Month: January 2019

Walking On Cars today reveal the video for their new single, ‘Monster’, taken from their upcoming second album, ‘Colours’.

The four-piece group from Dingle, Co Kerry, whose debut album catapulted them to fame here and abroad, worked with their longterm creative collaborators, Bold Puppy, in the director’s chair for the video.

The ‘Monster’ video comes ahead of three intimate album preview shows next week in in Dublin, London and Cologne, which sold out within minutes of going on sale earlier this month, while the band has previously announced three massive outdoor/arena shows in Dublin, Cork and  Belfast to follow the new album’s release. Further international tour dates are expected to be announced soon. Dates so far run as follows:

Monday          21st     Jan      DUBLIN, Whelan’s (Sold Out)
Tuesday          22nd    Jan      LONDON, Omeara (Sold Out)
Thursday         24th     Jan      COLOGNE, Luxor (Sold Out)
Tuesday          21st     May     BELFAST, Waterfront Hall
Thursday        23rd    May     DUBLIN, 3Arena
Friday             21st     June    CORK, The Irish Independent Park

‘Monster’ is the first single to be taken from Walking On Cars’ second album, ‘Colours’, which is due for release via Virgin EMI on 12th April. Recorded between the band’s own home studio in Dingle, London’s legendary RAK studios, and Angelic Studios near Banbury where The 1975 also made their latest, ‘Colours’ is a second album kaleidoscopically rich with sounds, emotions, synth-rock imagination and the brilliant song writing synonymous with the bands previous releases.

As HotPress put it, hymning the country’s newest big rock export in a cover feature, “With the massive European success of their double platinum-selling debut, ‘Everything This Way’, Kerry’s Walking On Cars pretty much owned 2016.” Indeed ‘Everything This Way’ went on to sell a hefty 325,000 copies worldwide. Over 18 months’ touring the band sold 60,000 gig tickets, reaching arena level at home and sold out tours across Europe, as well as playing the mains stages of some of the biggest festivals out there, including Isle of Wight, Rock Werchter, Rock Am Ring and Electric Picnic in 2017. Their total global video views stand at an impressive 50 million, their cumulative global streams an eye-watering, ear-trembling 200 million.

Following the success of ‘Everything This Way’, the band continued to tour extensively. Their efforts begat success, but success begat strains. A stressful couple of years took their toll on the writing process, but the band came out fighting, albeit a guitar player down and with new management, and in February of last year came a breakthrough: ‘Monster’, the first fruits of the band’s labour to be released as a taster track from ‘Colours’, is a cathartic howl of a song, strident with piano, punchy electronics and a sky-grabbing chorus.

In its mix of synthesiser, guitars and feedback, ‘Monster’ was to became a sonic pathfinder track for the album. “On the first album it was very organic: sit in a room, jam it out, tour it, come back, change the song,” remembers the band’s Sorcha Durham. With the new album, the band found themselves become more involved with the production side, experimenting with programming and synths while staying true to the world beating songs and classic sound of their debut.

 

Patrick Sheehy (vocals and guitars), Sorcha Durham (keys), Paul Flannery (bass), Evan Hadnett (drums)

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A. Smyth begins 2019 with the release of a blistering new single ‘Fever’, which was produced by Darragh Nolan (Asta Kalapa). It will be available across all digital platforms this Friday, 18^th January. Tickets €11.80 inclusive of booking fee, on sale Wednesday at 9AM (Aiken Promotions).

Smyth explains “’Fever’ is a song about never giving up on someone you hold dear, or something you believe in…like hope, and the human spirit, they’re things that can never be destroyed. In today’s weird and uncertain times, thinking of that is a huge source of comfort for me. This song is a guide for our darkest moments, a song that says even if the world feels like it’s closing in and the odds seem stacked against us – we’ll persevere. And the light will always break-through”.

2018 saw the release of four singles and many festival appearances with highlights including Hard Working Class Heroes and Other Voices.

‘Second Moon’, the breakthrough single from last year, reached 100k Spotfiy streams at the end of last year after being added to one of their bigger playlists in September.

Dubliner Aaron Smyth is gearing up for the release of his debut album later in the year.  Central to his focus and drive is the art of song-writing. And he draws influence from the likes of Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, Jeff Tweedy, Feist, Big Thief and more.

‘Second Moon’ came out in July 2018 and followed “Coming Back To You” in April, “Be There” in February and debut single “Into The Darkness” last January. All four tracks were recorded in Dublin and Wexford with drummer Dennis Cassidy (Selk), bassist Dara Higgins (The Jimmy Cake) and producer Darragh Nolan (Asta Kalapa).

