Youth Work Ireland’s Irish Youth Music Awards (IYMAs) programme is currently developing new ways to run the programme online to support young people remotely via their IYMAs hubs throughout Ireland. Their aim is to continue empowering future young musicians and creatives across the island of Ireland by providing them with the opportunity to learn new skills and develop creatively.
To celebrate this and to break the doom and gloom they have released an IYMAs live album. This album is a showcase of the brilliant creativity and talent of young people from across the island of Ireland that they have the pleasure of working with through the programme.
The other good news is that this is a pay what you want release! So that can even be free. Any money received will go towards supporting and developing the IYMAs programme and National Day so dig deep if you can and please give the album a share and let’s spread creativity.
IYMAs partners and
supporters include The Department of Children and Youth Affairs, RTÉ 2FM, BIMM
Institute Dublin, IMRO, Music Maker, Gaisce – The President’s Award, National
Lottery and Youth Action Northern Ireland.
The well-known phrase “It’s always darkest before the dawn,” is a proverb about hope and recovery that has not only been directly used a number of times in modern music but also serves as the inspiration behind the 24-year old Wexford singer/songwriter JaXson’s new single ‘Better’.
‘Better’, which is set for release on March 27th, is a slow-burning, angsty pop song “about coming out the other side of a dark, difficult situation with a new perspective on life,” JaXson says. “One night I lay awake until dawn, watching night turn to day. Despite it being so dark and cold; when the sun rose and it was the start of a brand new day, I was able to see things more clearly.
This normal, every-day situation reflected a dark period of my life which I was looking for a way to deal with. I was able to take inspiration from that sunrise and realise that no matter how difficult your life gets, no matter how bad a situation is, there is always going to be a light at the end of the tunnel and that tomorrow is a brand new day.”
Working alongside Sarah Branigan and Cian Synnott at Windmill Lane Recording Studios, JaXson was keen to keep the production on the song quite raw in order to allow the emotion and its deeply personal and heartfelt lyrics to come to the fore. Sparse instrumentation at the beginning allows the song’s message to resonate with the listener before the track builds to an uplifting crescendo and really hammers home the feeling of hope and the healthier outlook that the song is inspired by.
Branigan explains, “When it came to recording vocals, we mustn’t have done more than three passes. Luke has an innate ability to sing with such raw, genuine emotion and we knew that we had been a part of capturing and creating something extremely special.”
JaXson sold out his debut headline show in Whelan’s in 2019 following a successful run of summer festivals including Indiependence, Kaleidoscope and Vantastival and has also played support slots for Hudson Taylor, Aslan, Little Hours and Adam French among others.
Having gained placements on Spotify playlist ‘A Breath Of Fresh Éire’ with previous releases, JaXson was also named as One To Watch in 2019 by GoldenPlec in its Plec Picks series, while Today FM’s Fergal D’Arcy recently labelled JaXson the “future of Irish music”. ‘Better’ is the first single of what promises to be a game-changing year for JaXson.
Championed by tastemaker publications Clash Music and Popmuzik and following on from the success of his last release ‘Moving Fast’ which was ‘Tune of the Week’ on 2FM Robert Grace releases his new track ‘Be Your Friend’ on Friday March 27th.
Sounding like Shawn Mendes meets Charlie Puth Robert has the ability to write slices of cool heartfelt pop readymade for radio.
His track ‘The Good Place’ was added to the influential ‘Easy Playlist’ on Spotify where his last three releases have clocked up over 750,000 streams. An excellent live performer Robert has performed at Electric Picnic and Indiependence. Previous releases have garnered him ‘Artist of the Week’ on Today FM and led him to topping the audience chart on Beat 102/103 on three occasions. His last two tracks have been playlisted on 2FM.
In recent years Robert has developed into a songwriter of note. He wrote three and co-produced four tracks on Hometown’s chart topping album in Ireland. Hometown were managed by Louis Walsh and were signed by Colin Barlow at RCA.
