, Nodzzz, Ham Sandwich and The Wave Pictures.

Having started life as the solo project of Padraig Cooney, releasing the album Romance Romance, Land Lovers became a 5-piece band for the Immovable Feet EP and the acclaimed Confidants LP. In the gap between that album and new record The Rooks Have Returned, the band collaborated with Limerick’s Choice Prize-nominated Windings on a split LP.

Meanwhile, Cooney made 2 albums as Skelocrats and bassist Shane Murphy made music with Switzerland and No Monster Club. Drummer Maggie Fagan (Grand Pocket Orchestra) and keyboardist Conor Deasy (Biggles Flys Again, Tomorrows) joined the band in 2015. Guitarist Ciaran Canavan is a mainstay.

LIE INS

With Michael Stevens on songwriting, guitars and vocals;  Ruan van Vliet on drums, vibes and artwork, and Mark Chester on Bass, vocals, mixing and mastering, Lie Ins are thrashy lo-fi literate songmakers whose wry take on Irish life has received plaudits at home and abroad.

Previously a guitar/drums two-piece, their debut album “Death To Lie Ins” was a fun-filled blast of acoustic punk. A new single out this year “Love in the Arctic” saw the addition of Chester and a new electric sound. Lie Ins are currently recording an album.

M STEVENS & THE GHASTS

M Stevens & The Ghasts are an indie folk band from Dublin.

Songwriter Mike Stevens has previously worked with a string of Irish alt folk & indie pop bands like Settler, Groom, Lie Ins and Skelocrats and was also co-founder of celebrated indie collective Popical Island. The Ghasts are Mark Jordan (Seabeasts, Si Schroeder, Large Mound, Spook of the 13th Lock, The Run Ons), Hugh McCabe (Large Mound, Spook of the 13th Lock, Desert Aces), Ciaran Canavan (Land Lovers) and Donagh O'Brien (A Ritual Sea, Sweet Jane).

MILKY TEETH

Milky Teeth is the solo moniker for Cork guitarist and songwriter, Robbie Barron, who is better known for his endeavors with Cork bands The Shaker Hymn and John Blek & The Rats.

Some downtime from Shaker Hymn commitments over the the last few years have allowed Barron to pen his own compositions, and put the final touches on the debut Milky Teeth album, which is due for completion and release before 2018 is out.

Produced, engineered, and mixed in his home studio, Milky Teeth's music has been described as a "first-rate slice of woozy throwback-pop".

NAOISE ROO

Having underscored her status as one of Ireland’s most singular songwriting voices on her acclaimed debut album, Lilith, Naoise Roo returns with her highly-anticipated second album,Emotionally Magnificent, on 27th October.

Equally enthralling and exploratory - at turns personal and brimming with pathos - the eleven songs that make up the Dublin-raised artist’s full-length return delve deep into themes surrounding depression, the challenges of the music industry and the oppressive stereotypes that burden women experiencing mental illness. Staring down reality with rare, forward-pushing power, it doubles as a new invitation to get on board with a vocalist and songwriter at her all-time most vital.

For the album, the Belfast-based artist once again conspired with well-respected collaborators who have helped to define the sheer immersion of her sublime and shapeshifting sound to date. Produced by Liam Mulvaney (Girl Band, The Radio, Fionn Regan) with Jamie Hyland assisting (Gilla Band, Mhaol), Emotionally Magnificent features Daniel Fox (Gilla Band) on bass and guitar, Rian Trench (Solar Bears) on drums and synths and Karl Tobin on guitar. Paired with the sorcerous groundswell of Naoise Roo’s voice - which sits firmly centre-stage - highlights such as ‘Whoever,’ ‘Razor Sharp Shirt’ and ‘Nobody Can Make Me Do What I Don’t Want To’ are as carefully-crafted as they are exquisitely candid.

NEW VALLEY WOLVES

New Valley Wolves are Jonny Lucey and Baz Joyce.

