Month: May 2020

In the midst of a pandemic we all need something to look forward to, so The Coronas’ fans can rejoice as the band are set to release a new single, ‘Lost in The Thick of It’, on Friday 15^th May. ‘Lost in The Thick of It’ is a collaboration, written and performed by The Coronas and acclaimed English singer-songwriter Gabrielle Aplin, and it features a melancholic piano hook, with Aplin and O’Reilly’s vocals complementing each other beautifully.

Gabrielle reached a mainstream audience with her cover of Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s ‘The Power Of Love’ used as the soundtrack to the John Lewis Christmas advertisement. Since then she has released three studio albums, most recently ‘Dear Happy’ in January 2020.

Singer Danny gives us the story of how the song came to be: “Gabrielle and her partner, Alfie (Hudson-Taylor) invited me to their home in Brighton last year for a weekend of hanging out. We said we might try to write a little but it was more like a mini-holiday in my mind. We wrote a song together on which Gabrielle sang lead vocals that became ‘Lost in The Thick of It’ and I loved the demo so much I suggested adding my vocal in a lower octave and making it a duet.’

A few months later the duet was recorded in the historic Eastcote Studios in London. It will be the fourth single released from The Coronas’ new album ‘True Love Waits’ set for release on 31^st July, their sixth studio album and the follow-up to 2017’s No.1 hit ‘Trust The Wire’.

And yes, the band have addressed the elephant in the room: the unfortunate fact of sharing a name with a global scourge. “The first thing we did was tweet Corona the beer, asking them what their plan was,” states Danny. “When we chat to our mates in bands who have postponed gigs and tours, I just remind them it could be worse, you could share a name with the virus!“

Pre-order ‘True Love Waits’ https://thecoronas.lnk.to/TrueLoveWaits

January 2020 kicked off for Alex Gough with brand new music and a slot at respected European tastemaker festival ‘Eurosonic’ in the Netherlands. With queues stretching out of sight and a door stop during the show, the full band were swiftly booked by organisers for a second stint the next night at the town’s main venue. Now firmly established as one of the most exciting live acts in the country (with Alex front and centre on drums and lead vocals) offering up old school production tinged with Hip-Hop and Jazz, this kind of situation is becoming increasingly common. 

The hype is mirrored online as over half of the young producer’s 2M+ streams have been generated in just the last few months, confirming a rapid growing fanbase both at home and overseas with an obvious hunger for new music.  

Of the new release Alex says – 

“‘Heart Attack’ started out as a rant aimed at various authoritative figures who would sometimes abuse their power and make certain assumptions with no backstory. The song was initially a couple of scribbled sentences which then stretched around a half real half fake narrative of a night out that I had. I see it as kinda like a sitcom moment, where someone gets so worked up, veins popping out etc, that they just keel over.

‘Be kind’ is one of my first ventures into showcasing more of the instrumental, contemporary jazz/electronic side of my music. It’s a huge part of who I am as an artist and I’ve always been keen to make sure that side of me is heard. Writing it came at a time of high stress for me so you could say it’s a bit of a letter to myself. The idea of a ‘B Side’ has always been something I’ve wanted to do, it gives me a sense of freedom to be really experimental with a release.”

Both tracks are written, performed and produced by Gough, mixed in London by Producer/Composer Nicholas De Carlo, and mastered by Kevin Tuffy (Stormzy, Headie One) at Alchemy. Lead single ‘Heart Attack’ is accompanied by an official visualiser with full design and animation created by fellow Waterford native Aaron Fahy (@Aaronfdesign). 

In such a short space of time, Alex has attracted attention globally from the likes of Spotify and Apple with his genre spanning sound, helped along by such soundtrack features as global TV phenomenon ‘Normal People’. While also garnering numerous radio plays in Ireland alongside the UK and other key European territories. 

With the current situation becoming an additional driving force behind creativity and output, expect further new content contributing to the current trajectory Alex finds himself on. 

