Month: May 2020

SIIGHTS released their debut EP and lead single ‘Blue Skies’ on April 3rd to great success, clocking over 250k streams since its release, ‘Blue Skies’ is the duo’s fastest streaming single to date! In typical fashion, the track is an earworm with a much needed message of hope – in amongst messaging of loss and grief. The track is a part of the band’s self-titled EP, which is a compelling body of work and has racked up an impressive 9.5 million impacts on Irish radio so far.

The multi-hyphenate artists write, produce and play on all their tracks, fusing organic instruments with electronic sounds along with heartfelt lyrics to create their own form of groove-based / alt-pop. Revealing the process of creating ‘Blue Skies’ and their debut EP, SIIGHTS say: “This song means a lot to us and was hard to write. We wrote it about some of what you feel and experience after losing someone close to you. We have both lost people close to us and it’s something that stays with you forever. We brought all our gear down to a country house in Wicklow to write and record this EP – Blue Skies really came together so naturally. There’s actually a recurring hypnotic guitar riff that happens multiple times throughout the track which was never initially supposed to be in the track. Mia had just been playing around and we left the mics recording and we ended up using it and it became quite a feature in the production in the end.”

SIIGHTS teamed up with the director and DOP Vanessa Vandy, who grew up in New Zealand and Finland on the ‘Blue Skies’ music video. SIIGHTS approached Vanessa to collaborate with here after seeing her work – “We loved how she captured such an emotive narrative, she’s such a talented director.” One of Vanessa’s short films got selected as a finalist in One Screen Film Festival 2017 and officially selected into LA Shorts International Film Festival and Bermuda International Film Festival, both of which are Academy Award qualifying festivals. Vanessa’s work earned her a directorial nomination at the 2018 1.4 Awards in London among 140 top commercial and narrative filmmakers worldwide. Two of Vanessa’s videos received top scores through Shiny Critiques which resulted in her being listed on the #ShinyList – a list that surfaces high-scoring, emerging and diverse directors worldwide.

SIIGHTS are an electro-pop duo made up of Mia Fitz and Toni Etherson, whose music is packed with infectious melodies, strong production and carefully crafted songwriting. Having first met after Mia had come off a world tour playing with Hozier, the pair spent some time songwriting for other artists before deciding to start their own artist project. 

The hotly-tipped duo have received notable acclaim in the likes of Clash Magazine, EARMILK, Notion, Joe.ie and The Irish Times. Their previous singles ‘Tell Me Lies’ & ‘Broke It With Me’, spent 9 weeks in Ireland’s Shazam ‘Top 10’ and 5 weeks in Spotify’s ‘Viral Top 50’ charts (simultaneously) and the pair have seen huge success via YouTube with support on Wave Music and Mr Revillz channels, as well as their collaboration tracks hitting 1.9 million views.

SIIGHTS previous EP releases have made Spotify’s New Music Friday UK, New Pop Revolution, Sad Beats, Chilled Pop Hits and The Pop List playlists boosting their collective streams to over 3.5 Million! With live shows at Kaleidoscope festival, supporting Shy Martin and a sold-out headline performance in ‘King Tuts’ Glasgow combined with strong backing from BBC Radio 1, The Chainsmokers, Kiss Xtra, 2FM, TodayFM, Beat102103, CorksRedFM, iRadio, Spin1038, SpinSouthWest, 98FM along with being chosen to feature on Elton John’s ‘Rocket Hour’ (Beats 1), the duo are here to make their mark in the pop stratosphere.

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‘You’re Gonna Get Back Up’ is Lisa McHugh’s brand new single out now. Her new single is an anthem for these uncertain times and a song of encouragement to anyone who has had a confidence knock at some stage in their lives. 

