Month: September 2020

Introducing Callistan- multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer – previously of queer-pop group ELM. With a collage of projects underway, Callistan’s first solo release under his new moniker is with 0Stella – Irish alternative rock artist residing in Canada.

The two artists have a long-standing friendship starting with Callistan’s co-founding of independent Irish label SeaDog Records in 2005. House of Cosy Cushions were the labels first band signing to whom 0Stella lended her vocals and charismatic live performances.

“So yeah, there’s a history there,” notes Callistan. “I’ve always admired 0Stella’s artistry. We managed to catch up last year when she was on an Irish Tour. She was about to release her EP ‘Little Yes, LIttle Know’ and I thought ‘Fire’ was a stand-out track. We reconnected this year online during lockdown and she gave me free reign to reimagine the track.”

0Stella (oh-stella), now based in Edmonton, Canada is the solo project of Dubliner Liz Pomeroy. Reminiscent of Garbage, The Beaches, St. Vincent, PJ Harvey and The Frames and with music that is both socially conscious and confessional, ‘Fire’ is a track that is an “anthemic declaration of imperfection”

Produced and mixed by Callistan, with mastering by the very brilliant Ivan Jackman (Alarmist, Jape, Bitch Falcon), the remix brings the song into a new realm. With the original in 0Stella’s signature alt rock feel, it now vibes in the dance-pop universe showing the power of the song writing in play and the imagination of the new track.

Callistan, “I love the origins of the song; a “declaration of imperfection”. Everyone has their own struggle with that. As a Trans man, I’ve struggled silently for most of my life with that.

I try to remind myself constantly that imperfection is something that can be prized. It can be what gives us empathy or what keeps us human.

In that sense, I feel that the reimagining of the song celebrates the imperfection we all feel and brings us a bit closer in doing so.”

0Stella, “As an Irish immigrant in Canada, I’ve often struggled to find my own identity. We can all feel pressured to live up to a stereotype. ‘Fire’ is a brazen declaration of your own imperfections.

When Callistan and I reconnected and discovered so many similarities in our stories, it felt right to reimagine ‘Fire’ in a lighter, more ellative way. It takes courage to find out who you really are. The process can be messy and ugly, so you might as well lighten up and have a dance.”

0Stella ‘Fire’ Callistan Remix is out 25th September.

Callistan Links:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1xTQsNWCFiNQE5YANa6xKl
Insta: www.instagram.com/callistanofficial
FB: https://www.facebook.com/CallistanOfficial

0Stella Links:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5uRLlaQWzvB1VXPLpUzKmO?si=AJCU7RlNTAuZBRl2mBiwAQ
Insta: www.instagram.com/0stellamusic
FB: www.facebook.com/0StellaMusic Web:
www.0stella.com

Irish/Sierra Leonean singer-songwriter Loah and Cork based producer Bantum team up to release their single ‘NGLA’ on October 8th, 2020.

This year saw Loah’s fortunes change dramatically in light of COVID-19 – instead of emigrating to the States to pursue music and acting, she has been back working frontline as a pharmacist in Dublin and making contributions to the survival spirit of the year with home recordings and talks on the Black Lives Matter movement. This single and the forthcoming collaborative project was about to be scrapped in the view of a world turned upside down, but in the spirit of perseverance, Loah and Bantum decided that if the world needs anything, it’s tunes!

As a result, following on from 2019’s singles ‘April Brave’ and ‘Summer Of Love’, NGLA is the prelude to a winter mixtape of the work they’ve done together over the past two years.

Mutually inspired by the ‘wonky funk’, neo-soul and dreamlike production of artists such as NAO, The Internet, Tame Impala, ‘NGLA’ is a synth-laden alt-pop jam. Lyrically and melodically, though Loah self describes as “artsoul” in her solo work, ‘NGLA’ carries a melancholy narrative over a high energy sound she cheekily nicknames a “Sad Banger – one of those Robyn-esque tunes that you can dance all night to while your heart is breaking.”