‘HEART ATTACK’/‘Be Kind’ is available on all digital platforms via AWAL now

Live 2020

24.09.20 – The Grand Social, Dublin
28.11.20 – Live at Leeds

Rescheduled Live (Due to COVID-19)

The Great Escape
Indiependence
Sea Sessions
It Takes a Village
Another Love Story
Forbidden Fruit
Body & Soul
Haldern Pop
Set Theatre, Kilkenny

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Irish/Palestinian singer Róisín El Cherif is set to release her brand-new anticipated single titled ‘Cross Your Mind’ on June 12th. Supporters can listen to the track on all major streaming services, including Apple Music and Spotify.

‘Cross Your Mind’ is nothing short of a catchy indie/pop ballad fused with Roisin’s dark and moody vocals. From relatable lyrics to beautiful harmonies, this record is set to reach higher heights than ever before. Roisin El Cherif came onto the scene as a singer/songwriter in 2016 with her first offering, ‘Kerosene’. Following this successful release, Roisin graced the stages with notable performances around Ireland, including music festivals Body & Soul, Electric Picnic, and Sea Sessions. In 2018, Roisin’s EP ‘Glass House’, a mixture of ambient pop and haunting vocals, was well received. With a strong background in film production, Roisin has built a distinctive visual style to go with her ethereal sound, drawing on mythology and magic.

The somber lyrics that encapsulate Roisin’s records reveal how honest and raw her song-writing process is. There are elements of overlapping genres in her music including folk, country, and a hint of rock. She draws influences from Florence & the Machine, Stevie Nicks, Daughter, and Tracy Chapman. Roisin uses songwriting as a form of thought exploration. Her new record depicts that, “Sometimes the most hurtful place is your mind. I think, like many people, I suffer from overthinking. ‘Cross Your Mind’ is
about acknowledging that black cloud and welcoming it. The mind wanders and we wander with it.”

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0ZYI8Cvuxa7xYMweP97bsq?si=i-Z_fpXASIu-1zy9vGCk7w Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roisinelcherif/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaxHmy9ODB5tTSLsVLVFQmw
Twitter: https://twitter.com/roisinelcherif?lang=en

Independent Music Label, DCMUSIC, are delighted to announce the  release of County Down post punk/rock band Dean and Chapters new single ‘Nowhere’, a song with a statement and a quirky and fun video to accompany it!

Dean and Chapter were formed in April 2019 to promote their debut EP, ‘Spiritual Suicide’ which Dean had recorded and produced in the previous months. The band consists of London born, singer/songwriter Dean Wright who has been living in Newry for almost 20 years, Jason Varley on Bass Guitar who also happens to be the bands amazing sound engineer and producer at his studio, The Shop Recording Studio, based in the beautiful medieval village of Carlingford, and making up the third member of the band is Padraig Farrelly, an experienced and epic drummer from Cavan.

When the band formed in April 2019 they have been consistently gigging around Ireland gaining a loyal following from the punk community, they travelled to Edingburgh to Headline a show and the highlight of the year was to open for the amazing Irish punk band, The Gakk at the Stags Head in Dundalk. The Republic of Ireland has always been very kind to the band.  The songs on the are dark, and to quote a review by  music reviewer Liam Oragh, “It would slot in nicely on an early R.E.M album – with shades of Echo and the Bunnymen or our own Emotional Fish – this is dark and passionate – this is not music for the sake of it – this is about letting the demons out – about expressing life’s frustrations – about getting worked up and emotional and lyrical about what you’ve been through – there’s no stronger therapy than performing a song for an artist who is being honest and real.“

Now, one year later they have now released a new single/video, ‘Nowhere’ a song with a statement, sounds reminiscent of The Stranglers and The Police. The video to accompany it is quirky and its obvious the band had a fun time at the shoot. Written last September 2019, the songs style inspired Dean after he had seen The Gakk perform a reggae style song at one of their gigs from this, the song was born. It has to be mentioned that Jason who is also an sound engineer and producer created and played the bass line and also spends hours working on the mix, Padraic, the drummer, who has crafted the drums that work perfectly with the song. Mention has to be given to  Richard Osborn, video producer, as well as Kieran Moore and Christopher Kelly who all gave their time to film and direct Dean’s vision for the video. The band were also very honoured that the amazing Barry Grint from Alchemy Mastering mastered the track and took it to the next level, his history with mastering top artists speaks for itself.

