Maria Kelly – eight hours

“It’s in the not knowing
If I’m coming or going.”

Alt.folk queen Maria Kelly (top) tackles self-doubt on her introspective and charming single – the follow-up to the acclaimed Martha. Look out for her new album in the Autumn on VETA Records.

Maria says:

“You convince yourself that it’s just one single thing, and that if you could just find it, fix it, get over it – everything would be OK again. Ironically, through that process of invalidating, there’s so much pressure, guilt and shame, which just sends us further into that spiral.

“It’s a cycle I think a lot of us fall into, because it’s really hard to give yourself permission to struggle. I spent a really long time fighting against my own experience. Feeling down or lost always equated to ‘not trying hard enough’. I was always on the hunt for something to fix, but I’m constantly reminding myself that nothing is inherently ‘broken’ – so there is nothing to fix in the first place.”

Nick says: Maria’s the name.

Maria Kelly

Robert John Ardiff – Black Dog

“When the black dog sings
And the half light ends.”

Erstwhile member of Choice Prize-nominated Come On Live Long, Robert John Ardiff (top) gets introspective on this ballad from his second solo album The Corridors Of Love.

Robert writes:

“The album is a love song to the forgotten; the left behind. I wrote the songs over the past year, while I was looking around at the city I live in, thinking, ‘what the hell is going on and where has the soul from this place gone?’ And I don’t just mean because of the pandemic.

“The anxiety that people feel because they can’t afford a house or a place to rent, when they are living paycheck to paycheck, when they are trying to create art or raise children or buy food – and the people in charge don’t seem to care for them.

“The idea came about after reading a book by Deborah Levy entitled ‘The Cost of Living‘ in which she describes the apartment she lives in as ‘the corridors of love’. So I took this idea and tried to tell the stories of the people behind these doors and incorporate it with my own personal experience.”

Nick says: Rooms with a view.

Robert John Ardiff

Pa Sheehy – I Saw You At A Funeral

A family affair.

Pa Sheehy (top), the former singer with Kerry rock giants Walking On Cars, gets personal with his debut solo single that makes for a compelling if uncomfortable listen.

Pa writes:

“This is a song I find easier to sing than talk about. I didn’t want to give this part of my life too much attention because I was doing my best to focus on the good things in my life. But every time I sat down to write a song, it was always the first thing that jumped out of me. So I knew I had to get it out of my system.

“After it was written, it was all about not over doing it with the production. With such a blunt song it didn’t need any bells and whistles. A little keyboard arpeggio and some atmospheric sounds was enough to glide it home. My siblings listened to it once but won’t listen to it anymore. I take that as a compliment.”

Nick says: In the midst of life…

Pa Sheehy

Adrian Crowley – Take Me Driving

That petrol emotion.

Adrian Crowley (top) takes the passenger seat in the fourth single from his new album The Watchful Eye Of The Stars, out now on Chemikal Underground.

The star of his previous video A Shut-In’s Lament, Vera Graziadei is back behind the wheel in this charming promo co-directed by Vera and Trevor Murphy.

The song was partly inspired by a poem by Patrick Chapman from his 2007 collection Breaking Hearts And Traffic Lights.

Nick says: Tyred and emotional.

Adrian Crowley

Lisa Gerrard & Jules Maxwell – Aldavyeem (A Time To Dance)

A time to Dead Can Dance?

DCD stalwarts Lisa (top), who is Australian of Irish ancestry, and Jules, from Bangor, County Down return with the enigmatic third single from their new album Burn, produced by James Chapman and released on the Atlantic Curve imprint.

The video was directed by David Daniels.

Nick says: Maxwell’s silver hammered dulcimer.

Lisa Gerrard

Jules Maxwell