‘Rise Up’; is a collaboration with Sara Ryan and Steo Wall which brings to the fore their shared ability to observe and artfully reflect society back unto itself. Their contrasting vocal styles blend perfectly around lyrics that hit right between the eyes.
This is the second release of three singles in our countdown to Sara Ryan’s album release this coming autumn. The official release date of ‘Rise Up’ is the 25th April ’19.
Hailing out of Newbridge, County Kildare
and now singing out of Cork City, Sara Ryan, armed with her lyrical blend of
emotional honesty, self-awareness and societal reflection, driven by a
perceptive and rebellious spirit, is forging a path every music loving ear
throughout Ireland.
Sara’s soft and smooth but soulful vocal
styling, supported by beautifully crafted melodies, invites the listener to
stay tuned for the electrifying sound and next insightful rhyme.
Not everybody can boast such collaborators as Luka Bloom, Damien Dempsey and Davey Spillane on their debut album. But when you meet Steo Wall for the first time, you quickly understand why such legendary musicians wanted to get involved with ‘Where I’m From’ – Steo’s debut album. A sound bloke, quick to laugh, with a rich Dublin accent and the wit to go match it; ‘Where I’m From’ boasts eleven heartfelt biographical tracks. Damien Dempsey calls Steo’s work ‘Irish soul music‘, and was quick to ask Steo to be his warm up act on national tours in 2016/17 at Christmas, 2018 he again opened for Damo to a full house at Vicar St. Steo is accompanied by Damien, on the first track to be released from his album – ‘What’s Wrong With The World Ma’.
Following a string of releases and BBC 6 Music plays – described by Hot Press as “sounds quite unlike anything else we’ve come across” – Drogheda-based indie artist Donal Quinn releases brand new single ‘Do You Like Spicy Food?’.
‘Do You Like Spicy Food?’, live favourite at gigs, was recorded in Black Mountain Studio, Dundalk. Available on Spotify, iTunes and all other digital distribution outlets.
Ahead of her highly anticipated debut album, ‘Idle Mind’, due out April 26th, Irish songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Anna Mieke, has shared this beautiful single and video, ‘Creature’.
Anna Mieke says: “Lyrically, ‘Creature’ was inspired by a performance I saw a few years ago in a tent in a field in Tipperary – of a dancer creating shadows behind a hanging sheet in response to music. That dancer was Marion Cronin, who in fact is the dancer in the accompanying video to this song. So inspiration for words came from a combination of that, and from Oscar Wilde’s story of The Happy Prince. People can take meaning from the words however which way they want – for me, at least for now it’s a reminder of, despite the facade of adulthood, the vulnerability of people and the value of acknowledging the child-like side of us.
I’d only really felt the song was partly ‘ready’ the night before this recording, and so the actual recorded performance of this song ended up being quite improvised at times. I sent Matthew Jacobson (percussion) the initial version of this track as he was driving to the studio in Kildare, asking if he’d be up for having a jam over it, which he did, and Conor Cunningham added flute – there’s a beautiful interplay between the screeching of cymbals and bird-like flute that I love. I’m very much into humming, and had always felt the song needed a collective voice, so Brían Mac Gloinn and I added a few layers of hums for good measure. It was absolutely the most satisfying song to record for the album – most likely because of the spontaneity of recording it.”
The video for ‘Creature’ sees a body, dancer Marion Cronin, freely move in response to the music, not a set-in-stone, choreographed dance – but more a natural interaction and response to the melodies by way of movement, using the themes and the lyrics for inspiration.
The single features as track 5 on the upcoming album, ‘Idle Mind’, set for independent release on 26th April 2019 on 12” vinyl, CD and digital. Pre-order the album now at www.annamieke.com or from Bandcamp.
Join Anna Mieke and her band on the album launch tour at The Spirit Store, Dundalk (April 24th), Plugd, Cork (April 25th), the Unitarian Church, Dublin (April 26th), and the Róisín Dubh, Galway (April 27th).
Limerick’s esteemed music store Steamboat Music want to gather all fans to honour the release of The Cranberries final album ‘In The End’ releasing on Friday April 26th.
The event will be taking place in Dolan’s Upstairs venue on Thursday 25th April and will be an amazing opportunity to hear the new album before its official release with a panel discussion from some very special guests.
Fans can gain
access to the event by pre-ordering the album from www.steamboat.ie or in store and this will
guarantee entrance to the event Upstairs in ‘Dolans’ Limericks iconic
venue, numbers are limited.