Vocal production was done by Fehdah (Loah’s sister). Additional production by Dublin-based producers SENU and Wastefellow, with backing vocals by Abbacaxi. Mixed by Eric Lau (Masego, Lupe Fiasco, Georgia Ann Muldrow) and mastered by Tony Cousins (Adele, Bat For Lashes, Moloko).

Joel Harkin has been causing a gentle stir since the release of his debut album ‘Never Happy’ on the 19th of May; a release date he chose to coincide with his 26th birthday.

One of the stand-out tracks from that album, ‘No Recycling’, has just been long-listed for the Northern Ireland Music Prize. 

Released earlier this year to quiet online fanfare, ‘No Recycling’ sees Joel ruminate on family life and wealth inequality in his own witty, offbeat songwriting style. 

“’No Recycling’ is about going to visit my da in Spain and thinking about wealth inequality and how the two extremes of it seemed to be present in this small Spanish town,” says Joel. 

Joel Harkin played Other Voices Mayo and Output Belfast in February 2020. The year before, he supported Junior Brother, Joshua Burnside and Kitt Phillipa. His songs have received airplay on BBC 6 Music, BBC Radio 1 and more. In 2019 he was nominated for the Oh Yeah Contender Award at the Northern Ireland Music Prize 2019, and this year he is a participant in the Oh Yeah Centre’s Scratch My Progress Talent Development Program. 

Col Patterson has announced the release of ‘Brigid’s Land’ on 2nd October, the new single taken from the forthcoming album ‘Dare You Come To Mind’.

Brigid’s Land is the follow up to July’s ‘Old Men Talk’ single, which featured high up on RTÉ Radio 1 Airplay Chart and on many local and regional stations, along with radio in Scotland.

‘Brigid’s Land’ is simply a song encouraging young people, who might lose their confidence in themselves at times, to keep going, to keep reaching for their life goals and dreams despite their environment. The title ‘Brigid’s Land’ is a reference to the land Saint Brigid of Kildare acquired from the King of Leinster in the 5^th Century. She asked the King for as much land as her small cloak would cover. Her cloak magically spread in every direction over many acres of what is now known as the Curragh. Despite being born into slavery, Brigid overcame every hurdle to help the poor and spread her beliefs. The song is produced by Martin Quinn.

‘Brigid’s Land’ will be available on iTunes, Spotify and all digital platforms as well as Bandcamp from Friday October 2^nd 2020. All sales will go to Teach Tearmainn Kildare. ‘Dare You Come to Mind’ will be released in March 2021.

In 2015, along with his cousins, Col formed ‘The Vinylheads’ and recorded an album with legendary Irish producer Martin Quinn at Jam Studios. The Album ‘Kicks’ was released that year to critical acclaim, with songs receiving airplay on RTÉ Radio 1, Newstalk & BBC 6Music, the title track being Tom Robinson’s personal “Recommends” pick. Col and his cousins played the ‘Fortstock’ festival in Monaghan supporting Midge Ure.

In 2017, Col Patterson released his debut album ‘Hangover Moon’ under his own name. Singles such as ‘Glide’, ‘Hard To Believe’ and ‘Angels on the Wave’ were championed by John Creedon, Cathal Murray and co on RTE Radio One, and once again reviews were very kind! This Album received 4/5 stars in a review by Tony Clayton-Lea of The Irish Times.

Since electronic producer Art of Algebra broke onto the scene in late 2019 with the release of his self-titled debut album, music critics have been watching him closely. Steadily racking up streams and garnering praise from those in the know, the Dublin-based producer is releasing two spectacularly-produced videos to accompany tracks from his debut album before moving on to new material.

The second of these releases, ‘Praying On A Gamble’, is a re-imagining of the track ‘Indigo’ from Art of Algebra’s eponymous LP. The track features vocals from Afro-Irish MC, Breezy iDeyGoke. 

David Hallinan (A.K.A. Art of Algebra) had heard Breezy’s previous work and felt that the timbre and tone of his voice would fit perfectly with the down-tempo and dark-ambient mood of the track.

David reached out to the now Liverpool-based Breezy and the two started to collaborate remotely on a new version of the track. For Breezy, writing the lyrics of ‘Praying On A Gamble’ captured some interpersonal questioning.

