Van Morrison has released a second track from his forthcoming album, ‘Three Chords & The Truth’. Co-written with legendary lyricist Don Black, ‘If We Wait For Mountains’ is available now on all streaming platforms and as a download with all pre-orders of the album. Talking about working with Don Black, Van Morrison said: “He’s listened to enough of my stuff to know what I’m saying, and what I’m leaving out, what I’m leaving in. So, he kind of reads me, and that’s how it works.”
‘Three Chords And The Truth’ is released on October 25th 2019 via Exile/Caroline International.
Clannad are celebrating an exceptional award winning 50 year career with the announcements of a farewell world tour which includes two Irish shows. They will perform in Waterfront Hall, Belfast 29th February 2020 and Cork Opera House, 2nd March 2020.
Tickets from £40.00 / €49.20 inclusive of booking fee,
available from this Friday at 10AM.
Clannad have sold out 15 million records worldwide and with eight Top 10 U.K. albums to their name. The Grammy and BAFTA award winning quartet will also release a new Anthology ‘In a Lifetime’ deluxe set to be released worldwide on 13 March 2020 via BMG.
Their world tour will last a year and a half incorporating territories
such as Europe, Australasia, North America, Japan, and South East Asia dates
which will be announced over the next coming months.
To coincide with this very special live tour, BMG are proud to be releasing ‘In a Lifetime’ Anthology; a multi-format, career-spanning anthology containing tracks from Clannad’s 50-year recording career. It will be available as a 38 track 2CD set, 2CD deluxe, 2LP, 2LP deluxe and an expanded deluxe 100+ track set as well as digital versions. The anthology will both delight and excite Clannad’s enormous and loyal fanbase as well as introduce this legendary, influential and culturally important band to a whole new generation of music fans.
The multi-award winning Clannadhave without doubt done more than any other group to take Irish music and the Irish language to a worldwide audience. Fusing elements of traditional Irish music with more contemporary folk, new age, and rock they have created a beautifully unique and ethereal sound which combines haunting melodies and mesmerising vocals to transcend the sands of time whilst appealing to a worldwide audience of all ages.
Irish folk singer Brian Barron has just released a video for ‘Tuam Baby Massacre’, the lead single from his upcoming album ‘Century Of The Self’ on Friday the 27th of September. The song will be available on streaming services two weeks later, Friday the 11th of October. The video was shot on location in Tuam, Co Galway with Mrs Teresa O’Sullivan, a survivor of the mother and baby home. The song and record were cut in the prestigious Hellfire Studios and mastered by Aiden Foley (U2, Christy Moore, Damien Dempsey).
Upon hearing a stripped down acoustic version of the song, historian Catherine Corless described it as, “beautiful and most appropriate,” Goldenplec remarked it was, “a song and a tale which simply has to be told and repeated until justice prevails,” and Irish troubadour Stefan Murphy (The Mighty Stef/Count Vaseline) perhaps most aptly called it, “extremely uncomfortable folk music.”
Barron is a contemporary writer and singer, his songs though steeped in
traditional structures are born of a keen awareness of the full scope of the
modern world.
Turning blind eye to no facet of the human condition, he delves into all
aspects in service to his craft. Outlaw ballads sit alongside great injustices,
moral plays beside musings on the path to redemption.
‘Postcard From Queens’ is the first track to be released from Dublin native Stevie Cliff’s ‘Hazy Head’ EP.
Originally written over a summer spent living in the New York borough of Queens, the song is a nostalgic ode to the artist’s early twenties, serving as a musical postcard sent from past to present.
Lyrically ‘Postcard from Queens’ is a heartfelt offering which explores the fear of exposing flaws and vulnerability within relationships.
Cliff’s laidback vocals are contrasted nicely by gritty Grandmaster Flash, Bronx style hip-hop drums, warbling basslines, clean cut guitars and old school synths. The latter of which are a clear nod to the noticeable influence of French acts Phoenix and Air on the Dubliner’s sound.
When compared to 2017’s ‘Polaroids’ the lead track from the forthcoming 4 track EP definitely signals a shift to a more lo-fi sound with a noticeably more retro sonic palette.
Co-Produced by Cliff and Ciaran O’Shea (Cyclefly, Toy Soldier, The Frank & Walters) all tracks on the soon to be released ‘Hazy Head’ EP were mixed over 5 days in Berlin’s famous ARKTRAKTIV studio complex.