Limericks
finest and most iconic band will be honoured through the night, fans will be
welcomed into the venue on the night at 9pm to a wealth of great Cranberries
tunes, followed by a panel discussion on the bands history and impact this band
from Limerick city has had on the music industry.
Niall Colgan, a close friend of the band will MC the event. The discussion will feature Deci Hogan (The Cranberries Stage Manager), Eoin Devereaux (historian and writer of liner notes on previous Cranberries albums) and Orla Colgan (Dolores O’Riordan’s secondary school music teacher), fans will then get to hear the new album will then be played in full through a top quality sound system prior to its world-wide release on Friday April 26th.
The new album ‘In the End’ is a collection of songs the late Limerick legend Dolores O’Riordan worked on prior to her tragic passing last January. “We knew this had to be one of the, if not the, best Cranberries album that we could possibly do,” Noel Hogan, band mate said in a statement. Hogan and O’Riordan started work on the songs in May 2017 and had written and demoed 11 songs by that winter. “I can’t think of a more fitting way to commemorate the first anniversary of Dolores’ passing and to celebrate her life than to announce to the world the release of her final album with the band,” Eileen O’Riordan, Dolores’ mother, said in January.
About the event, Mark Carey owner of Steamboat Music said “To have an opportunity to host this once in a lifetime event is a real thrill for us. Not only have The Cranberries impacted the lives of so many people worldwide, the effect they’ve had on their home town is immeasurable. To have the first listening party here in Limerick is really, really special and it’s an honour to have been approached to take on this event. Any fan of theirs and anyone that is simply a fan of music, this will be a fantastic event.”
Pearse McGloughlin and Nocturnes return with new single ‘Betting Pool’, out April 19th via Bluestack Records. Taken from their forthcoming LP ‘The Rest’ (due September 20th, 2019)
‘Betting Pool’ is the second single from Pearse’s fifth album, ‘The Rest’, coming on the heels of Irish language single ‘Ag Ól Ag Ól ag an Garbhóg’ and will be launched at a special show at Dublin’s Workman’s Club on April 25th.
About the song, Pearse says: “I wrote ‘Betting Pool’ about being drawn to something that’s difficult to escape. So when the song starts you have a person who’s hungover and frazzled and who wants to turn their life around. They’ve been waiting on a gamble that’s never paid off. [Maybe it never will]. It’s about how a fantasy can be both exhilarating and destructive.”
Bringing to mind groups like The Cure and The War on Drugs, the recording features Enda Roche (drums), Billy Donohue (keys) and Pearse McGloughlin on vocals and guitar.
‘Betting Pool’was recorded with Darragh Nolan of Asta Kalapa studios in Wexford.
The breadth of Pearse’s interests and inspirations for ‘The Rest’ will play out across the forthcoming album, touching on societal concerns, the Atlantic North West, universal and personal experiences living, working and dreaming in Ireland.
Ireland’s finest and most celebrated DJ-producer, Mark McCabe has released a lyric video to his latest track, ‘Don’t Let Me Go’ featuring Irish-Scottish duo, SIIGHTS.
Since its release, the single has gained
massive praise on radios across the board including Irish national radio and
BBC Radio 1’s Dance Anthems.
‘Don’t Let Me Go’ found its origin in
Amsterdam, a place McCabe had frequented and found sanctuary around the success
of his remix of the Gavin James hit, ‘Nervous’. Amsterdam felt like the
ideal place for him to work on his own projects.
A fan of Irish duo SIIGHTS, McCabe sent
the basic track structure over knowing that these ladies would bring the ideal
ingredient and contribute something special to the track.
On a scorching day in May almost a year
ago, SIIGHTS put pen to paper with the intention of creating a track that would
bring about feel good summer vibes, and that is exactly what happened.
Two days later ‘Don’t Get Over Me’ was
born!
Of the track, SIIGHTS say;
“Lyrically the song is about that one
person you just always seem to be drawn back to.
The person you got together with when you
were young and just figuring things out.
It describes the scenario of being off & on again with someone and after being apart for a while realising you’re meant to be together, hence the lyric; ‘Don’t let me go’.”
“The last line of each verse says; ’I don’t think I could lose you again’. They describe the different situations you find yourself in when you’re going through the motions of a break up, waking up in bed alone – but you can’t get the person out your head.”