Lisa explains the inspiration for the song in her own words … 

“Over the years, I have dealt with confidence knocks, disappointment and fear. Some of those harder to shake off than others. This song is a message of encouragement to everyone. There is no one in this world that hasn’t experienced feelings of uncertainty.  I want to tell everyone, that it is ok. You are not alone in this world, we all fall down, but you’re gonna get back up.” 

This is the follow up track to her last single ‘Scandal’. During the pandemic, Lisa has been busy entertaining her fans from home with Instagram Live Sessions and Zoom concerts. Due to Covid 19, her nationwide tour has been re-scheduled for October, please see updated tour dates below. 

LISA MCHUGH OCTOBER NATIONWIDE TOUR 

Thursday October 1^st– Acoustic Club, INEC Killarney 
Friday October 2^nd– The Martitime, Bantry 
Saturday October 3^rd– Cyprus Avenue, Cork 
Sunday October 4^th– Roisin Dubh, Galway 
Thursday October 8^th– Whelans, Dublin 
Saturday October 10^th– Dolans, Limerick  

The Acoustic Yard will be releasing a compilation CD on Bandcamp on Friday June 5th 2020 with all proceeds going to Pieta House, Preventing Suicide and Self Awareness.

20 tracks of some of the best independent original Irish songs that have been aired on The Acoustic Yard Radio Show on www.bluesandrootsradio.com in the last year including The Darkling Air, John Blek, Laura Elizabeth Hughes, Peco, The Key Rocks, Tracy Bruen, Gillian Tuite, Faraway Martin, Jane Willow, D Cullen and many more….

Before that David Dee Moore, presenter of The Acoustic Yard Radio Show, has written and released a song called ‘Venus And Me’ under the moniker of Lemonade Marinade. They are a collection of musical friends including David, ‘The Henry Family Band’ (Colin, Janet and James Henry), Cathryn Craig and Brian Willoughby, Brian McAteer, Nick Scott (Mary Black, Gilbert O’Sullivan) and Fintan Hanley (Vickers Vimy).

The song was written and recorded in lockdown at David’s home in Westport and contributions were sent to him by all involved from all over Ireland.

 It was mixed by Chris O’Brien and Graham Murphy in the Production Suite Dublin and mastered by Wav Mastering in Limerick.

All proceeds are also going to Pieta House, Preventing Suicide and Self Harm.

It’s a beautiful song about mental health awareness, solitude and nocturnal beauty.

https://lemonademarinade.bandcamp.com/album/venus-and-me

Ireland’s favourite noise makers THUMPER have announced a release date for their brand new single ‘Topher Grace’ out Friday 26th June 2020.

The song is about going out on the rip as an act of self-destruction, thinly disguised as a voyage of self-reflection. It swings from sincerity to hyperbole and back again, in the voice of someone who’s too deep in it to see the wood for the trees. Honesty and braggadocio form a potent cocktail, as the narrative is bent to breaking point.

Speaking about the writing process for ‘Topher Grace’, singer Oisin Leahy Furlong says;

“In writing the song I wanted to see if I could free myself of the song writing crutches I would normally reach for – like structure and melody – and replace them with a more considered approach to lyric writing and performance. It’s a terrifying thing to hone your craft only to tear the rule book up, but the results were very rewarding.

I spent the best part of 3 months recording several different demos until I plucked up the courage to bring it to the band. It ended up being a very cathartic experience and tapped into a creative space we had never gone before.

I took inspiration from songwriters like Courtney Barnett and James Murphy, to Mark E. Smith and Nick Cave, with the latter especially influencing the bridge between lyrical sentiment and true performance.”

With touring on hold, THUMPER have spent their time in the studio writing and recording, as well as hosting live streams on social media for their fans with the support from Culture Ireland, IMRO and First Music Contact.

“Getting the recognition of a Number One album has been a dare-not-to-say-out loud-dream. We’re floored and eternally grateful to all of you.” Harry & Alfie Hudson Taylor.

