Oliver Cole – Cuddle A Puddle

There’s no business like snow business.

Former Turn singer Oliver Cole (top) charms the Christmas socks off us with this quirky Yuletide love song with a twist.

Oliver writes:

“Cuddle a Puddle tells the tale of a true Christmas romance. A love story that blossoms and melts but leaves the heart warmer and wiser for next year.”

All proceeds go to Temple Street Children’s University Hospital in Dublin.

Oliver has also just released a download-only live album Live At The Grand Social via his bandcamp page.

Nick says: Keep the Cole fire burning.

Oliver Cole

Rofi James – Berlin Wall

“We’ll watch the sun rise by the Berlin Wall.”

Germany calling.

Galway-based band Rofi James take us on a trip to the city of Checkpoint Charlie and the Brandenburg Gate on their new synth-pop anthem.

The band are Ronan (Rofi), Jamie (James), and Joseph Flaherty and have amassed over 220,000 streams on Spotify.

Nick says: Ich bin ein Berliner.

Rofi James

Carrie Baxter – Rose

Flower power.

London-based Irish neo-soul singer Carrie Baxter (top) seduces with this slinky number from her 8-song EP What Now.

Carrie says:

“I wanted this song to feel like a late night diary entry. I wanted it to be very intimate and reminiscent of nostalgic moments between the two people. It was important for me to make the song chilled but have a very sexy edge to, evoking a sense of forbidden lovers.”

Nick says: Heavy petal.

Carrie Baxter

John X Henry – I Am Exempt

No muzzle required.

Purveyor of ye olde London Palladium-style musical comedy, English songsmith John X Henry (top) has a defiant message for the finger-wagging ‘Karens’ in the UK and timely support for the unmasked.

Nick says: Henry’s dream.

John X Henry

The Cylinders – Medication

Faith, hope and charity drives.

Introducing a blistering video (apparently a cover of a song by ‘The Romboids’, whom I can find no record of…anyone?) and a Gofundme we can all get behind.

The Cylinders write:

‘In October 2021 Eric Flanagan, a member of the Dublin Airport Police & Fire Service, decided that for this year’s Christmas charity drive they would try something different.

Always willing to support the DAA staff charities, the firefighters and police officers dug deep and tapped into the endless hidden talent within the force, to produce a rocking video that will give everyone a much needed boost (of rocking medication) after a tough year and a half.

We need people to indulge their inner rock star, take out your air guitar, dig deep and donate to these fantastic charities. St. Francis Hospice The Mater Foundation Feed Our Homeless.’

The Cylinders are Mick Gurley, Eric Flanagan, Cian Delaney, Keith McDonald, Del Godson and Col Reid.

Nick says: Meds and rockers.

Dublin Airport Police And Fire Rescur Fundraiser (Go Fund me)

Pastiche – Bad Loser

Wanna go clubbing? Golf clubbing, that is.

Dublin pop newcomer Pastiche (top) comes out swinging in the video for her new single, which was shot in Laragh House, County Wicklow, by director Louis Maxwell.

Pastiche writes:

“Lyrically, ‘Bad Loser’ is about your inner demons and, in a way, celebrating them. It reads like a diary entry and it’s all very much drawn from personal experiences that I’ve had with my own mental health.

“The moment the song was in the demo stage I had a vision of a house of horrors where all of my demons and sides of my personalities came out to play, displayed to the world.

“Each character is a metaphor, every set is intentional, every colour used sheds a different light on me. I think once you watch the video you really understand the song to a whole new degree, just as I intended It to be enjoyed.”

Nick says: Loser wins.

Pastiche

Paul Callan – Falling

Better call Paul.

Louth’s finest purveyor of indie guitar tunesmithery is back with the latest in his monthly series.

Paul writes:

“This is a short documentary on some of the many ways in which you can crash land on love’s dirt road from falling in love to falling flat on your backside.

“It is truly an indie song as it is packed with melody and is also short and sweet. The sound is a result of all of the beautiful guitars and vocal melodies that have poured into me. The very essence of a pop song with the most beautiful raw edge!

“This year I have been putting out one song every month. These can now be found wherever you like to listen to music. All of these songs will be released early next year as an album.

“All work emanates from my one-roomed cabin in the deepest darkest woods of Ireland’s north east.”

Nick says: Play very Louth.

Paul Callan

Von Liz – Officially Bored

The tedium is the message.

A topical cut off Von Liz’s upcoming Our Extinction LP which will be out early next year, vinyl delays having pushed back the release date.

Von Liz writes:

“It’s basically just myself, running around an abandoned Cold War airfield like a twat.”

Nick says: Snap.

Von Liz

I Draw Slow – Bring Out Your Dead

For alt.folk’s sake.

Dublin roots quintet I Draw Slow (top) return after four years with a new single and a fifth album in the pipeline.

Led by songwriting siblings Dave and Louise Holden, the group explain the theme of Bring Out Your Dead.

“It’s about about the challenge of meaningful communication and how we all look for ways to be heard. The defining symbol of this song is the house. Samuel Beckett used a building to personify the body in his play Endgame. If the house is a body, a person can wander from room to room and become trapped, revisiting old hurts, old pathways back to pain. Getting in from the outside takes a lot of persistence and a lot of love. Coaching someone out is even harder.”

Nick says: Slowly does it.

I Draw Slow

Ham Sandwich – Electro-Wave

“Do you still feel like your life’s a Saturday night?”

Welcome back Ham Sandwich. Three years after their last single, Niamh (top), Podge and Brian return with a killer synth confection that beams us straight back to circa 1982. I’m not complaining!

Podge writes:

“Our main objective with Electro~Wave is to really explore unfamiliar territory vocally for us making our regular sound almost robotic in its delivery. Another was to try out out a punchier approach to our writing which we felt really suited us live with our previous single Bodies.”

And not forgetting the state-of-the-art video animation by Barry Chapman and Philip Donegan. Also, Niamh’s nifty face paint is by make-up artist Yvonne McDonald.

Look for a new album next year.

Nick says: Friends are indeed electric.

Ham Sandwich