See Mark McCabe Live:
20/04/2019 Pulse, Fermoy 21/04/2019 Odeon, Dublin 22/04/2019 Industry, Enniskillen 27/04/2019 Imperial, Cavan 18/05/2019 Queens, Ennis 25/05/2019 Time, Cookstown
‘Pull The Right Rope’ is the debut album from Kerry artist Junior Brother which will be released on 24th May.
‘Pull The Right Rope’ in measurement is 9 songs long and 48 minutes deep. The 9 songs range the varied emotions of an artist stretching himself to his limits to convey them. Written between the ages of 20 and 25, recorded from Winter 2017 to Autumn 2018, the songs grew in Ailfionn Studios, Drumcondra under the hand of Chris Barry. They grew into green plants stretching up into sky but rooted in dirty muck.
The 9 emotions sprouted
several other emotions and mindsets within them, conflicting and corresponding
with one another, creating a river of reckless abandon. The artist on top
of all this steers his small boat to the shore, but must choose the right rope
for bow, stern and spring.
When the boat pulls
each, each brings the boat in.
The artist is moored as
the emotions flow on.
The
listener must do this too – with the right rope pulled, the head is safe, to
see joyful, sad, funny, or tormented thoughts, just before they leave and go
down river to sea.
“This album’s
artwork was painted by Conor Campbell. The cover is based on the Tarot card
image of ‘Four of Cups’. When I saw this scene on a Tarot card, I thought the
scene and meaning of the image fit with the tone and imagined landscape of the
album. I sit on a knoll under a tall tree far away from the bustle of city life
with my tambourine under my foot and my sock over my other. I am pale and
quietly distressed, seen considering the 3 empty cups before me, looking to the
listener. I appear not to notice the full cup handed to me from a strange cloud
behind. Just as the listener must choose which emotion out of many on the album
to take away, the artist on the cover must make the effort to turn and take the
4th full cup. With no words bearing the title on the cover, these cups do the
job instead, a cup for each word. The Rope being the full cup, the effort to
Pull being the effort to turn and Take it. We don’t know if the figure on the front
will do this or not. So, he looks to you instead to choose the right cup” –
Junior Brother
Tracklist – 1. Coping / 2. Big House / 3. The Back Of Her / 4.
Full Of Wine / 5. You Will Know My Name / 6. Purple Circle / 7. I Told You I
Would Leave / 8. Girth & Plain / 9. I Will Have To Keep An Eye On You And
Win You Back When You Are Free /
Pre order the album and get “Full Of Wine” as an
instant grat
Born outside Killarney, Co. Kerry, Ronan Kealy developed a strong love of music from an early age, writing his first song at 9 years old after having taught himself guitar on a banged-up nylon acoustic. A short spell studying English in University College Cork helped Kealy to foster his unique and striking poetic voice, taking his Junior Brother moniker from a character in Jacobean play “The Revenger’s Tragedy”, a work Kealy studied there. Junior Brother has spent the last few years gaining a fine live reputation and picking up fans such as Blindboy Boatclub and Cillian Murphy along the way.
JUNIOR BROTHER LIVE with Powpig
(Double headliners)
April 17 – Roisin Dubh, Galway April 18 – Grand Social, Dublin (as part of MusicTown) April 19 – The Kasbah Social Club, Dolans, Limerick
TOUR DATES
May 10-12 – It Takes A Village, Cork May 24 – Odd Mollies, Drogheda May 31 – Limelight, Belfast June 2 – The Way Of The West, Cork June 8 – Central Arts, Waterford July 6 – Pot Duggans, Ennystimon July 19 – Knockanstockan July 21 – Trad & Folk Festival, Claremorris Sep 6 Cork Opera House (Opening for The Proclaimers) Sep 7 Bord Gáis Theatre, Dublin (Opening for The Proclaimers) Sep 8 The Waterfront, Belfast (Opening for The Proclaimers)
Ireland and the UK’s top-selling album group of the 21st century, Westlife, will release their highly anticipated new album, ‘Spectrum’ on 6th September, 2019.
Recorded in Dublin, LA and London, the 11 track album cements Westlife’s stellar return to the international music scene on the exact day they mark the twentieth anniversary of the release of their first ever UK single. ‘Swear It Again’ was released on 12 April 1999.
Written and produced by superstar hitmakers such as Steve Mac, Ed Sheeran and James Bay, the album showcases the band’s stunning vocals with a collection fresh pop anthems and soul-stirring ballads.