The song is available on all digital platforms and the video is on the bands YouTube channel.

https://open.spotify.com/track/6K3qiWHXS9380XdbwNNJjm?si=LPrqbjDaQFq6lZbUFQ5S-Q
https://music.apple.com/us/album/nowhere-single/1510504223
https://www.facebook.com/deanandchapterband
https://twitter.com/DeanandChapter https://www.instagram.com/dean_and_chapter1/

Other Voices ‘Courage’ has garnered a fantastic global response since it began on the 23rd of April, with over half a million viewers tuning in worldwide to date. In our latest installment we are joined from the National Gallery of Ireland by up and coming Limerick based rapper and spoken word artist Denise Chaila. 

Following on from her work with Rusangano Family and Sim Simma Soundsystem, Denise Chaila had a breakthrough year with the release of  her debut EP Dual Citizen and a stunning performance in St. Michael’s Church at Other Voices Ballina. 

To date, ‘Courage’ live streams have featured performances from Ye Vagabonds, Sorcha Richardson, Caoimhín Ó’Raghallaigh, Rhiannon Giddens, Francesco Turrisi, Lisa Hannigan and Iarla Ó Lionáird and Steve Cooney. The project has gone from strength to strength, with over 500,000 tuning in worldwide to date.

REMINDER // OTHER NEWS 

THURSDAY: 

Episode two of the Other Voices ‘Courage’ TV series will air at 23:30 on RTÉ2. 

Watch singer- songwriter Sorcha Richardson play reworked versions of songs from her Choice Prize nominated debut album First Prize Bravery, recorded in Whelan’s Dublin. The TV show includes additional performances which were not included in the live stream. 

The ongoing restrictions caused by Covid-19 mean the organisers of the annual Famine Walk in Louisburgh, Co Mayo have been forced to postpone the iconic event. The walk, organised by peace and justice organisation Afri, has been a popular annual event attended by 100s each year since 1988. Despite the disappointment, organisers intend marking the spirit of the event through a free ‘Virtual Famine Walk’ event featuring conversation and music that will be livestreamed online on Saturday, May 16^th at 7 pm. One of the guest musicians is renowned violinist Colm Mac Con Iomaire who says he’s looking forward to the special gathering.

“As generous donations continue to flow this week from Ireland to the Navajo & Hopi Nations we are once again reminded of the living legacy of our ‘Great Hunger’. There are many aspects to this legacy, there is light and there is shadow. To know where we are from and what happened to us is key in plotting a way forward in the time we now find ourselves in. I’m happy to be a part of this very important conversation” says Colm.

The Afri virtual Famine Walk event is supported by Irish Aid, Concern and Trócaire. The free online event takes place as an online livestream broadcast with guests from different locations across Ireland. It will be broadcast on the Afri – Action from Ireland Facebook page and on Afri’s YouTube channel this coming Saturday, May 16^th between 7pm-8.30pm. It will be hosted by campaigner and author of Hitching for Hope, Ruairí McKiernan and feature contributions from renowned violinist Colm Mac Con Iomaire, Emer Lynam and singer and songwriters RoJ Whelan and Paul O’Toole. There will also be guest speakers including Emeritus Professor John Maguire, author and Lecturer Dr Clare O’Grady Walshe,  MASI (Movement of Asylum Seekers) member Donnah Vuma and 17 year old County Offaly climate activist Gráinne Malone.

“We need to believe that each of us has the power to make the changes, individually and collectively for our future.  Having been involved in the Paris Climate Strike and in the RTÉ Climate Action Youth Assembly, I feel empowered by the voices of my peers. I find courage, too, from people I have met on this journey, from people who surround me and from movements like Afri” says Gráinne.