“The production on Indigo had weight in the bass that created a pulsating energy,” Breezy iDeyGoke says.  “It really pushed me to write something deep, and being titled Indigo when I first heard it, it reminded me of the indigo flower. As delicate as the flower looks, at some point the seed has to let the plant come to the surface. That breakthrough feeling became a central theme for the song and it pushed me to think about my roots and what I stem from, as well as the environment I was raised in. We all have to go through growth in this world and it can seem challenging. That challenge for me was having to grow in a space that I couldn’t be open about my Muslim faith or culture.”

Video director Mark Smyth took Breezy’s experience and recreated 90s Catholic Ireland through the lens of a curious young Muslim boy. He says:  “This music video is about modern Ireland and celebrating our multicultural landscape. I wanted to use mixed media formats to differentiate the timelines of Breezy’s life and make it feel genuine, adding texture and depth to the visuals. We ended up shooting part of the film in an old convent and it was an incredible setting for it to play out in. I was fascinated by the concept of Breezy meeting and competing with his younger self.”

Art of Algebra says:  “When I initially produced the track ‘Indigo’ for my debut LP I always had the sense that it had the potential to be expanded upon. Breezy’s contribution and the rebirth of the track as Praying on a Gamble has exceeded all of my expectations. His conceptualisation of the track through his lyricism, and his anchoring of the Art of Algebra sound in alternative hip-hop, has shown that the combination of the elements of this track are greater and more dynamic than the sum of its parts. This fusion is captured by Mark’s video, which perfectly represents both the mood of the track and Breezy’s personal biography.”

With his fifth album ‘Ageing With Attitude’ listed for release on 12 October, Tommy Keyes releases the album’s second single this coming Monday 28 September. ‘Walk Away’ has been attracting a lot of attention on social media thanks to a superb video.

‘Go With You’, the first single from the album did very well on its release in May, and was only kept off top spot in the iTunes singer-songwriter chart by the all-conquering Gavin James. Keyes hopes to go one better this time.

Tommy Keyes was a stalwart on the Dublin rock scene in the ‘70s, as keyboardist and songwriter in several prominent bands, then disappeared to an entirely different career for almost 40 years.  Since returning to music in 2015 he has drawn on his network of stellar musicians to aid him in producing albums which hark back to the classic era of songwriting.   Asked to describe his music, he says, “It’s 1970s singer-songwriter music because that’s what I am.”

Crybabyamy is an 18 year old crybaby, as she describes herself, with the ambition to normalize emotional breakdowns through her pop-based music.

She is writing, producing and singing her way to removing the shame that comes with being somebody who spontaneously bursts into tears on the train home from work, or somebody who feels overwhelmed in the middle of a college lecture— and we’ve all been there. From being vocally influenced by Adele, to being lyrically inspired by the likes of Julia Michaels,

Crybabyamy is ready to portray the rawest of emotions in her music. Her new song, ‘nobody hears from me anymore’, the second release from the singer, details the ugly realization that you may have outgrown the people around you, and now all of your friendships are nothing more than a mutually beneficial advice-hub. 

“I knew the melody was special when I wrote it,” the songwriter admits, “I didn’t force myself to write something to it immediately, I waited. And I think something had been brewing within me, because the first two lines of the song came instantaneously. I like this song because it’s a stream of thoughts, and thoughts are always honest.”

Dublin-based songwriter Paddy Hanna has just revealed ‘Sinatra’, the third track from his forthcoming album ‘The Hill’.

‘Sinatra’ is out now on all digital platforms. ‘The Hill’, which will be released in just under a month on October 16^th, is available to pre-order via https://www.strangebrew.ie/.

As Paddy explains about the new single – “I was given an Italian Chord Organ from a friend as a gift, it was built in the early 60s and I was really rather taken by its sound, a sort of airy creakiness. When I sat down to play it for the first time I wrote ‘Sinatra’, which is I suppose a sort of Italian Murder ballad. I’m not sure why I would write such a song to be honest, I may have been in a vengeful mood, or perhaps the Chord Organ had some dark secrets and wanted to channel them through my fingers! “e may never know.”