New Valley Wolves are here to rescue you from soft rock/indie idiocy. They've built their reputation as Ireland's fiercest live band through relentless gigging at home and abroad. With a sound bigger than an A-Bomb and energy that borders on psychotic, New Valley Wolves play dirty, blues rock riffs with a sinister edge.

 "The Dublin rock duo of Jonny Lucey and Baz Joyce cram their high-octane rock'n'roll with bluesy riffs and distorted roars in the style of Sabbath and Motorhead, sonics designed to facilitate an old-fashioned wildness that never goes out of fashion." - Nialler9, The Irish Times

NO MONSTER CLUB

No Monster Club is the collaborative art-pop project of Dublin's Sir Bobby Jukebox. They have been called "the mad scientists of Irish indie music" (The Last Mixed Tape) and "one of the most reliable, inventive and brilliant bands in Ireland" (BarryGruff). Their music has been released across the world by a number of esteemed indie labels, like Popical Island, Emotional Response Records, Mirror Universe, CF Records & Already Dead Records - and featured in movies including 'Famous Nathan', 'The Middle Finger', 'Damo and Ivor: The Movie', 'Pussywillow Dirtbags', 'Bicycle Thieves: Pumped Up' and 'Let The Wrong One In'.

ÓDÚ

Bray native Ódú has always been a self proclaimed singer and songwriter of pop music.

She released her debut EP 'Conversations' back in February 2017 which scaled the heights of the iTunes charts upon release. Produced by Elliott Marchent and co produced by James Darkin (Gavin James, Bitch Falcon, The Murder Capital) and Mick Heffernan (Columbia Mills, AE Mak, Chasing Abbey) the five track EP garnered rave reviews for its mix of electro pop, tropical pop and retro flourishes.

Singles 'Different' and 'Feed You Lies' received acclaim from publications both at home and abroad such as Hot Press, The Irish Times, Riff, Paste Magazine as well as the cream of Irish bloggers such as Nialler9 and The Last Mixed Tape. Both Hot Press and The Last Mixed Tape also named her as a rising star to watch.

In late 2018, the County Wicklow tunesmith returned with the uplifting and vibrant single 'Roots', which was playlisted on RTE Radio 1 and added to Spotify's New Pop Revolution playlist. The release also coincided with her debut showcase as part of Hard Working Class Heroes festival where she shared the bill with artists such as Pillow Queens, Roe, Wild Youth and many more.

In May 2019 Ódú came back with her most recent single The Feeling, a love song with a twist set against a backdrop of glistening, languid synths and with a cinematic accompanying video. The track received universal praise and was chosen as 2FM's Record Of The Week and saw her play a UK / Ireland tour in June and July. In addition, Ódú composed music and lyrics for Confirmation, a musical memoir created and performed by performance artist Xnthony, marking her first foray into musical theatre. Confirmation went on to sell out Dublin Fringe Festival in 2018 and recently completed a month-long run at Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2019.

In 2020, Ódú teamed up with songwriter Luke Foley to create indie pop duo Scenes From A Break. Their debut single Silly Little Games was met with universal praise upon release and the pair have plans to release more new music in 2021.

Ódú is set to release new music in Spring 2021.

"..harkens to Annie Lennox, but also early Madonna" - Paste Magazine

“Immediately likeable” – The Irish Times

“Non-ironic, unapologetic penchant for crystal clear pop” – Hot Press

“Ear-catching… Ódú’s sound is full of prospect” – The Last Mixed Tape

OF ALL LIVING THINGS

of all living things is a four-piece Dublin based band. Inspired by nostalgia and memories of youth, the sound is reminiscent of 90's alternative music with textured guitars complementing delicate female vocals.

Following their debut EP 'On Familiar Ground' release, a new single 'Mostly Timing' was released via Any Other City Records. 'Mostly Timing' was written as part of the band's recent approach towards a more organic and collaborative songwriting process.

"We had a quiet couple of months after our autumn tour last year and this was one of the first things that materialised when we got back in a room together. Once the song had a rough shape, we booked studio time with the very much loved Ber Quinn. We wanted to keep its initial feeling intact by working together in creating new textures while in the recording studio".

