Featuring Still Blue, Lemonade Shoelace, Ezra Willams, Gareth Quinn Redmond, Sorcha Durham, Crybabyamy, D*mp, Emily Beattie, Róisín McKeown, Trinkets, Rodney Owl, Molumby, Nylophone
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.
1.
Still Blue
Honeysuckle Daydream
Newly signed to Faction Records, are a band we’re a fan of around here – Dublin/Donegal indie band Still Blue.
“Honeysuckle Daydream’ is an ultra-punchy pop indie single from the now trio (vocalist Nicole Lyons, Ruairi Forde on guitar, and Greg Kearns on bass) that was recorded in Dublin and Belfast and produced by Matt Weir.
“Writing the song, we tried to encapsulate all the different emotions experienced in a night out – the complications of old relationships, the promise of one ones and the feeling that anything could happen”
2.
Lemonade Shoelace
I Think My Heart Is Set On You
Fresh from SXSW, bedroom producer Lemonade Shoelace brings the psych-pop vibes on ‘I Think My Heart Is Set On You’, a single from the forthcoming EP Whatever Makes You Happy out April 28th.
It’s like a cool breeze as summer approaches.
“I Think My Heart Is Set On You is a song about realising that the love and appreciation that you have for someone is much more apparent when distance and separation becomes involved. It also touches on the indecisiveness that can happen in relationships, but ultimately time and solitude will be the measure which decides how you truly feel towards that person. I have learnt during my spiritual journey through life that you really have to appreciate who you are yourself before you can see the qualities in someone else that you find desirable.
This song was produced over lockdown, at a point when my partner had gone to stay with her parents after spending all of her time with me and my family. I already knew that my heart was set on her, but I was left to deal with these new feelings of detachment and separation that led me to dwell on how much she truly means to me. I could think of nothing that I’d rather do than was to be with that person. I was alone with the thoughts and memories of her, and an anticipation for what the future could bring. In that moment, this song was born, and my heart’s path had a clear and narrow focus that I would never let time get in the way of.”
Ruairí Richman, Lemonade Shoelace
There are gigs for Lemonade Shoelace too:
Lemonade Shoelace on Linktree
Previously: ‘Hopscotch in the Sky’
3.
D*mp, Emily Beattie
Cement
A lovely vibey low-key collab between Loose Dental Club DJ and producer Ryan Dwyer aka D*mp and singer-songwriter Emily Beattie.
Reminds me of the music of Baths.
4.
Ezra Willams
Bleed
Ezra Williams (FKA Smoothboi Ezra) announces a debut album Supernumeraries, is out 16th June via AWAL.
‘Bleed’ is their latest single, and is concerned with being disconnected from those around you, and the struggle to form close relationships despite the desire to.
Previously: ‘Deep Routed’
Follow Ezra Williams:
5.
Róisín McKeown
What To Do
A fifth generation Irish woman singer-songwriter/musician based in New York and Dublin, Róisín McKeown releases a soulful guitar-lead jazzy bop called ‘What You Do’, a song originally written in 2020.
McKeown is currently recording her debut EP.
Previously: ‘Soul Full Of Fire’
6.
Trinkets
Lucy
Five-piece Dublin band Trinkets featured here in February with ‘Blue’, and here they are again, showcasing their indie-pop style on a song by songwriter and vocalist Rosie Spiro/
“Lucy captures the nuances of growing up in a society that is constantly telling you who to be, how to act, how to look and how that shapes us.
Lucy both musically/lyrically is quite childlike and innocent and aims to capture that nostalgic teenage feeling of needing to be your authentic self while simultaneously wanting to be anyone but yourself all at the same time.”
7.
Rodney Owl
A Life Misleading
Galway-based Armagh singer-songwriter Rodney Owl sounds a bit like a Arthur Russell in vocal tone on the folky song ‘A Life Misleading’, the lead track from the forthcoming album Truth is Broken on Galway’s Black Gate label.
More on Bandcamp.
8.
Gareth Quinn Redmond
Ar Ais Arís
Previously available as a Bandcamp-only release, and now on streaming, Ar Ais Arís is the recent third album from the Irish ambient musician Gareth Quinn Redmond on Swiss label WRWTFWW Records which features “8 deliciously warbling tape loops and a very rare kind of daydreaming environmental music full of accidental miracles and dusty soothing backdrops.”
The title and first track is a nice way into the vibe.
“By cracking open the shell of a cassette, cutting the tape and splicing the ends together, I created repeating sound loops of varying lengths,” Redmond says of tape loops, which he spent months experimenting with. “After reassembling and slotting the cassette into the Tascam Portastudio, I recorded and played back the sounds of the tape loop. These sounds were then manipulated using the pitch wheel to make subtle and warbly inflections to the recordings. This is achieved by speeding up or slowing down the playback speed of the tape, which offers dynamic contrasts in both mood and texture.”
it’s available on vinyl on Bandcamp, limited to 500 copies worldwide with an artwork by Dublin artist Barry Gibbons and liner notes from Redmond himself.
9.
Sorcha Durham
Heart And Soul
Moody ambient-pop from the former Walking On Cars musician, Sorcha Durham ahead of the release of the Dingle singer-songwriter’s All I Wanted EP on May 26th.
‘Heart & Soul’ is a whispery pop song, co-produced with her boyfriend Ben in their spare room.
“ Combining the organic sound of the piano and my voice with electronic elements like vintage synths and Drum machines is what really excites me,” Sorcha says.
Final touches including real piano were recorded with Christian Best in Monique Recording Studios along with some live drums played by Alex Ridley (Dáithí, Houseplants).
Sorcha on Insta / Spotify / Bandcamp / Twitter
Previously: ‘Fireside’
10.
Crybabyamy
6AM (untitled)
A fine alt-pop song from 20 year-old writer/producer/vocalist Crybabyamy. ‘6AM (untitled)’ has the vocal vibe and timbre of Dermot Kennedy, and is the second song from Amy since signing a publishing deal with BMG.
It was written and recorded at home with some additional production from UK producer Rob Milton (Holly Humberstone, Easy Life, The 1975).
Hear also: ‘Validation’
11.
Molumby
Dust
A fine little two-stepping dance number that serves as the first ever single from DJ/producer Ronan Molumby.
12.
Nylophone
So Cool
Wicklow musician Niall Woods aka Nylophone channels an ’80s synth pop backing here for his pleasant vocals to glide over. Think Tame Impala meets Tears for Fears,” he suggests.
Producer Rian Trench provides the rhythm section on this track.
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.
