Aoife Wolf – I And The Ocean
Anyone for some face-painting?
Offaly singer/songwriter Aoife Wolf gets all smudged up in this unforgettable new video directed by Myles O’Reilly.
Aoife says:
“I And The Ocean is a song about overcoming fear. The idea that you are larger and wilder than whatever it is that’s holding you back. Indulging in pleasure but not wholly.”
Nick says: Creature comforts.
Swedish Railway Orchestra – The House Of Blood
Put on your red shoes and dance the blues.
Workman’s Club resident DJ Rob Smith returns with a trippy and slightly eerie blast of electronica while video director Bobby Turbulence takes us down a surreal path in the promo.
Look out for Swedish Railway Orchestra’s eponymous album on July 29.
Let’s hope it won’t be too long before Rob takes his rightful place behind the decks again on Wellington Quay.
Nick says: Stockholm is where the art is.
Kevin Goslin – Lockdown
“We are always encompassed by love.”
That’s the candle in the dark offered by [Capuchin Franciscan] Brother Richard’s spoken word poem ‘Lockdown’ which multi-instrumentalist Kevin Goslin uses over his post-Covid soundtrack.
The impressive video footage was assembled by Ian Bannon.
Nick says: Kevin knows.
Malojian – The Singularity
Is this the first great song about the way we live now, post-Coronavirus?
Belfast troubadour Stevie Scullion (above) aka Malojian wrote this on his piano last month and then sent it to his friend Jason Lytle of Grandaddy, who added atmospherics and produced it.
The result is an elegant, mournful but ultimately optimistic hymn to the resilience of the human spirit.
The song is available on bandcamp.
Nick says: Lockdown blues.
Laura Elizabeth Hughes – For You (Home)
A song from under the floorboards.
Dublin singer/songwriter Laura Elizabeth Hughes (top left)) empathetically deals with how depression and anxiety can emerge during the cabin fever of lockdown.
All proceeds go to the mental health charity Pieta House.
The emotionally powerful video is directed by Peadar Gill and stars dancer Taylor Graham (top right) alongside Laura.
Nick says: Home is where the art is.
True Tides – Survive
Need a soundtrack to your living room workout?
Let me introduce True Tides, three brothers from Cork.
Above from left: Cian, Conor and Eoghan MacSweeny combine to deliver an upbeat and uptempo message of hope.
Nick says: Turning the Tides.
Arrivalists – Hearts Off The Latch
The collaboration will continue until morale improves.
Known and loved for his work with Ten Speed Racer and The Hedge Schools, Pat Barrett has a new musical project up and running.
His first song as Arrivalists, which he has made available at bandcamp, was inspired by a picture (above) sent to him by professional photographer Ruth Medjber, who challenged him to rustle up a complementary tune on the spot.
The result is a deeply sensitive and introspective acoustic ballad that has echoes of The Blue Nile.
A much needed port in this storm.
Nick says: Thanks Pat.
Úna Keane – Piano Squared
In a quiet mood?
Dublin musician Úna Keane (top) played an unforgettable gig in the Pepper Canister Church, Dublin 2 earlier this month.
Now she has uploaded one of those live hypnotic piano pieces onto her YouTube channel with an accompanying video (above) featuring archive footage of kids playing in Victorian England in 1901.
Mesmerising.
Her most recent album is In The Deep.
Nick says: Ivory power.
Kieran Ring – Satellites
Gasping for some uptempo beats to dance away the boredom?
Let Kieran Ring (top) be your guide.
The former lead singer of Cork-based band Neon Atlas returns with a banging single from his forthcoming solo EP.
Jota Gambuzino directs the trippy promo.
Kieran says:
“Satellites is about not being able to sleep, thinking about the future whilst watching a clear night sky , being inspired by it but also wishing you could disappear into it escaping the feeling that you don’t quite fit in.”
Nick says: Shooting star.
Jape – Harrington Street
Feels like teen spirit.
Richie Egan aka Jape takes us back to the Dublin of his childhood on this highly evocative new single from his ambitious Sentinel album.
Director Jamie Delaney talks us through the song’s unforgettable video.
“The moment I heard Harrington Street, I saw an image of bittersweet teenage love. The uplifting melancholy of the lyrics and the ethereal tones instantly brought me to the back alleys of youth.
“Where giddy anticipation, nervous insecurity and the paranoid self-consciousness all mixed. I wanted the story to revolve around these seminal but yet universal moments. The moments we all remember from that awkward teenage love.”
Nick says: Teenage dreams so hard to beat.