Live
March 14^th – Upstairs in Whelans, Dublin

www.instagram.com/asmythmusic
www.facebook.com/asmythofficial

www.twitter.com/asmythmusic

Cormac Breathnach is currently  taking part in his country wide tour, “Whistle Blower Out of Time”, in support of his album ‘The Whistle Blower’ featuring Daire Bracken (fiddle and loops) and Martin Tourish (accordion).

Of the tour Breathnach has said, “When I first learned the news of a train robbery at Hazelhatch, near Sallins, Co. Kildare on the 31/03/1976, I was capitulated into the adult world and the public domain as I participated in my family’s campaign to gain public support for Osgur’s release and the release of his co-accused, Brian McNally and Nicky Kelly. The Case became a cause célèbre known as The Sallins Mail Train Robbery [Frame-Up] and later, as the Nicky Kelly Case.

Widely acknowledged as a serious miscarriage of justice, it engulfed the Breatnach family for over 17 years and cast a long shadow into my own adulthood.

My “Whistle Blower Out of Time Tour” is the culmination of four years of funding by the Arts Council.

For my Show, I have weave three different strands to attract an audience – film, live music with supporting motion graphics lasting one-hour.  This will allow the audience to experience my narrative + the development of a four-year artistic journey on an emotional level. At the same time, it will also allow for the sharing + presentation of my Work in a wholly new + innovative way expanding the avenues through which traditional artists reach people.  The music serves as a direct connection to my narrative, exposing the personal trauma I suffered in my teenage and young adult life. My short thought-provoking film directed by Trish McAdam will precede my short introductions to the musical works touching on some of the issues raised in the Case. The film begins with the statement “We all have a story to tell.””

The 2019 Venues are:

Sat 19th Jan – Rathfarnham Castle, Dublin
Sat 2nd Feb – The Market Place Theatre and Arts Centre, Armagh, Northern Ireland
Sat 16th Feb – Siamsa Tíre, Tralee, Co. Kerry
Thurs 21st Feb – Linenhall Arts Centre, Castlebar, Co. Mayo
Sat 9th Mar – Dunamaise Arts Centre + Theatre, Portlaoise, Co. Laois
Fri 22nd March – The Riverbank Theatre, Newbridge, Co. Kildare

www.thewhistleblower.ie

It takes time to process creativity, but the residual experiences of Mike Van Rose’s expedition in the winter of 2013 can be heard on his debut solo album, ‘Hitchhiker’. Produced by Mike, mixed and mastered by James Darkin (at Herbert Place Studios, Dublin), the mostly instrumental album wears its influences proudly. Across a dozen tracks, from Jvlia (the Roman name of his Portuguese hometown, Beja) to Portobello (the area in Dublin where Mike has lived for some years), the journey, as well as the mindset, is explored in what amounts to a route of discovery.

Across shimmering techno, trance and house, through gliding swathes of electronica and hip-hop (and two electro-soul songs, ‘I Never Knew’, featuring Aisling Browne; ‘Let The Music Play’, featuring Daniel Murphy), many psycho-geographic dots are joined. Five years after his extraordinary European trek, Mike has learned things not just about himself but also of the way life can flip you around.

‘Hitchhiker’ is released January 11, and is available on all the major digital platforms.

www.mikevanrose.com

Currently on a mission to bring you chill out vibes, feature local singers and showcase Ireland’s beautiful scenery, WOB! spent this summer exploring the west coast of Ireland, using the fantastic weather and the dramatic landscape of the Wild Atlantic Way as inspiration to produce a series of tracks. The first of these tracks is a liquid drum & bass tune called ‘Falling With Me’, featuring Dubh Lee. Her gentle tone perfectly complements the relaxed, emotional vibe that the song delivers to the listener.

The song got support from Irish radio stations such as Dublin’s FM98, Today FM, WLRFM, Dublin City FM, and many more.

The music video is set for release in late January and was filmed at Achill Island’s annual Battle for the Lake. It features incredible kitesurfing shots from the festival, along with footage of WOB!’s live performance on the main stage with his 5pc band.

WOB! is a Serbian/Irish drummer, electronic music producer and DJ.
He joined the Irish music scene in 2008 as a session drummer and played around the country with many bands, including the legendary Jerry Fish.

Currently on a mission to bring chill out vibes, feature local singers and  showcase Ireland’s beautiful scenery, WOB! can be found behind the drums  performing liquid drum and bass music with a 5pc band.

With relaxing visuals filmed in the West of Ireland and the hot Mediterranean, WOB! delivers a summer vibes packed audio – visual combo that will place your mind in a chill out zone while your body goes wild.

Buy/Stream link: https://hypeddit.com/link/oemg8n

Singer songwriter Ciarán Finn of alt-folk duo, The Finns, has just been announced as a finalist in the 2018 SongDoor International Songwriting Competition with his song ‘Freemind’. He is the only representative from Ireland and the song sits in the Soft Rock / Alt-Folk category. The winner will be announced on January 22nd 2019.