Robert
has also co-written with some of the best-known songwriters in the UK
including:
Dan McDougall (The Wanted, The Shires) Blair MacKichan (Paloma Faith/Sia/Lily Allen) Phil Thornalley (Natalie Imbruglia/Pixie Lott) Josh Wilkinson (One Direction / 5 seconds of Summer)
Robert has co-written with many of Irelands leading new acts including Ryan Mack, Josh Gray, Stephanie Rainey, Wild Youth and 1000 Beasts. His co-writes have accumulated in excess of 2 million streams on Spotify.
This Friday 27th March, Islander: Live from Home will be streaming straight to you, directly from the homes of some of Islander’s favourite Irish artists. With sets from Maija Sofia, John Francis Flynn, Anna Mieke and Junior Brother, it will be a gorgeous showcase of some of the top musicians our country has to offer, all while in the cosiness of your own home.
Viewers are encouraged to donate whatever you can, if
you can, to these artists who have lost weeks of work, with events cancelled
and weekly gigs gone. All donations will be split evenly between the artists.
Tod Doyle is set to release ‘Cali’ in March 2020 – the second offering from his new collection of singles. This project began from a small studio on the outskirts of the Curragh, Co. Kildare where Doyle spent two years writing material for his upcoming album. ‘Cali’ expands on the previous single ‘Ice Cream’ and shows Doyle’s flair for intelligent lyrics and genre spanning musical production.
“Its a strange thing to fight, in war it’s alright, You could be killed by a man with a wife and an outstanding mortgage.
Its a strange thing to fight in a war its alright, You could be killed by a man with a mortgage and an outstanding wife.”
Doyle states, “Cali explores the madness behind war and conflict, the effect it takes on the ordinary lives of the people involved and their family’s.
I wrote this song a few years ago when politically the world was at a turning point. Looking at the news you could only think that the world has gone completely mad.”
2020 is a turning point for the folk singer-songwriter, with a natural gift for storytelling and a beautiful baritone voice, Doyle has finally found the time to release his own material which is much anticipated by fans. His forthcoming singles are more than unique, with an unpredictable contrast between each song that will leave the listeners dying to hear more.
Doyle’s sound is unique and compelling and you can’t help but be drawn in. He will undoubtedly have a firm placing in the modern Irish folk scene once these songs are released.
Cormac O Caoimh releases his latest single ‘When My Kids Grow Too Old To Hold Hands’ on 3rd April ahead of the album release of ‘Swim Crawl Walk Run’ on 15th May.
A charming and catchy style pop song with an underlying Bossa Nova guitar rhythm and avant-garde percussion combine nostalgic simplicity with a catchy melodic groove, whilst Cormac’s soft lilt and introspective approach to songwriting sonically personifies the carefree aesthetic of childhood.
And not to discourage those without children, Cormac hopes that they can still enjoy it, explaining,
“There aren’t enough songs about people’s kids. Well poppy ones anyways. There would be a lot of slow, soppy ballads about children. So for this single we wanted to make a song about kids that people who didn’t have kids could enjoy now. And playing the long game possibly hope they will come back to it again in years to come.”
It’s the second single taken from Cormac’s ambitious fifth studio album, ‘Swim Crawl Walk Run’. The first single ‘I’m In Need’ was released in February and was played on over 25 stations in Ireland (making it into the top 10 and 20 airplay charts on RTE RADIO 1 and PLAY IRISH). On its arrival Le Village Pop called Cormac “one of the greatest living melodists”. The song was also called sublime indie/folk (eclecticmusiclover)
The album was recorded between 2018 and 2019, with multi-instrumentalist Martin Leahy at the helm, it features 10 songs, with Martin Leahy himself playing an array of instruments, as well as Aoife Regan on backing vocals and Áine O’Gorman on strings. The album contains a collection of songs that tackle a wide varying spectrum of emotions, in both a personal and fictional setting.
The ‘Swim Crawl Walk Run’ album is available for pre-order on cormaco.bandcamp.com
Cormac O Caoimh released his fourth solo album ‘Shiny Silvery Things’ in 2017. It charted in the official IRMA charts and was launched with a sold out show in the Triskel Christchurch, Cork. All 12 songs have already received airplay and the first single reached over 3 million listeners in Ireland. The song was played in over 23 stations in Ireland and many more in the UK and Europe, including the prestigious award-winning Radcliffe and Maconie show on BBC 6 Music.