That was March, two months ago. To be honest, it feels so remote now it might as well have been the Eleventhy-Fifth of Mushvember. But! Music is a reliable source of joy and inspiration at any time. Now, more than ever, we all need our Favourite Songs.

“Sometimes things don’t need much explanation, ‘Favourite Song’ is simply about loving someone like you love your favourite song.”Harry & Alfie.

Following the chart-topping success of their second album ‘Loving Everywhere I Go’, new single ‘Favourite Song’ takes up the baton from runaway radio smash ‘What Do You Mean?’, which has been an airwaves fixture since January. 

Hudson Taylor are doing a weekly YouTube lockdown live stream (every Wednesday evening folks) where they are playing some of their favourite songs and fan requests. 

‘Favourite Song’ from ‘Loving Everywhere I Go’ is out now on Rubyworks.

The new single and final installment of their debut EP, SICK LOVE released new track ‘I’m So (Fucked Without You)’ on Friday 22nd May to complete the release of their ‘Baby, It’s You’ EP. (also includes their last 3 singles).  

SICK LOVE deliver a high-energy, no holds barred rock show all wrapped up in the most anthemic songs. Described by Hot Press magazine as “defiantly pushing against the grain of indie and folk bands in Ireland”, they broke through with sold out shows as well as festival slots. The band have been quickly marked by many as ones to watch, with the Irish Times preaching they are “set to join the Super League of Irish rock bands”.

The band have received significant UK & Irish radio support and were placed on major Spotify editorial playlists including New Music Friday UK, All new Rock, Hot New Bands, The Rock List and the hugely sought after ‘Walk Like A BadAss’ and have accumulated over 1.4 Million streams to date.

The band have been touring extensively around the UK and Ireland, including the DrMartens Boot Room in Camden, Camden Rocks Festival, main stage at the Great Estate Festival, supporting Dashboard Confessional at The Academy, all in the short time since SICK LOVE has emerged.

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Milk. are the new Irish alt-pop band you need to know. Having launched on New Years’ Day last year, they released their first three singles over the course of a few short months and amassed over 1 million streams, quickly garnering online attention with many publications citing them as “Ones To Watch” for 2020. The group are now back with new single ‘Always On Time’, released on 29 May and taken from their eagerly-awaited upcoming EP.

Based in Dublin, Milk. pride themselves on making music for a rapidly evolving world where the confines of genre are of little concern and pop is by no means a dirty word. ‘Always On Time’ is a laid back, sing-along gem perfect for fans of The 1975 or Pale Waves, and a nice contrast to the band’s previous offerings. Their body of work can be processed in much the same way as your favourite playlists – varied, colourful, and liberating. A moving collage of electro-pop, indie and subdued RnB, Milk’s sound is unconstrained and immersed in serene beats, bright guitars and hook-filled choruses. This is feel-good indie pop at it’s very best.

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On Friday 22^nd of May, Hey Jigsaw released the debut album ‘Who’s Your Dark Master?’.

The opening song ‘Where Do You Wanna Go’ is an energetic, melodic track about discovering places, shared experiences and finding out what really matters in life. It seems to have an extra powerful resonance in these particular times. Featuring Dave Prendergast of the Glimmermen on trumpet and Niamh Buckley on backing vocals ‘Where Do You Wanna Go’ evokes (what seem like distant) feelings of summertime and adventure.

‘Where Do You Wanna Go’ was released as a single on Friday the 15^th of May with an accompanying video.

“Featuring Dave Prendergast on trumpet and Niamh Buckley on backing vocals, ‘Where Do You Wanna Go’ recalls the discordant melodicism of Les Savy Fav or Q And Not U. It’s difficult to avoid every cliche of this trying time, so if you’ll indulge us, the video and song’s unified sense of bittersweet widescreen escapism is exactly what we could be doing with.” The Thin Air.