It includes the stellar first single of their music comeback ‘Hello My Love’ as well as their current hit ‘Better Man’.
“We’re all driven by trying to create the best album of our careers. Our fans deserve the very best version of Westlife possible and with this album we feel that we’ve achieved that. The album has everything that we love in music, heartfelt emotional songs and also great uptempo’s that are designed for our stadium performances. We couldn’t be happier with how the last few months in the studio have gone and we cannot wait for our fans to hear the end results.
“We are making new fresh pop music for old and new fans alike and are so excited to share ‘Spectrum’ with everybody,” the band say of the album.
Speaking about their collaboration with Ed Sheeran and reunion with
iconic music-maker Steve Mac, who has written some of Westlife’s biggest hits,
the boys add:
“The first person we wanted to collaborate with was with our long term friend Steve Mac. Steve has played such a pivotal role in the success of Westlife over the years, writing and producing some of the biggest songs of our careers. Steve was enjoying global success working with Ed Sheeran and they co-incidentally wrote a song for Westlife not knowing that we were discussing coming back together, so the stars. really aligned.”
Shane, Nicky, Mark and Kian announced their return to music in October
2018 when they signed a new deal with Virgin EMI.
Their pop comeback includes their fastest-selling UK and Ireland tour of all time confirming Westlife’s position as national music treasures.
Celebrating Westlife’s 20th anniversary, the tour will kick off in Belfast on 25th May, with the run of live shows ending in Dublin on 5th July.
‘The Twenty Tour’ sold an incredible 400,000 tickets in
just 48 hours. The band have also recently announced they’ll be touring
Southeast Asia with 8 massive shows in July and August.
Westlife have sold over 55 million records worldwide, and are the only band to have their first 7 singles enter the UK chart at No.1. They also have the most singles of any artist to debut at No.1 in the UK. Overall the band have had an incredible 14 No.1 singles, behind only Elvis Presley and The Beatles. They have had 33 No.1 albums worldwide and as a live act have sold 5 million concert tickets worldwide.
22 May – Belfast SSE Arena 23 May – Belfast SSE Arena 25 May – Belfast SSE Arena 26 May – Belfast SSE Arena 27 May – Belfast SSE Arena 28 May – Glasgow SSE Hydro Arena 30 May – Manchester Arena 31 May – Newcastle Metro Radio Arena 1 June – Newcastle Metro Radio Arena 3 June – Glasgow SSE Hydro Arena 4 June – Glasgow SEE Hydro Arena 5 June – Glasgow SEE Hydro Arena 7 June – Sheffield Fly DSA Arena 8 June – Sheffield Fly DSA Arena 10 June – Leeds First Direct Arena 11 June – Leeds First Direct Arena 13 June – London O2 Arena 14 June – London O2 Arena 15 June – London O2 Arena 18 June – Nottingham Motorpoint Arena 19 June – Nottingham Motorpoint Arena 21 June – Birmingham Arena 22 June – Birmingham Arena 23 June – Birmingham Arena 25 June – Liverpool Echo Arena 26 June – Liverpool Echo Arena 28 June – Manchester Arena 29 June – Manchester Arena 1 July – Cardiff Motorpoint Arena 2 July – Cardiff Motorpoint Arena 5 July – Dublin Croke Park 6 July – Dublin Croke Park
WESTLIFE – THE TWENTY TOUR 2019 SOUTHEAST ASIA
DATES
August 6th Jakarta, Indonisia (Convention Exhibition) 7th Jakarta, Indonisia (Convention Exhibition) 8th Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Malawati Stadium) 9th Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Malawati Stadium) 10th Singapore (National Stadium)
Alt-folk brothers Richie and Jamie Martin return with raw new Cry Monster Cry single ‘High’, out April 12th.
Haunting, passionate vocals reign supreme on ‘High’, over a deliberately stripped back production. Recorded live at Attica Studios, Donegal, this new track brings to record the live spirit which continues to earn the brothers new fans, and acclaim, both here, and abroad in Germany, where a growing audience are discovering their music.
“The nuances of a live recording are where the magic happens, especially with our type of songwriting. With ‘High’, we wanted to move away from a very polished sound. For us, this song is all about raw emotion, spontaneity, desire and that in-the-moment feeling. We wanted to capture the ‘in the room’ feeling”, says lead vocalist Richie. “Similarly, with the video, we wanted to make this ourselves, and execute a visual that resonated – uncompromisingly- with the emotion of the song.”