The second single (Hotpress’ TOTD) wasn’t far behind, reaching 2 million listeners, whilst the third single (a double A-side – ‘Have You Built Yourself Well/Proud’) reached the semi-final of the International Songwriting Competition. Judged by Tom Waits and Robert Smith of The Cure (among others), ‘Proud’ was the winning song.
In 2019, Cormac tasted single success in the form of a co-write (‘Brother’) with Mary Greene, as featured on Greenshine’s brilliant album ‘Family’.
Cormac’s intimate vocals, magical melodies and exquisite guitar playing has always attracted very favourable appeal to critics, with MOJO, The Irish Times, Hot Press, Americana UK, amongst others, always quick to point to his unique style as well as comparisons to acts varying from the dreamy pop of The Go Betweens, Badly Drawn Boy, Elliott Smith and Prefab Sprout to the introspective and more folk-oriented Nick Drake, Leonard Cohen and Paul Simon.
‘When My Kids Grow Too Old To Hold Hands’ is released on 3 April 2020.
David Dee Moore releases his new single ‘Leave Your Light On’ with Vickers Vimy on Friday April 3rd 2020.
This catchy no-nonsense Americana / Pop song was recorded at Vickers Vimy’s own studio by the very talented Ciaran Byrne, mixed by Grammy nominated Chris O’Brien and Graham Murphy at The Production Suite Dublin and mastered by the legendary Richard Dowling at Wav Mastering.
It’s a fun rhythmic song with an underlying message of hope and a light at the end of the tunnel. No matter what we go through, whether it’s a mental health issue or the ability to cope with the challenges now happening to all of us, this is a relevant and appropriate song which both artists have decided to release together.
When people really need a positive message, songs can help as this one surely does.
The track melds the talents and sounds of Vickers Vimy and David Dee Moore, both have a handle on creating wonderful counter melodies, weaving in and out and yet managing to keep a constant foot stompin’ rhythm and addictive choruses.
Singer/songwriter David Dee Moore based in Mayo celebrates 40 years of music-making all over the world and having spent the last 20 years playing in the West of Ireland as a resident musician in Matt Molloy’s bar (The Chieftains), Westport. He has collaborated with such artists like Niamh Parsons (3 albums), Steve Wickham (songwriting), the legendary Liam Clancy (Late Late Show), Brian Kennedy (TV and recording), Juliet Turner (performing) and Jerry Fish (writing and performing) to name but a few.
Hailing from Mayo, on the wild Atlantic coast of Ireland, Vickers Vimy craft songs that dwell on the borders of folk and Americana. Rich eclectic sounds anchor lyrical themes of scratched vinyl nights and hazy Sunday mornings. Their second album ‘Atlas of Hearts’ was released in 2018 and are regularly played on Irish national radio. Vickers Vimy have collaborated with Colm Mac Con Iomaire (The Frames & Swell Season) and had the pleasure of recording in Nick Seymour’s (Crowded House) studio.
Kodaline are making a striking return as they prepare to release their eagerly anticipated fourth album later this year.
‘Wherever You Are’, the first single to drop from the record has quickly exceeded 10 million streams, while the emotional accompanying video has added another 3.3 million views. The band subsequently announced an intimate summer residency at Dublin’s Olympia Theatre, which was quickly extended due to phenomenal demand. They’ve since become the first band in history to sell out a run of seven shows at the venue.
This was soon followed up by their latest single ‘Sometimes’. The song starts as a sun-kissed acoustic folk groove before launching into the kind of anthemic, larger-than-life pop hook that the band have become renowned for. It also captures Kodaline’s rare gift for exploring a challenging topic within a song that feels both joyous and life-affirming. As the song admits, “We all get lost sometimes.”
Kodaline today reveal the official video for ‘Sometimes’. Directed by Mike Baldwin, the video get up close and personal with Kodaline’s frontman Steve Garrigan. Speaking about the video he says“We’re happy to release the video for our new song ‘Sometimes,’ we filmed it in London a few weeks back. The song’s about my personal experience with anxiety and we tried to capture that in the video in a fun way. It’s a little different to our other. During these strange times I hope everybody’s staying safe and keeping their distance and I hope you guys enjoy the video.”