Initial recording sessions took place in Displace Studios in Dublin with Tom Lee at the helm, while further sessions happened at RCR Studios in Carlow with Recording Engineer Shayne Thomas Byrne also contributing additional guitars.
Mastering comes courtesy of Fergal Davis (Fight Like Apes, Republic of Loose, O Emperor)
The 4 track EP ‘Hazy Head’ is available to stream and download through all good digital outlets now.
Nicolas Kluzek has released his brand new single ‘Drive Me To Morro Jable’ following the success of his ‘Rain Or Shine E.P’ last early summer (which so far has generated over half a million streams on Spotify and Apple Music).
Paris born, Dublin based for nearly 20 years, Music Producer / Songwriter Nicolas Kluzek has forged strong relationships with some of the best current Dublin artists visiting his studio for co-writes and music fellowship: Jesse Rose (former Hare Squead), Killa Yan, Fontaines D.C, Jafaris, Somebody’s Child to name a few, as well as writing and producing for international artists.
For his own releases Nicolas favours the organic, nocturnal sound of Lo-Fi, Chill-Hop and Chill Electro.
Inspired by a road trip on the island of Fuerteventura, and to put it in the words of Al Polmann: ‘Drive Me To Morro Jable’ is a direct follow-up of Nicolas Kluzek’s breakthrough E.P ‘Rain Or Shine E.P’. The song is based on a varied and passionately played electric guitar melody, which in combination with the atmospheric sound elements creates a very emotional mood.”
‘Drive
Me To Morro Jable’ by Nicolas Kluzek is available across all digital platforms
now.
Sacred Animals – aka Irish-based producer Darragh Nolan – releases ‘Mono’, the second single taken from his highly anticipated upcoming LP ‘Odin’s Wain’, due later in the year.
Fusing deeply melodic beats, and atmospheric electronica with minimalist synthscapes, Sacred Animals yet again manages to capture his introspective musical mantra with ‘Mono’.
Using music as an aural escape from the confines of the
modern world, the track attempts to gain a small grasp on what it means to be a
spirit living a human existence.
Speaking to the motivation behind ‘Mono’, Sacred Animals explains,
“’Mono’ is a visceral speeding journey through that split second where you’ve an understanding of what it means to be a spirit having a human existence, just before you’ve lost it again. “On the other side of me, you know I think in ‘Mono’, if on the other side I bleed, then what the hell do we know.””
About Sacred Animals:
Life is sometimes about small moments. Moments in between all we do on auto-pilot. Moments where uncontainable excitement bursts out to feed everything around us. Moments that mean so much we create everlasting memories just to hold on a little longer. Moments of quiet contemplation, of stopping, of being still, of letting go of the steering wheel long enough to see where we’re going. Moments of residing within the gaps.
Sacred Animals is about just that.
Video by WOLFF Directed
by Sacred Animals Dancer: Megan McEvoy Choreography: Megan McEvoy Drummer:
Lorcan Byrne
Clara Belle, Cork based artist, releases her self penned debut track ‘City I Love U’.
The song is an ode to Dublin, a city she spent five years in and loves so dearly but ultimately couldn’t be in anymore. She says, For me it was a city but I think this can be representative of anything a person, a situation, a place. We all get a feeling when it’s time to move on and embrace change and sometimes that means leaving behind something you know and love. And you look back on those things with this nostalgia, there’s moments in the song that mirror that too.” The song is representative of her own journey with leaving and coming back. The growth that comes with leaving something behind is only realised when you come back, your boundaries have been stretched and you’re not the same person you were when you were here before.
Clara worked with Conan Jurek, a Canadian based producer and Brian Casey of Wavefield recordings in West Cork on producing this track.
Her influences are heavily rooted in the pop genre with 80’s bands such as Yazoo, Eurythmics and Talking Heads being huge inspirations. In her music she wishes to merge these older sensibilities with the way the culture of pop exists in our sphere today.
The Orient Express was a
long-distance passenger train service created in 1883.
On its journey between Paris and Constantinople the train also stopped in
Serbia.
Irish producer WOB! was born
in Serbia exactly 100 years later, in a country where western and eastern
cultures have interwoven for centuries.
