Featuring Maija Sofia, I Have a Tribe, 1000 Beasts, Tomike, Filmore!, Rhoshi, Crying Loser, Bobbi Arlo, Odd Numbers, Fynch, Irish Mellow, THEO, Coolgirl, Moonboot, Leo Miyagee.
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.
Maija Sofia
Chagall
The Galway artist Maija Sofia released her second album True Love on Friday on Tulle Collective, having released the songs ‘Four Winters’, ‘Oh Theremin’ and ‘Telling The Bees’.
Among the album’s prominent devices are references to saints, scholars and artists, with ‘Chagall’ an album track that references the Russian-French modernist painter Marc Chagall.
On The Point Of Everything interviewed Maija Sofia for his podcast this week – https://twitter.com/TPOEblog/status/1699360480253378654″>podcast interview with Maija this week, the artist mentions her shared birthday with Chagall and how his art has come up in her life. The song is about Chagall’s relationship with his second wife Bella Rosenfeld, the idea of the muse, and like the titular album, their true love.
Edit: also, completely missed the video for ‘Saint Aquinas’ on release day too.
2.
I Have A Tribe
Sunshine
Patrick O’Laoghaire aka I Have a Tribe is gearing up for the release of the singer-songwriter’s new album Changing of the Guard on October 6th.
After ‘Fly Like A Bird’ and ‘Oh Man’, ‘Sunshine’ is a realtively jaunty piano-lead love song.
Sunshine is a song about love, for love, of love, with love. Love, in my experience, is good fun. And love keeps moving in new ways. Love is a good scene. Lionnar is a word I learned from a book by Manchan Magan that means the glistening of light moving on an ocean. This glistening reminds me of her, and she reminds me of this glistening. Lionnar love.”
I Have a Tribe tour dates?
07 Sep 23 ‘Late at the Library’ @ National Library of Ireland, Dublin – Sold Out
29 Oct 23 Supporting Gemma Hayes @ Westival, Mayo
10 Nov 23 Headline show – Whelan’s (Main Room), Dublin
16 Nov 23 London Irish Centre, London
3.
1000 Beasts, Tomike
Cherry
Edifying summer electronic grooves and vibes from Cork producer 1000 Beasts and London-based Irish artist collaborator Tomike on their new one from a forthcoming album.
A tour is coming in 2024.
1000 Beasts entire M.O. is pairing up with vocalist for collaborations.
4.
Rhoshi
En Garde
Dublin electronic producer Rhoshi released a debut album last week called IMAGE, featuring vocals from the artist, Isaac Jones and Vaticanjail*.
The album features textured electronic vistas, bass hits and high-giding synths, and the standout glitchy ASMR sonics of ‘En Garde’.
More on Bandcamp.
(*Vaticanjail is Francisca Sotomayor who is a Chilean artist currently under a deportation order from the Irish state even though she has lived here since she was a teen, you can sign a petition here to support her case)
5.
Crying Loser
Muscle Man
Cork band Crying Loser’s debut single ‘Friends’ was legitimately the first exciting song of 2023 I heard in January, with its no-wave punk energy.
The four-piece band released their debut EP Oaf Milk last week, and ‘Muscle Man’ is my favourite of the lot, a seven-minute lark in the oiled-up jazzy post-punk park.
6.
Bobbi Arlo
Ode To Ü
Bobbi Arlo is recalibibrating her sound with new textures if new song ‘Ode To Ü’ and April’s ‘Juni’ is anything to go by.
This new song has the Irish artist moving in more electronic pop and upbeat drum & bass circle.
“Ode To Ü is a love song full of longing promise and hope, written as an honest gesture of commitment no matter how far the distance between two lovers is. This song is the perfect deliverance of young love”.
7.
Odd Numbers, Fynch
Uncut Gems
I feel like the Drimnagh rapper Fynch just gets better and better with each track and feature, so hooking up with Cavan producer Odd Numbers on ‘Uncut Gems’ who is also on a roll is just good tune synergy.
The jazzy/hip-hop track features a Dilla-inspired beat with nostalgia-concerning lyrics from Fynch.
“This track is an ode to the basics — childhood wonderment and blissful ignorance to the state of the world. It was written with an underlying desire to return to a time when all I cared about was playing Smackdown Vs. Raw when I got home from school. There’s acceptance of the fact that a simplistic life isn’t in the offing, but we can all dream for a few minutes, can’t we? We still do play the odd game of World Cup though, which is nice.”
Listen to Odd Numbers’ The Golden Éire Tapes Vol. 1 featuring 17 Irish rappers
8.
Irish Mellow, Posidays
Love’s Gonna Save You
Irish Mellow is a Bristol-based multidisciplinary artist and producer Olamiposi Ayorinde raised in Mullingar who dropped a fine EP called Searching For Ghosts on September 1st, showcasing his mix of jazz, hip-hop and lyricism.
There’s a world-building feel to the 18-minute EP. The artist also goes by the name Posidays, and both names are credited on ‘Love’s Gonna Save You’ offering a duality perspective on this short blissed-out track.
Live, Irish mellow performs with a jazzy live band.
9.
THEO
Don’t Even Want It
Brighton-based Irish R&B singer THEO’s latest ‘Don’t Even Want It’ channels a Kaytranada-esque beat that matches that energy with atmospheric bass hits and Theo’s hooks.
‘Don’t Even Want It’ conveys the relief that emerges in the wake of healing from a breakup. It’s about that precise moment you cast off the nostalgic lens of the past, “where you see the pain for what it is and realise your ability to find happiness independently. It’s that freedom feeling where all the pain just disappears in a moment and you want to dance because you know you’re finally going to be okay.”
Theo on Instagram
10.
Coolgirl
High Altar
Lizzie Fitzpatrick’s Coolgirl project follows up the summer’s ‘Silverlight’ with an eerie synthwave song from an upcoming EP out in November.
‘High Altar’ is synth-soaked track created by sampling the sound of knocking a radiator. The synth sounds are a mix of analogue synths in Coolgirl’s bedroom studio and some modellers. It was written to demonstrate the emotional aspect of dance music and how an upturned bass melody and rolling cutoffs can display an intense sadness. “
Coolgirl: Insta / Spotify / Bandcamp
11.
Moonboot, Leo Miyagee
Feel
Belfast four-piece indie-funk band Moonboot and fellow city rapper Leo Miyagee come together on this soulful live band rap track. Smooth, good and nice.
12.
Filmore!
Fuck Em Up
Filmore! is Tebi Rex’s Max Zanga on some harder shit.
A new EP also called Filmore! just dropped featuring drum & bass and garage beats, nu-metal, pop-punk guitars, hyperpop and rap. My favourite track is ‘Fuck Em Up’ whih features almost all of the above and vibes on a fun high-BPM roller.
Filmore!’s music came from a wider project commissioned by the Dublin Fringe Festival. Zanga received the George Fitzmaurice Award for experimental art for creating an installation that combined striking visuals and imagery while exploring the complexities of youth and nostalgia.
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.
