01. Hop into your red Ferrari with your girl, and cruise into an unending neon night with Exiles‘ super-polished synth-pop reverie.
02. Hailing from Carlow/Kilkenny, the trio takes direct influence from the full spectrum of eighties pop culture, from Hall & Oates, to the Lethal Weapon II soundtrack.
03. Streaming above is the outfit’s debut single, Red Lights, available now, and the leadoff track for their debut E.P. of the same name.
04. Appearing live at Hard Working Class Heroes fest, October 6-8, in Dublin. For more info, go here.
Verdict: Pristine pop from the South-East, via LA in the ’80s. Grin-inducing stuff.
01. Psychedelia/shoegazing, genre-upsetting noises as Gaeilge from Donegal, you say? These might be your lads.
02.Tuath are a collective of musicians that revolves around singer Robert Mulhern and saxophonist Ashley Mobasser, formed in July 2014, and slowly garnering adoring looks across the media room from the likes of Louderthanwar and An Taobh Tuathail.
03. Streaming in its entirety above is the band’s debut EP, Existence is Futile, released this past June, via Bandcamp.
04. The band has just been confirmed for Hard Working Class Heroes festival in Dublin, running from October 6th-8th. For more on the line-up and venues, click here.
Verdict: An odyssey of sound and texture that feels at once fresh and challenging, while peppered with just enough points of reference throughout to reward a broad palette.
03. Streaming above is new single Homeless, the first from album #3, Uncaused, releasing September 19 on iTunes, Spotify and Bandcamp. Pre-orders available now.
04. Harrington relates some of his experience with collaboration on this record:
“Guitars, bass, sequencers, synths, organ, engineering and mixing were all handled by myself. This contributed to the lengthy time it took to finish the album. Drums were played by Zoe Black, a homeless (at the time of recording) percussionist from Japan, who has since left New York.
“She was living out of a suitcase near Tompkins Square park when I met her and I feel she has elevated the songs with her unique jazz-influenced style. The final track contains a field recording of her singing with a gospel choir in Prospect Park. I do not know the name of the song, nor do I know what became of her.”
Verdict: Doing away with sampling completely has entirely changed Harrington’s trajectory, resulting in bare-bones, jazzy, post-rock excursions like this. This record could be one of the year’s sleeper faves.
Generic People – Cork audiovisual collective now curating a stage at Electric Picnic
What you may need to know…
01. Ant, Ronin and collaborators are the ever-evolving, media-agnostic group known as Generic People.
02. Beginning life as a collaborative electronic project, the group has expanded from production, DJing and playlisting, to live open improv performances, to large-scale visuals and multimedia installations, including the recent large-scale projections of Maser’s Repeal the 8th logo in Cork City.
04. The collective presents Afterdark in the Hazel Wood, their first-ever curated stage, at Electric Picnic, a massive coup to say the least. Confirmed so far are Cathy Davey, We Lived In Cities, Jack O’Rourke, MKAI, Carried By Waves, Exit: Pursued by a Bear, Emmet Homebeat and Cork record-slinging legend Jim X Comet’s David Bowie Experience.
VERDICT: Platform and medium are no restriction for the ever-evolving Generic People, and given the opportunity to flourish on the biggest stage Irish music has to offer, you can guarantee something special.
02. Emerging in 2011, the band combines heavy-duty riffage with atmosphere and technical proficiency, as best displayed on their 2014 sophomore effort The Crossing.
Rainy Boy Sleep – singer-songwriter Stephen Martin, R.I.P.
“Three single notes on ‘Teenage Kicks’ wasn’t enough for me. I needed to make a bigger noise.”
Stephen Martin
The Irish music scene is in mourning after it was confirmed that Stephen Martin, a.k.a. Rainy Boy Sleep, had been found dead after a search that went on for over three weeks.
Martin’s BreakingTunes profile is humbly-written and enthusiastic, now a tribute to a body of work and live experience that encompassed a pair of extended-plays under his pseudonym, and a star that was on the rise in music, with live supports for the likes of Cyndi Lauper [see below) and James Morrison, and endorsements from Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody among others.
In tribute to Martin, The Thin Air has uploaded a previously print-exclusive interview, documenting Martin’s musical firsts. Martin’s wit and humour make the piece a thoroughly charming read, prefaced by a moving tribute by editor Brian Coney.
The thoughts and sympathies of the Broadsheet team go out to Stephen’s family and friends.
JAMES VINCENT MCMORROW – New single and big gigs announced for October
What you may need to know…
01. Dubliner James Vincent McMorrow is a world-travelled troubadour and songwriter, possibly in scarce need of an introductory piece at this stage.
02. New album We Move is up for pre-order now, following on from much-fancied sophomore LP Post-Tropical, which led McMorrow around the world and to sold-out shows in Sydney Opera House, Choice Music Prize nominations, and getting sampled by hip-hop oligarch Drake.
03. Streaming above is the video for first single Rising Water, directed by Freenjoy and according to McMorrow, documents “the things we tell ourselves to move through loss”.
04. Big gigs announced to launch the record include Galway’s Black Box on August 5th, and Dublin’s National Stadium on August 7th.
VERDICT: Wonderfully barebones, cathartic synthiness that bodes well for the upcoming LP.
01. Galway/Limerick/Glasgow garage-rock trio FONDA have emerged as ones-to-watch in Irish music in recent times.
02. Specialising in a brittle, melancholic, but warm strain of croon-along, garage-rock-inflected pop, the band formed in January of last year, and got their debut EP, Social Services, out of their systems in June.
03. Streaming above is the video for new single Dreaming, described by The Thin Air as “probably our favourite Irish track of 2016 so far”. Produced by Bloom Media, it was shot in the none-more-Limerick location of Costello’s Tavern, once described perfectly by a friend of your writer’s as “Freakscene on Craggy Island”.
Hero In Error – Dublin metal/hardcore veterans ready new material
What you may need to know…
01. Having featured on metal bills up and down the country for the better part of a decade, Hero in Error feel like they’ve been a part of Irish music forever.
02. Getting their start in 2008, the band began to ascend in 2011, with E.P. The High Point of New Lows releasing on Sony-distributed US indie Mediaskare.
03. Following some personnel shifts, the band returns with their first new single in quite some time, The Hollow Truth, streaming above.
04. The band hit the road again shortly in support of the single, on September 23rd and 24th, to be precise, with a formal announcement on venues due shortly.
Verdict: A rousing return for the band, built on big riffs and a sonorous hook. Here’s to more.
01. dowry is the solo project of Ena Brennan, and sees the accomplished violinist and composer play with loops and layering among other elements in her compositions.
02. The Tandem Felix and Bad Sea member, is a longtime musician, writer, graphic designer and arts administrator, and her variety of experience in bands, orchestras and solo performance speaks for itself.
03. Streaming above is most recent single Sincerely, a gentle and seemingly fraught piece, the latest addition to an eclectic and ever-growing body of work.