The event comes at a time when Irish people are responding in huge numbers to the plight of the Navajo and Hopi people in the US who have been badly affected by Covid-19. The groundswell of fundraising and support has been inspired by the memory of the 1847 Choctaw people’s donation to Irish people during an Gorta Mór, the great hunger.

“It is links like this that Afri seeks to keep alive,” says Afri Coordinator Joe Murray.

“Our online event promises to be a lively and interactive event with great discussion and music. I think it will offer a lot of light and hope during this particularly difficult time on our planet. We’re looking forward to welcoming people who tune in from all around the world”  he added.

While the event is free to join, Afri are encouraging people to consider fundraising and supporting Afri in whatever way they can. For more information see www.afri.ie

Livestream links for Saturday 7-8.30pm

Facebook live link: www.facebook.com/afriireland

YouTube live link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vonwTZuLV5U

Elena Duff, musician and visual artist, releases her first self-penned single ‘Sailing On The Sea Of Love’ on Wednesday 13th May 2020.

This is a love song with a swishy, mesmeric rhythm that mimics the gentle movement of waves. The song speaks of love as boundless as the sea and of a couple sailing into eternity together – Homer’s famous description of ‘the wine dark sea’ even gets a mention. 

Elena’s rich vocals contribute to this lullaby for adults, casting listeners into a place of gentle waters and wistful, soothing sounds. 

For the video, Elena used her artistic skills to hand-paint a paper owl along with cat, boat and waves as a nod to the nursery rhyme about the owl and the pussycat going to sea. With these elements she created a simple moving automaton.

Elena’s musical career began late in life, as she formerly concentrated solely on visual art. The beginning was the day she picked up a ukulele and taught herself to play. Pretty soon Elena began to write her own songs. She then got endorsed by a ukulele manufacturer in Korea and joined a large, gigging ukulele ensemble for a year. After leaving the band, she focused on writing and performing her own songs on soprano and baritone ukuleles and more recently guitar. Sailing on the Sea of Love started life as an acoustic number played on baritone ukulele and was written for Valentine’s Day 2019.

‘Sailing on the Sea of Love’ is available for purchase on 

https://elenaduff.bandcamp.com/releases

And to listen on Spotify shorturl.at/cinsI

Website: https://elenaduff.com/

Today, Wednesday 13th May 2020, the National Concert Hall is announcing a new series of music programmes to be streamed online as part of its ‘NCH at HOME’ series, designed to engage audiences with live performances providing comfort, inspiration and solidarity and enriching cultural content online.

Supported by Davy, as Innovation Partner, Culture Ireland, RTE and The Irish Times ‘NCH Live Stream Series’ sees four concerts to be streamed live from the NCH stage starting Friday 29th May 8pm with celebrated Irish mezzo-soprano and star of the international opera stage Tara Erraught and pianist Dearbhla Collins performing Songs of Comfort and Hope. This will be followed by Bell X1’s front man Paul Noonan (5th June 8pm), acclaimed Irish folk singer/songwriter Lisa O’Neill (12th June 8pm) and renowned Irish pianist Barry Douglas (19th June 8pm).

All concerts will be available to view from NCH YouTube and Facebook channels and from RTE.ie. There will also be a previewed Zoom interview with the artist by broadcaster John Kelly as well as Twitter conversations on @NCH_Music from 7.30pm #NCHLIVE. 

Josepha Madigan, T.D. Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht states: “This new series from the National Concert Hall is to be warmly welcomed and will bring joy and hope to many during this very challenging time. It follows the great success of Dear Ireland, Ireland Performs and Courage 2020. Ireland’s arts, culture and creative communities are, in the face of the huge challenges that they are currently facing themselves, raising so many or our spirits through their work and are to be commended.“

Maura McGrath, Chair of the NCH: “As our live concerts and performances are unfortunately cancelled for the moment due to Covid 19, all of us at the NCH want to reach out to you and to reimagine different ways to provide beautiful music to help us to stay connected at a time of loss and to bring us hope and joy. Until such time as we can all be together again to enjoy the power of live music I am pleased to share with you details of our NCH at Home series of streamed concerts, master classes, learning and discovery. I want to pay a special tribute to the musicians and our partners who have come together to provide these live streams for you at home. I hope you will find them reassuring, inspiring and hopeful.”