The album contains ten more knotted gems of interlocking melodic guitar patterns and nostalgic vocals, where the influence of the San Diego post-rock and indie scenes are sprinkled with vigour. It flows with ease from the up-tempo rock sounds of ‘Made It On Us’ and ‘Gettin’ Out’ (featuring guest vocals from Ciarán Smithof Crayonsmith and Conor Deasy of Tomorrows respectively) to the silky downbeat ‘Another G & T’ without skipping a beat.

Of the album title, Hey Jigsaw says:

​“‘Who’s Your Dark Master?’ relates to the idea that we all have our vices, some worse than others. However, more specifically it relates to tracks on the album that deal with political ideology, power and inequality; for example, the second track ‘Made It On Us’ which deals with the financial crash and austerity. Other songs deal with similar themes.”

As an album, ‘Who’s Your Dark Master?’ displays several different sides over its duration, combining guitar lines that would not be out of place in bands like the Redneck Manifesto, with the catchy song structure of The Cars.

Dublin singer songwriter Luke Clerkin has just launched a pre-save competition for his upcoming single ‘Nocturnal’. You can now pre-save the single before it’s June 5th release, by clicking on this link: 

https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/lukeclerkin/nocturnal-2.

Each person who pre-saves the song will go into a draw to win a personalised song written and recorded by the prize winning songwriter. The winner will also be emailed a personalised lyric sheet, as well as a download link to the song.

Luke Clerkin has been playing and releasing music for the last five years, gaining international airplay and support, whilst also topping the Irish Singer Songwriter Charts on multiple occasions.

He is also known for playing over 250 gigs in 2015 as a way of honing his craft. Since then he has headlined famous Dublin venues such as Whelan’s, The Workman’s Club, and The Button Factory. His music has brought him all over the world, with multiple tours of Germany, as well as festival slots in America, The UK, and Ireland.

‘Nocturnal’ will be released on all streaming and download platforms on June 5.

You can follow and listen to Luke here: https://linktr.ee/lukeclerkin

On Friday May 22^nd, Luunah release ‘Just Give Enough’ – the new single from their upcoming debut album self-titled ‘Luunah’.

‘Just Give Enough’ offers listeners a taste of what to expect from the Alternative-Pop band’s debut album. The song is a blend of mesmerizing drum grooves, elusive synth textures, animated basslines and rhythmic hooks – an attractive premise for lead singer Sarah-Beth to convey her romantic narrative through lyrics. Producer Brian Casey helped the band to encapsulate their seventies influenced number in his West Cork studio where they have been recording their new album over the past few months.

Each band member brings their individual strengths and personalities to the project in a way that singer-songwriter Sarah-Beth has described as ‘editing a Wikipedia page’. She says, “When I write a song, it is never truly completed until I get the guy’s input – this often takes the music in a more intriguing direction. For me, lyrics are at the core of every great song and the instrumentation should reinforce the song’s message. Being in a band has changed my perspective. It has thought me that music often has the potential to convey emotions in a way words simply can’t.”

Due to the current Covid-19 crisis, the date for an album release is yet to be confirmed. However, this hasn’t prevented Luunah from connecting with fans and sharing new content online. Creating homemade videos for social media, writing music remotely and brainstorming album artwork via messenger are some of the ways in which the Cork band are adapting to this new way of life and making the most of what technology has to offer.

You can expect to hear the name Luunah a lot more frequently in 2020.

Luunah is an Alternative Pop band based in Cork, Ireland. The band was formed by Sarah-Beth with her music college peers in 2019. Dreamy electronic textures and a driving rhythm section act as a canvas for personal lyrics, vivid imagery and evocative thoughts. The band have played at Electric Picnic , Indiependence, The Workman’s Club, Live at St.Luke’s and have supported established artists such as Cory Wong, Cathy Davey and Wyvern Lingo. Their latest release These Roads has received significant national airplay on 2fm, Spin South West, REDFM, 96FM and Today FM.

https://www.facebook.com/Luunahmusic/

Photo: Miki Barlok