Ahead of their recent headline show, of all living things also released another single 'On Familiar Ground, Accompanied by Familiar Faces'.

"The title was inspired by a David Byrne quote "as a listener you'd be on familiar ground and accompanied by familiar faces, but the landscape and settings would keep changing". We all connected with this, as we navigate our own feelings of anxiety about change. The band has been our familiar ground while the world goes round and the time flies by. The song is about unconditional love, getting close and letting go. It's about noticing deeply rooted patterns and wanting to change. Wanting to start anew and let go of any attachments, but also simultaneously, not being ready to lose the familiar faces".

PÁDRAIG COONEY

Pádraig Cooney has been writing and performing in Dublin-based bands for over a decade, from Land Lovers through Skelocrats to Autre Monde. He was a founder member of the Popical Island Collective, which ran a label, venue and other initiatives through the 2010s. He is now releasing material under his own name.

Centuries of Learning is the debut album by Dublin musician Pádraig Cooney. It is a distillation of his creative endeavours over several years writing, playing and singing in Dublin’s alt-pop underground, and an attempt to approach a record, 13 years after the fact, in the way he approached 2008’s Land Lovers debut Romance Romance. That is, restricted to synths, guitar and drum machine, with a mixture of premeditation and improvisation, make the most complete one-person pop suite that his abilities would allow at that time.

The title 'Centuries of Learning' is taken from the song Space, where in context it refers to the accumulation of education, technical expertise and cultural knowledge put by Europeans to the service of violent exploitation of the rest of the planet. However, as the album title, it says: "I've been at this long enough, here's what I have learned".

Over the course of its 13 songs admittedly anchored in the aesthetics of the 1970s, you’ll find dark electronic passages (Off the Books), hints of Italian TV variety show instrumentals (Another Reputation Ruined), slinky French pop (Engrenages), the expansive Space, the hooky Green Light, the dark country rumination of Moonlight and the primary-coloured Talleyrand. Bronwyn Murphy White, Padraig’s wife and bandmate in Skelocrats, pops up for a star turn lead vocal on Houses.

Lyrically, it’s a wild ride from meaningless musicality (Green Light) to imperialism (Off the Books), colonialism (Space), housing (Houses), environmental vandalism (Nature Walks), historical figures as ferrets (Talleyrand), mind-controlled killers (A Drifter Sings) and, beyond linguistic content, an instrumental that attempts to soundtrack a video of people messing on a diving platform during a big storm (Blackrock Diving Tower).

REPEAT

Raucous, in your face songs blend into emotional guitar driven dramas on the debut album from Repeat.  Neil Bailey's sensational voice is by turns tender and terrifying and he gives his songs an emotional resonance and urgency that is rarely heard in Irish rock.   

SCENES FROM A BREAK

A collaborative project between singer/ songwriter Ódú and songwriter/producer Luke Foley, Scenes From A Break began as a project when Foley posted online that he was in search of a vocalist to help him demo some tracks. When Ódú reached out and the pair started working together, they found songwriting together so seamless that they decided to form a new band based on their shared love of 80's and 90's pop music.

Their debut single "Silly Little Games" was called an "ethereal slice of of indie-pop" by Indie Buddy and premiered in Hot Press magazine.

THE SHAKER HYMN

The Shaker Hymn craft sharp and thoughtful pop songs, reminiscent of the lush and warm guitar music of the late 60’s such as The Byrds and Pink Floyd blended with the cavalier approach of acts like Supergrass, Cass McCombs and Kurt Vile. There is a lyrical wit and a bite that is distinctly recognisable from their hometown of Cork. Their third album ‘The Last Concorde’ is released in June 2022, a classic powerful glam rock inspired guitar album infused with hypercosmic sonic flavours.

