A lot of music from Ireland and Northern Ireland comes our way and every week, we listen through it all, sift the list down to a manageable list and share the best new tracks from emerging artists and some more established acts that deserve to be heard by you.
For more extensive Irish and new music coverage, follow our Spotify playlist or hit up the Irish section for individual track features.
Featuring Anamoe Drive, Orro, Hi Vista, Loop Heavy, Ed Bennett, Kate Ellis, Syano, Viv, Hotgirl, Súil Amháin, Strange Boy, Enda Gallery, Mandulus..
1.
Anamoe Drive
Goodbye & Goodluck
The singer of Thumper – Oisín Leahy Furlong – dropped his first proper debut solo single on Faction Records recently, as Anamoe Drive.
‘Goodbye and Goodluck’ is a more pensive indie folk song than you’d expect from the rock frontman, with a sweetness to the vocals that lifts it.
A debut album produced by Rian Trench is on the way.
The lyrics of “Goodbye & Goodluck” delve into the poignant theme of relationship dissolution. Starting with oblique and expressionistic references to “robin eggs” and “standing ovations,” the song gradually develops into more earnest and anthemic turns of phrase, with lines like “I’m singing because I’m sorry tonight.” Anamoe Drive skillfully captures the complexities of the soft end of a profound friendship, shedding the weight of contempt along the way.
2.
Col3trane, Orro
Simp (Orro remix)
The Dundalk producer Orro released this official remix of UK artist Col3trane’s ‘Simp’ recently.
The original was released in February and the remix was featured on the deluxe EP Checkov’s Gun , and expands the hook into a fully-fledged textured bass and ambient R&B work of its own.
Orro on Insta
3.
Hi Vista
Blooming (Forever Now)
Hi Vista are Julianne Murray (Rumi) and Kevin Gubbins (Kubb_), who recently teamed up for a fresh indie-house project. ‘Blooming (Forever Now)’ has a wistful innocent feel to it.
The name Hi Vista, was inspired by the district in California and the building which features in the Talking Heads ‘Road To Nowhere’ video and the infamous Kill Bill church scene.
Hear also ‘Take Me Away’ and ‘Thinking About You’
5.
Súil Amháin, Tuath
Murda Meaisín
The Kerry rapper Súil Amháin dropped this Tuath-produced tune earlier in the year, but a Spotify add reminded me of it.
A song about smashing colonialism is is always pertinent but it’s particularly relevant at the moment, considering what’s happening in Palestine this week.
‘Murda Meaisín’ flips an Afrobeat sample and features lyrics inspired by and was originally released to concide with 100 years of Ballyseedy Massacre.
Kerry rapper Súil Amháin drops mixtape dedicated to Shammen Delly
7.
Strange Boy, Enda Gallery
For A Man To Be Content
Limerick rapper Strange Boy softens things for how new track ‘For A Man To Be Content’, a track that is more half-sung style than pure rhyme with Enda Gallery providing the open-hearted chorus line.
It marks a break away from the trad rap sound of his 2021 debut album HOLY / UNHOLY.
“In this series of singles, we’ve chosen to transcend the boundaries of tradition, blending the contemporary with the age-old. We’ve woven trap elements with the heartfelt resonance of spacious guitars and the timeless yearning of the flute. The result is a unique fusion, a tapestry of sound that encapsulates our collective desire to evolve without forsaking our roots.” says producer Enda Gallery.
8.
Mandulus
Arcadia
Irish producer Des Foley aka Mandalus dropped this hefty bass-heavy 1970s Brazil-sampling dance banger ‘Arcadia’ lately on the Canadian label Stereo Ferment, which is run by Brad Weber, live drummer with Caribou.
Here is footage of the track being played at the Rave In The Woods / Anachronica at Electric Picnic by Moving Still in early September:
9.
Ed Bennett, Kate Ellis
Strange Waves VI
The cellist Kate Ellis and the composer Ed Bennett have released a six-part album called Strange Waves on the Ergodos label, which blends music for eight cellos with field recordings made on Ireland’s northernmost island, Rathlin, and the County Down coast.
‘Strange Waves VI’ encapsulates the liminal microtonal nature of the result, as waves of sound rumbles echoing the relentlessly lapping water.
“This record began with an email in my inbox from Ed early in 2020 saying: “I’m dabbling with a piece at the moment for 8 multi tracked cellos… I’m thinking quite big, and it could be record in itself with multiple movements…” Ed sent a first draft of the score in June of 2020. The music he had created was immensely beautiful and resonated strongly with the strange sense of calm and slowing of time that I was experiencing and so began the recording of ideas between lockdowns. The final recording of the piece took place between May and June of this year at home in Crumlin, Dublin.”
Kate Ellis
“Growing up by the Irish sea, the sound of waves has been ever present in my life and in recent years has found its way into the music. At first, I didn’t notice this, but as I started to hear overlapping textures and loops in my work, I realised that there was something about this seemingly endless quality I was seeking.”
Ed Bennett
10.
Hotgirl
The Cat
A new band who played Ireland Music Week, Hotgirl are the Dublin/Drogheda alternative band featuring Jake Hurley aka Local Boy on bass alongside vocalist Ashley Abedeen, drummer Nick Stanley and guitarist Sophie Boxwell.
I featured their debut single ‘Jam’, and ‘The Cat’ is one of two quick succession singles along with the grungier ‘Wrong‘, that barely rises beyond a purr in a way that draws you in quietly.
For more extensive Irish and new music coverage, hit up the Irish section for individual track features
For this and more Irish songs, follow the Nialler9 New Irish Spotify playlist.
This week’s playlist updates includes the songs above along with new additions:
Aby Coulibaly – Fighting 4 Luv
WALKER. – TOMMY
Enola Gay; Mount Palomar – terra firma (feat. Mount Palomar)
Super Extra Bonus Party – Feather Helmet Repertoire
Nealo – Only Human
Qbanaa – Mundo En Mis Manos / World In My Hands
All Tvvins – Every Minute
NO PHOTOS – Greyhound
Ed Bennett; Kate Ellis – Strange Waves: VI
Caoivín – An Ode To The Curlew
Pagan – Another Lover
Uwm.; Ṣelu; Kendino – AGES AWAY
Coolgirl – Druid’s Hood
Amy Ellen – Dead & Gone
Lucy Blue – Graveyard
Tabitha Smyth – Mercury In Retrograde
Fynch – Now Do A Silly One!
Cruel Sister – Wolves
Elliott Mo – Circles
HART – Runnin
Seán Parnell – Over Feeling Down
Carlsbad – Parliament
Annika Kilkenny – The Middle
Big Sleep – Maccy D’s
I Have A Tribe – Vitruvian Man
Sheerbuzz – Seaside Towns