“The song concept is about being so consumed with a person that they take over your entire being, like a drug,” continues Jamie, “The perspective of that becomes relative to the listener of the song, and the viewer of the video – dependant on their interpretation, and personal experience. The concept of the video is to see that emotion, and mental state play out as the protagonist of the video – the woman – effectively observes the viewer. We felt this was a more powerful way to present the song, and it allows the lyrics to be interpreted in a way personal to you, regardless of you identifying more with the subject or narrator.”
Re-engaging the Cry Monster Cry fanbase last year with the single ‘Citadel’, the release brought the band around the country for radio sessions and re-introduced their sound to the nation. They subsequently decided to embark on a second tour of Germany, following a demand from their first outing in 2017. It gave brothers Richie and Jamie a chance to step away from the intense focus on the Irish music scene, and was a truly rewarding experience.
“It’s competitive in Ireland at the moment, as there are currently a lot of people trying to make a living from music. And it’s a small territory. It’s great for us to see a shift in the landscape, to see new sounds and genres emerging and growing. It’s healthy. Some of these changes have affected the radio, streaming & media landscape massively. There’s a lot to navigate, and it can be overwhelming as independent artists in the space. Playing live for us is our first love, so before we headed back out on an Irish headline tour, we were really enchanted by the idea of going back to Germany.”, says Richie.
“We introduced this new song, ‘High’, into our set when we played a string of dates in Germany. And the reaction was instantaneous & for us as songwriters, really overwhelming. People spoke to us after the show, asking if they could get the song online, if we were planning on releasing it. And it had been earmarked as one we both loved, but to see the reaction when it was played live cemented our choice for the next single. We had German fans drive 3 hours to come to the show. So we would love to try to head back later this year- when we have more new material released”, says Jamie.
RUNABAY are set to release their Brand new single ‘Dig’ on May, 10th featuring Irish spoken word poet Stephen James Smith.
Debut album ‘Between The Lines’ is set for release on Friday, 24th May.
The spoken word poem, ‘We Must Create’, was written and performed by Stephen James Smith, originally a Creative Ireland Programme commission and now specially recorded for Runabay to intro this beautiful track.
‘Dig’ is not only a masterful new single but a fitting introduction to the band’s debut and much anticipated album, entitled ‘Between The Lines’ out on 24 May 2019.
‘Dig’ opens with the craftsmanship and spoken word genius of Ireland’s leading modern beat poet Stephen James Smith who adds an intensity and class to this epic soundscape from the off. Stephen’s ‘We Must Create’ performance is embedded in a lush landscape of strings, accompanied by the talents of the Arco String Quartet who have featured on albums for artists such as Foy Vance.
Following the success of previous singles ‘Blink Of An Eye’ and ‘Symmetry’ which saw the band earn a stream of national radio plays and gain the accolade of ‘Play Irish Artist of the Week’ twice on Today FM, the band offer up something exceptional in ‘Dig’.
Recent influences ranging from Public Service Broadcasting to The Olllam to Radiohead have informed and modified their sound which now consists of shades of folk, electronic and indie.
Runabay have featured on and been championed by the likes of Steve Lamacq (BBC 6 Music), Tom Robinson (BBC 6 Music), Ralph McLean (BBC Radio Ulster) and have appeared on official high-profile Spotify playlists of late, including Best of Indie Folk 2016, Alternative 2017 New Music Friday, Fresh Finds: Six Strings and Best of Ruby Sessions 2016.
They have also gained plenty of accolades including being selected as part Whelan’s Ones To Watch 2019 and nominated for ‘Irish Single of the Year’ 2015, along with a string of glowing press features from Hot Press Magazine, ChordBlossom and Culture Hub NI. The band’s live performances have been hailed as ‘joyous’, with influences including Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes, and Glen Hansard among others.
“’Dig’ captures a moment in time, and recounts a typical Irish schooling experience full of mischief, truancy, wonder and adventure. The main hook of the track was inspired by the manner in which teachers strived to extract information about misdemeanours. It’s a track filled with nostalgia in a wholly Irish societal setting”.
UPCOMING LIVE DATES
Friday, 17 May – ALBUM LAUNCH – Redeemer Central, 101 Donegall Street, Belfast Friday, 31 May – Vantastival Festival, Beaulieu House, Drogheda, Co Louth
