Four In The Morning – Keep It Together

In the wee small hours…

Led by Kevin Dolan, this new four-piece have created a brooding and intense ballad for the sleep-deprived as the lead single from their new EP Stress Dreams.

Kevin writes:

“I didn’t really notice until the record was finished how many references to sleep and dreams there were across it. The songs are obsessed with family, longing, stress, depression, love, and how we make sense of all of it. They’re fragments, feelings, and a means of coping.”

Kevin is joined by fellow musicians Kiran Srinivasan, Dan Walwyn and Alex Lees and they honed their songwriting craft over the first lockdown.

Nick says: Insomniacs on the loose.

Four In The Morning

Nylophone – Last Summer

“Last summer wind was in your hair. Loving laughter filled the air”

Introducing a great new talent: Niall Woods (top) aka Nylophone beguiles with this dream-pop masterpiece that sounds like the love child of Alvvays and The Beach Boys.

To quote the press blurb:

“The phrase ‘Last Summer’ is playfully used to mean both the summer that passed and the final summer that will ever be.”

ROMY (Ruth O’Mahony Brady) adds gorgeous backing vocals and drums/mixing is by Rian Trench.

The video by Lucy Nuzum is also a bit special.

Nylophone plans to release an album in January.

Nick says: Dunes and tunes.

Nylophone

Far Caspian featuring BOYO – Pretend

Together in indie dreams.

The new video by Leeds-based, Northern Irish bedroom pop savant Joel Johnston (top) aka Far Caspian is a walk in the park.

With such an effortlessly melodic groove, Johnston is priming us for the release of his new album Ways To Get Out.

And let’s not forget his collaborator here BOYO aka cult Los Angeles lo-fi star Robert Tilden.

Great work all round.

Nick says: So Far so good.

Far Caspian

Paul Quin – Be Yourself Girl.

You ain’t heard nothing like The Mighty Quin.

Electro-soul singer Paul Quin serves up an intense and melodic exploration of love in these times with the second single from his forthcoming album Life On Earth on the Russian label ScentAir.

The intriguing promo features documentary maker and actress Luka Keating and Wexford actor Fintan Kelly (Game Of Thrones). It was created by SkyHigh Production Media Ireland.

The press blurb explains:

“A dark but uplifting ballad built around sax, piano and analogue synth sounds and beats, the song tells the story of a young trans woman struggling to find her place in an increasingly fast world, and the man who is pursuing her in an attempt to also discover and explore his true nature, beyond the expectations of society in 2021.”

Nick says: Don’t give up yer aul synths.

Paul Quin

David Donohue – The Turning

“I took a walk out on the tide.”

Broadsheet is honoured to present the premiere of the soulful new video from David Donohue (top).

A cult figure from his days with his band The Floors, the Carlow-born singer/songwriter unfurls his debut solo album All My Lonely Friends on September 24.

Produced by David Ayers and featuring a who’s who of local talent including Adrian Crowley and Clive Barnes, the album is easily the comeback of the year.

The Turning, a country-tinged ballad, is the first single and features striking guest vocals from Niamh Regan as well as appearances by Enda Gallery, piano; David Ayers, guitar; and Jono Connell, bass.

Nick says: Swim when you’re winning.

David Donohue

Rushes – Blue Ghost

Come rave with me in Ireland.

Cork songsmith Rushes (top) remembers good times on the new single from his album Glowchild.

Rushes says:

“It takes me back to the first rave I went to; that feeling of just floating and the raw, unfiltered atmosphere of the environment. It’s probably the most abrasive song on Glowchild – while the intro is quite melodic and lavish with that arpeggiated synth line, it leads into a harder hitting rave, club-inspired track.

“‘Blue Ghost’ is about attachment and spiralling out of control. As the song builds, I am trying to find something greater than the attachment and looking to make sense of it, whether it was good or not.”

Nick says: Glow in the dark.

Rushes

John Blek – Cormorant

And your bird can sing.

Prolific Cork songsmith John Blek (top) enchants with the latest single from his new album On Ether & Air, due next month.

The song features guitarist Kris Drever from the Scottish band Lau.

John writes:

“Chance encounters and some fortunate timing led to me being able to work with some of my favourite musicians. Getting people with such unique playing styles involved went a long way in defining the sound of On Ether & Air and creating an album of which I am immensely proud.”

The evocative vintage-style video for ‘Cormorant’ was filmed and directed by Blek himself using Super 8mm footage he filmed around the Port of Cork and his own garden, which was then edited and projected onto the faces of John and his wife Ciara.

You can catch John live at: 10th September, The American Bar, Belfast; Fri 8th October, Cleere’s Theatre, Kilkenny; Sun 10th Oct, Spirit Store, Dundalk; Sat 16th Oct, Triskel Arts Centre, Cork; Sun 17th Oct, Workman’s Club, Dublin; and Sat 23rd October, The Black Gate, Galway.

Nick says: One day I’m going to soar.

John Blek

Carrie Baxter – Something In The Water

Yoga mat blues.

London-based, Waterford-born singer Carrie Baxter (top) offers a new look at old habits on the new single from her forthcoming EP What Now, due October 22.

Carrie says:

“This song is very much written in retrospect. I wrote this song both from my own personal experience and from situations I have witnessed. There was a point in my life I thought perhaps meditation and yoga sessions would save me and outweigh the awful things I was doing to my body – but I was young and naive and failed to recognise that the real practice is out in your life, not on a mat! Thank heavens I am wiser than the situations in this song now.”

Nick says: Here comes the sun salutation.

Carrie Baxter

Tommy Keyes – The Emigrants’ Blues

A long way to Tipperary.

Veteran Dunboyne singer/songwriter Tommy Keyes (top) goes full banjo on the third single from his new album Radio Days.

The press blurb says:

“The song evokes the hard lives of the Irishmen who worked on construction sites throughout the world in the 20th century, their “days filled with sweat and nights filled with booze”.”

The atmospheric black-and-white promo was shot and edited by Daniel Buckley in Darkey Kellys bar, Dublin.

Nick says: Songs in the Keyes of life.

Tommy Keyes