Simon Taylor , CEO of the NCH said: “Connecting  musicians with audiences is what the National Concert Hall is all about. Whilst we cannot do so at the moment face-to-face we are delighted to live-stream performances by four outstanding Irish artists from across the music spectrum, directly from the NCH stage, in high-quality sound and vision. We hope this gives our loyal audiences an engaging and exciting ‘live’ experience and introduces these wonderful artists to new audiences as well.”

Tara Erraught (29^th May 8pm): Due to play title role of Angelina in Rossini’s La Cenerentola at The Metropolitan Opera in New York in March before it was cancelled on the day prior to opening due to the current Covid-19 crisis, the NCH is delighted welcome Irish mezzo-soprano Tara Erraught to perform on Friday 29th May at 8pm, accompanied by pianist Dearbhla Collins. Having made an impressive 47 role debuts as resident principal soloist at Bayerische Staatsoper Tara brings her rich, radiant voice, expansive range and dynamic stage presence to the NCH when she performs Songs of Comfort and Hope with works by Schubert, Copland, Liszt, Strauss and a selection of Irish folk songs.

Paul Noonan (5^th June 8pm): Bell X1 front man Paul Noonan is no stranger to the NCH having performed with Bell X1 many times as well as taking part in Imagining Ireland: 21st Century Song and the award-winning Starboard Home series, supported by Dublin Port (it is currently available to view on RTE Player). For his solo performance at NCH the Dublin based songwriter, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist will perform a selection of BellX1 songs and more from other projects, all chosen specifically for this performance on Friday 5th June 8pm. 

Lisa O’Neill (12^th June 8pm): Multi award-winning Irish folk singer and songwriter Lisa O’Neill, whose inimitable voice and song-writing capability has catapulted her into the limelight of the Irish and international folk scene, will perform a selection of songs in Reflections: A Solo Concert with Lisa O’Neill on Friday 12th June 8pm. A song-writer like no other, Lisa’s roots may be sourced in folk and traditional music but her work opens up a landscape beyond any settled sense of genre.

Barry Douglas (19^th June): Celebrated Irish pianist Barry Douglas returns to the NCH stage for a solo piano recital that includes traditional arrangements by Barry of My Lagan Love, Carrickfergus together with works by Rachmaninov, Schubert Tchaikovsky, as well as Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition on 19th June 8pm. Barry has established a major international career since winning the Gold Medal at the 1986 Tchaikovsky International Competition in Moscow. As Artistic Director of Camerata Ireland the Clandeboye Festival, he continues to celebrate his Irish heritage while also maintaining a busy International touring schedule.

Each concert made available to view on playback for up to a month after the concert.

‘NCH at Home’ also comprises of NCH Learning & Participation activity, with a new weekly online series of content designed to engage people with music. Geared primarily for young people and children, this series includes Music Time – songs and activities for young children; Me and My Instrument – introductions to musicians from the wider NCH family and their instruments; Musical World – resource packs for primary school children exploring different musical styles from around the world; Song Writing – a series of online tutorials for teens, and much more in the weeks to come.

The NCH Learning & Participation programme also delivers much of its flagship programme online, including the Female Conductor Programme, supported by Grant Thornton; and the International Master Class series, bringing the world’s top musicians to music students in Ireland.

‘NCH at Home’ also comprises of a new series ‘NCH Where Are We Now’, supported by Davy and The Irish Times, which sees video recordings from renowned artists to be shared across the NCH website and social media channels – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin – throughout May and June beginning with New York based mezzo-soprano and multi-Grammy award winner Joyce DiDonato. 