“I
wanted to write a song to express the cocktail of oriental and electronic music
I grew up listening to. “
Always committed to artistic
collaboration, WOB! teamed up with Paris based singer
Eva Syra who adds the final French connection to the fast paced journey through
time and culture.
‘Orient Express’ is available on all major digital platforms from 27th of September 2019, with a single launch show in Sin E Dublin on the same date.
Isaac Butler has released his brand new single ‘Rescue Me’ following the success of his debut single ‘Moon Song’ last summer (which has racked up over 700k streams to date) and a successful Irish summer festival season playing to a huge crowd at the inaugural Kaleidoscope Festival and a full Cosby Tent at Electric Picnic.
Having recently returned from a six-month stint of writing and recording in Los Angeles where he recorded ‘Rescue Me’ at Eagle Rock Studios working with world class musicians that have toured with artists such as Adele and Lukas Graham, Isaac Butler is now gearing up for his first headline show in Whelan’s on Friday 8 November which is already sold out.
‘Rescue Me’ follows his debut single ‘Moon Song’ which went on to great success being picked up by German TV show “The Bachelorette”, appearing throughout the show which broadcasts to over 2 million viewers per episode.
Since writing his first song at age 12, and going on to record it for a children’s charity CD, Isaac Butler’s first love has been music, complete with a passion for writing and performing his own original work.
‘Rescue Me’ by Isaac Butler is available across all digital platforms now.
“’Rescue Me’ is a story of hope … It’s an upbeat anthemic banger … I love playing this one live, watching the crowds energy build with the song and jump in to the chant with me at the end.”
Irish brothers Richie and Jamie Martin, better known as alternative folk duo Cry Monster Cry have announced details for their sophomore album ‘Tides’.
Due for release on 11 October, the 10-track record sees the band returning with a refined, mature sound and a contemporary approach to songwriting as a follow up to their critically-acclaimed debut album ‘Rhythm of Dawn’ (2015). Fresh from sold out tours across Ireland, Germany and Switzerland, the band will also be playing a number of live dates in Europe.
Recorded in the wilds of Donegal by Tommy McLaughlin (Villagers, SOAK) and mixed in Cork by Christian Best (Mick Flannery, Marc O’Reilly), ‘Tides’ pushes the brothers’ lush blood harmonies and evocative lyrics to the forefront, backing them up with swelling strings, spectral analog synths and warm guitars.
“‘Tides’ is about hope and fear, joy and sorrow. The crushing pain of loss and the beauty of new beginnings. Self-doubt. Struggles with mental health. Victory. Defeat. New loves. It’s as close to the bone as we’ve gotten so far in our song-writing, and it presents a snapshot from a very specific time in both our lives,” says Jamie Martin.
“Life is often chaotic. It can push and pull you in different directions and to different shores. We wanted to write an album that not only sat as one cohesive piece of work from beginning to end, but that also felt honest and reflective of that,” says Richie Martin.
The lead single and title track ‘Tides’ will be released digitally on 27 September and the record will be released digitally as well as on CD and Vinyl on 11 October. The band will back it up with a European tour as seen below, with two album launches in Dublin (Oct 17 in Whelan’s) and Cork (Oct 18 in Winthrop Avenue) as well as select dates with Mary Black.
Tour Dates (more to be confirmed)
13 Sep: Gaulihütte – Innertkirchen, Switzerland 14 Sep: Reusser Guitars – Brienz, Switzerland 19 Sep: Solstice Art centre – Navan, Ireland *Supporting Mary Black 20 Sep: Ulster Hall – Belfast, N. Ireland *Supporting Mary Black 21 Sep: Whelan’s – Dublin, Ireland – Mic Christopher’s 50th Birthday 26 Sep: Market Place Theatre – Armagh, N. Ireland *Supporting Mary Black 17 Oct: Whelan’s – Dublin, Ireland 18 Oct: Winthrop Avenue – Cork, Ireland 28 Oct: Guildhall In The Round Samhain Sessions in Derry, N. Ireland 16 Nov: The Guildhall – Derry, N. Ireland *Supporting Mary Black 5 Dec: Winterkonzerte in Hussum, Germany 6 Dec: Winterkonzerte in Sylt-ost, Germany 30 Jan: Art Gallery – Lippstadt, Germany 1 Feb: The Living Room – Westönnen, Germany 2 Feb: Café Vinyl – Weztlar, Germany