Delving deeper into the inspiration behind the track, Steve explains, “‘Sometimes’ is a song I wrote while on tour in Asia last year. I had a really bad day dealing with my own anxiety issues and I let it get the better of me. I started writing the song in my hotel room to help me calm down, music has always helped me in that way. For me, it’s a song about accepting the bad days and trying to stay positive.”
The Olympia Theatre shows represent Kodaline’s first in Dublin this year. In 2019 they sold-out two 15,000 capacity shows at St. Anne’s Park before playing to another 60,000 at Electric Picnic. The festival reached an emotional crescendo when Cranberries’ guitarist Noel Hogan joined Kodaline for ‘Zombie’, a whole-hearted tribute to the late Dolores O’Riordan. It also represented Kodaline going back to the beginning. Their first arena show came when the Cranberries invited them to open a gig in Paris back in 2012.
The dates are:
MAY
27th – Dublin, Olympia Theatre (SOLD OUT) 28th – Dublin, Olympia Theatre (SOLD OUT)
JUNE
1st – Dublin, Olympia Theatre (SOLD OUT) 2nd – Dublin, Olympia Theatre (SOLD OUT) 3rd – Dublin, Olympia Theatre (SOLD OUT) 5th – Dublin, Olympia Theatre (SOLD OUT) 6th – Dublin, Olympia Theatre (SOLD OUT) 8th – Dublin, Olympia Theatre
After first breaking through in 2013 with their debut single ‘High Hopes’, Kodaline have scored three #1 albums in Ireland, two Top 5 albums in the UK and numerous strong chart placings all over the world.
In 2019, Kodaline played some of the biggest shows of their career. In addition to their Dublin shows, they completed a ten-date UK tour which culminated with a packed show at London’s historic Roundhouse. Further afield, they hit festivals including Lollapalooza, Benicàssim and Open’er before becoming the first Irish band to headline the massive NH7 Weekender in Pune, India. Their extensive touring throughout Asia also included a headline set at Monsoon Music Festival in Vietnam plus dates in China, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan and Singapore.
That reach suggests that Kodaline are perfectly placed to continue to be discovered by new fans all over the globe with their fourth album. After more than a billion streams at Spotify and almost 600 million views at YouTube, there’s a lot more to come in the Kodaline story.
Following the success of his E.P: ‘Rain Or Shine E.P’ (which so far has generated more than 2 millions streams on Spotify and Apple Music!), as well as his single ‘Pariscentric’ released in January 2020 and now featured on the prestigious Spotify editorial playlist “Jazz Vibes”. Nicolas Kluzek releases a new single: ‘Interlude’.
Nicolas is a Paris born, Dublin based (now for 20 years), songwriter / composer / producer. His latest single ‘Interlude’ is a Jazz-Hop chill instrumental. With its mix of sample based content and live / performed instruments, Nicolas fuses the techniques of both hiphop beat makers and the ones of a traditional musician/producer.
In Nicolas’s words the aim is for the listener to “feel something…anything!” His new single ‘Interlude’ surely leaves you in a nice place.
‘Interlude’ by Nicolas Kluzek is available across all digital platforms now.
IMRO are calling on its members to assist the HSE in sharing important information in relation to COVID-19.
We can’t stop the
virus, but together, we can reduce the impact it has on ourselves, our
families, communities, our health service and our day-to-day lives.
The goal is to
slow the spread of coronavirus. If we can slow it down, we give ourselves, and
our most vulnerable people, more options and more time for care and recovery.
Our collective
efforts are critical, we need to do this together, as one community. We are
asking everyone to play their part, to help each other.
What can you do to help?
If you have the time, we would love if you could record a short selfie video and share it across your social media channels, using the information below as a guide. You are welcome to do your own thing but here are the things we’d ask you not to change.
Stick carefully to the prevention advice:
Wash your hands
for at least 20 seconds, and do it often. Cover your mouth and nose with a
tissue or sleeve when coughing or sneezing, then bin the used tissue. Avoid
touching your face with unwashed hands. Stop hugging and shaking hands,
and as we all know now, the big nights out and the big nights in are cancelled
for now – work at home if you can.