NCH Live Stream is supported by Davy as Innovation Partner, Culture Ireland, RTE.ie and The Irish Times as print media partner. 

#InThisTogether

#NCHLIVE

www.nch.ie
https://www.facebook.com/nationalconcerthall/
https://www.youtube.com/user/MusicNCH/featured
https://twitter.com/NCH_Music
www.rte.ie 

Other Voices ‘Courage’ has garnered a fantastic global response since it began on the 23rd of April, with half a million viewers tuning in worldwide to date. Joining them from the National Gallery of Ireland this Tuesday are Sean Nós singer Iarla Ó Lionáird and virtuoso guitarist Steve Cooney whose partnership has produced stunning contemporary versions of traditional Irish songs. 

Both accomplished musicians individually – Iarla has a been a member of highly successful groups such as Gloaming and The Crash Ensemble and Steve has performed and recorded music with many esteemed musicians such as Sharon Shannon and Martin Hayes and his recently released album ‘Ceol Arsa Clairsi’ has been called the most important album of Irish music of the last decade. The music they make together is beautifully unique, melding old and new styles of traditional music to create something that is all their own. 

To date, ‘Courage’ live streams have featured performances from Ye Vagabonds, Sorcha Richardson, Caoimhín Ó’Raghallaigh, Rhiannon Giddens, Francesco Turrisi and Lisa Hannigan. The project has gone from strength to strength, with over 500,000 tuning in worldwide to date.

Episode two of the Other Voices ‘Courage’ TV series will air at 23:30 on RTÉ2 this Thursday, 14th May.

Watch singer- songwriter Sorcha Richardson play reworked versions of songs from her Choice Prize nominated debut album First Prize Bravery, recorded in Whelan’s Dublin. The TV show includes additional performances which were not included in the live stream. 

Other Voices: https://www.othervoices.ie/  // @othervoiceslive // #Courage2020

‘Heart Food For Hard Times’ is a big hug of a song just when you need it most. 

Written and released over the course of just one month, the track goes to prove just how dynamic and prolific NEALO is and why he’s one of the fastest-rising artists in Ireland today. 

Set for release on Diffusion Lab on Friday 15th May, ‘Heart Food For Hard Times’ is a heartbreak-tinged, feel-good summer song. This one was made especially for when you’re out doing your daily quarantine exercise, but you also feel like balling our eyes out for no particular reason. 

Nealo says: “’Heart Food For Hard Times’ is a song about old memories and old relationships. Sometimes it’s nice to take a journey down those old roads and see what pops up. We bury so many painful memories, and a lot of the time we are afraid to go back and dig them up because we don’t like what we see, mostly in ourselves, but also in other people. They hurt. I’m slowly coming around to the idea that you have to dig them up to deal with them. So that they don’t manifest in other ways. Just like a therapist would make you go back to your childhood, this song is me going back to my early 20s and reliving some of the good times I had, but also some of the bad. Doing so is my attempt at turning those hard to deal with feelings into something positive. So that I can move forward with my life and be who I want to be.”

‘Heart Food For Hard Times’ is a remote collaboration between Nealo, Adam Garrett, and Uly. 

“Adam is a songwriter/producer, a solo artist, and a member of INNRSPACE,” says Nealo. “Whatever he plays on the piano, I connect with. Anytime he sends me a song, it immediately brings out the best in me as an artist. Our musical journeys are intertwined and will probably be until one of us kicks the bucket or moves onto something else. I can’t express how valuable Adam has been to me to bring out the best in me as a songwriter.”

When the track was finished, Nealo felt extra instrumentation was to give it a warmer feel, so he asked another regular collaborator, Uly, to put down some trumpet. “I drove on a quarantine mission to Tesco, and by the time I came out, Uly had sent me his trumpet part, and it elevated the song to the next level,” he explains. 

Vocal production on the song by Adam Shanahan (Adam MyFault) and mixing and mastering by Marcin Ciszczon (Diffusion Lab). 

Heart Food for Hard Times is out on Friday 15th May 2020.