The album features Girl Band’s Adam Faulkner and Daniel Fox on Drums & Double Bass, Daniel Fitzpatrick (Badhands, The Mighty Stef) on guitar & Keys and Jill Redmond on Vocals. The record was produced by Daniel Fox and the artwork was designed by Jill Redmond. 

Paddy talks about the album – “We lost ourselves on ‘The Hill’, Daniel, Daniel, Adam and I, a seemingly endless spell of isolation spent banging sheet metal, rusted hubcaps and blistering our fingers through non stop recording. 

‘The Hill’ is an internal musical about how the past and the present exist at the same time in our minds. It deals with the struggles of mental health, the sometimes difficult search for happiness and the moral conflict of growing up in Catholic Ireland. 

Most importantly however, I just wanted to put the past behind me on this record, I wanted to leave it on the hill. I hope you enjoy my therapy.”

Hanna’s third album will be released via Strange Brew.

1.The Last of Their Kind
2. Cannibals 
3. A Strange Request 
4. Nameless
5. My Ladybird
6.  Sinatra
7.  Howling At The Duke of York
8.  My Wise Addiction
9.  The Hill
10. Jog On Shall We
11. Colosseum

www.paddyhanna.bandcamp.com
www.soundcloud.com/paddy-hanna
www.breakingtunes.com/paddyhanna
www.twitter.com/paddyhanna
www.facebook.com/Paddyhannamusic
www.strangebrew.ie 

Lost in a house of mix-tapes and stacks of old blues and folk records, he sifted through each one, de-composing their lyrics and melodies. What became was a raconteur with a voice bursting from the soul. Hubert Murray’s songs feature lost loves, inner demons, compulsive liars & day dreamers. His sound bows a head to the masters of melody and word such as; John Martyn, Van Morrison, Laura Marling, Heaney and Bukowski.  

Hubert is a Galway-born, Tullamore based folk and roots musician. He’s best known as front man of two genre bending old time bluegrass bands: UK based Hot Rock Pilgrims and Lands End. He has toured the length and breath of Ireland, the UK and Europe. He has played some of the most prestigious venues and festivals such as; Cambridge Folk Festival, Isle of Wight Festival, The Royal Southbank Centre London, Wilderness festival, to name a few. His discography includes three EPs and one album. Hubert’s newest musical venture see’s him departing the familiar territory of old-time and bluegrass and developing his voice as a singer-songwriter.

‘Even The Devil Cried’ was an isolation collaboration between Irish troubadour, Hubert Murray and Kildare songstress, Sara Ryan. Written during the Covid lockdown, the song was inspired after seeing drone shots over silent cities, mass grave digs, and feeling the new paradigm of social isolation. We stood silently and shared a mournful sigh in solidarity, one could say, “Even the Devil Would Cry”.

Website                            www.hubertmurray.com
Instagram                         @hubertmurray
Facebook                          @hubertmurraymusic   
Twitter                              https://twitter.com/hubertsmusic
Bandcamp                        https://hubertmurray.bandcamp.com/

Following on from his critically-acclaimed singles (‘Even The Sun Don’t Shine On Lonely Hearts In Shadow’ and ‘Lost On The Street Of New York’), ADT (Alan Daniel Tobin) released his debut solo album ‘Volume One’ on September 18^th.

ADT writes stories of the heart wrapped in atmospheric soundscapes, and he describes volume one as ‘a painting of emotional honesty.’

Produced by multi-instrumentalist, Justin Grounds , the album was recorded in a little room overlooking the beautiful town of Clonakilty, West Cork, and will be released at this year’s  Clonakilty International Guitar Festival . Hugely influenced by the Atlantic Ocean, the West Cork landscape and his family, ADT admits to a minor obsession with lighthouses. He is also a member of renowned Irish band LOWmountain.  

https://adtrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/volume-one

Facebook:  @ADTrecordings       
Twitter:  @AlanDanielTobin       
Instagram:  ADT