‘Freemind’ is a beautiful song written a long time ago and brought back to life this year. It’s a glimpse in to the lives of two people who are simply growing apart and are on different paths. In this case, it’s time to move on no matter how hard it is.

The song is planned to be The Finns’ fourth single (due for release at the end of January) off The Finns’ debut album ‘Creations’. The album had huge success upon it’s release in November 2018, reaching No. 1 in the Singer Songwriter Charts and No. 14 in the Overall Charts.

See www.songdoor.com/ffds.html for competition.

The Finns website: www.thefinnsmusic.com

The Finns Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thefinnsmusic/

After an impressive first year in 2018, North Dublin rockers LIERS have just released their first EP. ‘Elixir’ is also the name of their third single which accompanies the release,  loaded with their trademark intense and uncompromising raw grunge rock with sultry yet shattering vocals.  The EP also features previous hit singles ‘Host’ and ‘Universal Female’, which gained much acclaim and helped the secure a slot at last year’s sold-out Electric Picnic.

LIERS consists of vocalist and guitar player Liz Seaver, lead guitarist Ed Scanlan, bassist Stephen Farrell and Ronan O’Hanlon on drums. The band have drawn on their shared 90s influences such as Foo Fighters, Nirvana, Oasis, Smashing Pumpkins, PJ Harvey and Alanis Morrissette to evolve into the edgy sound that defines them today.  ‘Elixir’ single and EP are both available online now.

True Tides are Cian, Conor and Eoghan MacSweeny. The 3 brothers have been playing music together their whole lives, developing an energetic sound with a sharp-edged pop dynamic driven by guitars and electronics with layered vocal harmonies at its core. They played their first show in January 2018 and signed with Faction Records.

True Tides have been receiving rave reviews for their high energy live performances and song-writing brimming with catchy melodies and irresistible hooks. Their last single ‘Automatic’, co-produced with Chris Bubenzer of Diffusion Lab, achieved widespread national and local air play from its release in August and continues to receive regular rotation on national radio.

They sold out their first headline show in the Soundhouse, Dublin and went on to support All Tvvins at Cork Opera House, Delorentos on their Irish tour and the Coronas for their sold out shows at the Olympia and Ulster Hall, Belfast. They also played main stage at Castlepalooza and Indiependence Music Festivals and the 2FM Rising stage at Other Voices, Dingle.

Their debut single ‘Higher’ was released April 2018. Produced by Phil Magee (Kodaline, The Script) and mixed by Ross Dowling (James Vincent McMorrow, BellX1, Talos) the track was made Eoghan McDermott’s song of the week. They also released ‘Higher – Solo’, a stripped back version of the single, in December which was playlisted by Spotify UK, New Music Friday.

After an explosive first year, True Tides have been included on the 2FM Rising list for 2019 and their new single ‘The Answer’, co-produced with Cormac Butler (Kodaline, AllTvvins), is released on the 11^th January.

Charlie McGettigan plays the intimate surroundings of Naas Arts and Culture Centre on Saturday 9th of February. Naas singer Sive is special guest on the night.

Charlie McGettigan started his musical career in the 1960s in various rock bands in Donegal. Moving to Dublin in 1968 he honed in on the thriving folk scene there at the time. In 1973, Charlie formed the highly successful group Jargon, which went on to win the prestigious Letterkenny Folk Festival, following in the footsteps of bands like Clannad and Pumpkinhead.

Charlie has worked with artists like Maura O’Connell and Eleanor Shanley who both recorded many of his songs including ‘Feet Of A Dancer’, ‘A Bed For The Night’ and ‘If Anything Happened To You’.

Charlie joined forces with Paul Harrington and Brendan Graham to win the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest for Ireland with ‘Rock n Roll Kids’. He has released many solo albums including ‘In Your Old Room’, ‘Family Matters’, ‘The Man From 20’ and ‘Stolen Moments’ produced in Nashville by legendary producer Bil Vorndick.

Charlie’s songs have been recorded by many artists including De Danann, Mary and Frances Black, Ray Lynam, Daniel O’Donnell, Sandy Kelly and Hal Ketchum to name but a few.

These days Charlie tours both here in Ireland and abroad. He presents ‘The Saturday Connection’ on Shannonside/Northern Sound Radio, a two hour programme where he previews live music and theatrical events, interviews guests from the world of arts and entertainment and plays an eclectic mix of music and song on CD.  As well as serving on the Board of IMRO, Charlie is also a member of the Board of The Dock Arts Centre in Carrick on Shannon, Co. Leitrim.

Charlie’s latest album ‘Tuesdays With Paul’ is receiving great attention from the media and includes songs like ‘Dust If You Must’ and ‘When I Was A Kid’.

Tickets https://ticketstop.ie/event/2367/charlie-mcgettigan