The group began recording their latest album over five years ago with producer Brendan Fennessy and released a single, ‘Dead Trees’ the following year in anticipation of the new record and live shows to accompany. Unexpectedly, drummer Shane Murphy became seriously ill and a routine procedure in the summer of 2018 turned into a distressing ordeal which left him in critical condition for a number of weeks. During a tumultuous 2018 and 2019 he worked himself back to strength while plans for the band decidedly took a back seat until, during the more tempered months of lockdown of 2020, the band was able to finish recording their long awaited third album.

The band, which began making rudimentary teenage noise back in 2005, and matured into The Shaker Hymn during a two-month American excursion early in 2012 have released two albums to date. 2014’s `Rascal's Antique’ and 2016’s ‘Do You Think You’re Clever’ as well as a five track EP ‘The Shape Of The Sea’ were all filled with deft hooks, acute observations and compelling songwriting. The group have toured Ireland extensively including festivals; Body & Soul, Hard Working Class Heroes and Knockanstockan as well as touring the UK and Belgium. Their single ‘Sucking It Out’ appeared on the soundtrack to breakout Irish film 'Handsome Devil'.

*STEREOGUM "Gorgeous retro pop-rock"

* LouderThanWar  "Big sounds, big ideas, great production and lots of charm"

*CLASH "Immediately contagious, set to bittersweet pop hymns"

* HOTPRESS "Echoing the lazy drawls of ex Stroke's frontman Julian Casablancas but with a swagger all their own, Shaker Hymn are a band to watch out for”

★★★★ - Record Collector Magazine

8/10 - LouderThanWar

SKELOCRATS

Skelocrats are a lo-fi pop band from Dublin, Ireland. Initially established in 2012 who released their 'greatest hits', The Complete Skelocrats, in December of that year. This brought together their two EPs, Whip Crack Away and Hot Yoga. This well-received album resulted in support slots with Lower Dens, TOPS and The Mantles among others, whereupon the bands members (Padraig Cooney, Bronwyn Murphy White, Mike Stevens and Paddy Hanna) went their separate ways to pursue their various musical projects.

They returned in 2015 with the even more favourably-welcomed Bella Bella album, which was awarded Album of the Week by both The Sunday Times and The Irish Times, while being hailed as "a contender for Irish album of the year" by Totally Dublin and "the very opposite of a difficult second album" by So Cow's Brian Kelly in The Thin Air.

WINTER AID

Winter Aid is Shane Culloty, an Irish independent musician who lives in Dublin or San Francisco, depending when you catch him. After his debut EP ‘The Wisp Sings’ became a sleeper Spotify hit, he built on that success with the album ‘The Murmur of the Land’ in 2017.

Most recently, Winter Aid has released a 10th anniversary edition of his debut EP, ‘The Wisp Sings’, fully remastered for its first time pressing on vinyl via Bluestack Records, along with an expanded 13 track digital edition. In addition, Winter Aid has shared the previously unreleased track, “Lazy Beds,” a wistful look at where Culloty grew up in Co. Kerry, available via all digital platforms. The Wisp Sings EP is anchored by its title-track single; a song whose sustainability and longevity is both a testament to its quality and ability to connect with people worldwide, and a source of surprise to its creator. Since its release in 2013, the track has garnered well over 300 million streams across all platforms, working its way onto daytime television segments, into documentaries on BBC and RTE, dramas on HBO and Prime, and soundtracking an ad that ran during the 2022 Oscars broadcast.  

Revisiting The Wisp Sings and celebrating everything that has happened with it over the past decade is the closing of one chapter for Culloty, and the opening of another. In the weeks and months ahead, plans are in the works to release a steady stream of new Winter Aid material, including a long-awaited sophomore full-length album, in the spring of 2024.

Blending lovelorn lyrics with scenes of rural isolation, and moving from gentle folk to achingly catchy synthpop, Winter Aid is producing some of the most original music in Ireland right now.

"A SONGWRITER OF SUBSTANCE… ALLURING CHAMBER POP" THE IRISH TIMES

“JUST GORGEOUS” BBC RADIO

“STELLAR, INCREDIBLY ACCOMPLISHED STUFF” THUMPED.COM