Month: June 2020

JYellowL, The 21-year-old artist, dynamic in his lyricism and fueled by political conviction, will deliver his highly anticipated debut album ‘2020 D|vision’ on 4^th December 2020, with the first single ‘Jewels’ out this Friday, 19^th June 2020.  

Speaking about the record JYellowL explains the narrative of the track:
“’Jewels’ is a celebration of our multifaceted nature, as well as the complexity of the human condition. It’s about recognising our worth and understanding that we are all inherently valuable and that our value may just manifest itself in different realms.”

JYellowL learned from his Jamaican grandmother how to be himself in a world that wants to force you down a particular path. Born of Jamaican and Nigerian parents and raised in Ireland, the Dublin-based rapper has drawn on all three origins to create a distinctly powerful sound that is radically individual.

A leading voice emerging out of the fierce juggernaut that is Ireland’s rap scene, this debut follows two groundbreaking EPs and a string of headline performances, both in Ireland and internationally. His standout track ‘Ozone’ has surpassed 1.5 million views on Spotify and the single ‘Oh Lawd’, featured on the soundtrack of the ‘Normal People’ TV series, has already surpassed 1 million views. A self-driven artist and entrepreneur, his newly established JYellowL Records Ltd quickly landed a distribution deal with the international distribution company IDOL.

The lyricism JYellowL delivers cuts to the heart of issues that are at once deeply personal and urgent on a global scale, driving political change right now. With a degree in politics from UCD University in Dublin, he explores the social problems that both intrigue and disturb him, from international conflict to economic inequality, unafraid to tackle subjects like racism in his music early on. In 2020, as protests erupted across the world, he spoke to a crowd of thousands at a Black Lives Matter in Dublin, envisioning a future Ireland that is radically inclusive and anti-racist.

As far back as 2017, his track ‘Cold In The Summer’ addressed the international crisis of racial injustice and the legacy of slavery, while voicing a defiant demand for change. VICE Magazine profiled him as a leading voice of Irish rap in their 2017 Music Issue, “on the crest of a wave of young artists in Ireland with an increasingly political bent”.

It didn’t take long cutting his teeth in Dublin’s burgeoning rap scene to make his rise. By 2018, JyellowL had released his groundbreaking debut EP ‘Bulletproof’ and was supporting Rap superstar NELLY on a 3-date Irish tour that November, followed by a sold out Dublin show with ‘Money Trees’ hitmaker Jay Rock.

In 2019, his highly acclaimed ‘Me N Me 2’ EP followed, coming out at the same time as he took on a headline Irish tour, his first headline show in London, and performed a headline international concert at Steck Poppodium in The Netherlands.

Named as one of RTE’s 2FM Rising acts for 2019, he released two singles – the catchy ‘Ozone’ and hard hitting ‘Tek Time’, the latter of which featured on Spotify’s influential Who We Be playlist. Endorsements from Spotify solidified his position as one of Ireland’s most influential young artists, featuring on a plethora of editorial playlists.

JyellowL made his stamp on the Irish festival scene that summer with a series of knockout performances including Longitude, KnockanStockan, Body & Soul, Band On The Strand Festival, Red Bull Gaff Party, and an international headline slot at Delft Jazz Festival in Holland. He ended that summer on a high with a coveted headline slot at the ‘3 Made By Music Stage’ on the Saturday night of a sold-out Electric Picnic, one of the pinnacles of the Irish festival circuit.

This game-changing performance led to the next and most exciting part of 2019, with JyellowL’s single ‘Ozone’ selected to feature on the in-game soundtrack for the mammoth EA Sports FIFA 20. The curated playlist placed his track on the same level as hits by Anderson Paak, Major Lazer, Hot Chip and Skepta to name but a few. The success of 2019 peaked with a live performance and broadcast of ‘Ozone’ on Ireland’s biggest broadcast event of the year, RTÉ’s NYE party.

The new decade kicked off with JYellowL performing in the church at Other Voices Ballina, a unique space that artists travel to Ireland from around the world to perform.

His hard-hitting 2020 anthem ‘On The Estate’ released is another bold step forward in developing his sound while a string of wide-ranging collaborations have showcased the versatility of JYellowL’s sound and craftsmanship. He has worked with long-time collaborator Aaron Unknown on ‘Asylum’, American based wordsmith Mac Irv on ‘No Rivals’, as well as Irish RnB artist Aik J and Ari Noir on ‘Last Flight’ remix and ‘Alone’. He also made the soothing ballad ‘Blue Skies’ with electro pop duo Siights and a thumping club banger ‘shock Em’ with Irish hip hop artists Evan’s Junior and Jordan Adetunji.

With the release of his long awaited debut album ‘2020 D|vision’ JYellowL will embark on his busiest yet thrilling year yet.  

Like the rest of the planet, when the members of Dublin band HAWKE that are Richard Power & Eoghan Mac Mahon found out that life was going to be different for quite a while – they didn’t know what to do with themselves. So they resolved to create their most experimental project to date. Faced with the reality of the evaporation of every live gig in the books, and with newfound time on their hands, they diverted their energy into creating a 5 track audio diary to record a living sonic memory of the strange times we inhabit.

The COVID Diary’s 5 tracks bring the listener on an auditory journey, featuring various voice notes received by the band from their friends, family & followers, carefully weaved through instrumentals that seek to capture the air of an unprecedented age, as well as the inclusion of two previously unreleased tracks (recorded with London/Italian based producers Marco Rinaldi & Antonio Esposito) that pushed their way to the fore by the apt nature of their relevance to the global pandemic.

Hailed as “the next big thing” and “ones to watch” by Irish rock legends Aslan, ‘HAWKE’ are a band formed in March 2019 behind the Guinness brewery in Dublin’s south inner city.

Combining their anthemic rock influences (Coldplay/The Verve) with contemporary sounds, lead singers Richard Power & Eoghan Mac Mahon offer a hopeful, anthemic flavour of indie pop.  

After recording their first home demos in Richard’s bedroom, they sent the tracks to two London based producers and within days were recording their first releases in the famed Abbey road & Metropolis studios in London. 

The first track from their London sessions ‘What About Love’, was subsequently chosen out of 500 other artists entries in a publicly announced competition to support Aslan in Dublin’s 6000 capacity Iveagh Gardens, and following in the footsteps of artists such as Gavin James and Damien Dempsey, they opened for Aslan on July 13th 2019.

Hawke made their debut UK performance at Hit the North festival in England’s North East in May 2019, alongside the likes of Tom Grennan and Jake Bugg. For this young Dublin band, the journey is just beginning.

The COVID Diary releases Friday 19th June 2020, and HAWKE’s next Dublin gig is October 17th 2020 at The Underground Venue. 

PRE SAVE LINK: https://presave.io/t/thecoviddiary

https://www.instagram.com/hawketheband/
https://www.twitter.com/hawketheband
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCn2WWMZqMl78oP4HsQ0CBmg
https://www.facebook.com/hawketheband/ https://open.spotify.com/artist/4WGTGsqyqBP25MwVi4ZDLN
https://www.hawketheband.com/

CADA (Colum Jordan) is a producer and a recovering bass player from Dublin, Ireland.

CADA’s debut, ‘Muloc’, was written last Autumn and was largely reworked during the lockdown period. This period inspired the poem in the first track, ‘Aurelia’, and is a theme reflected throughout.

It follows up from last years’ Sc-Fi inspired ‘Diotran_32’ EP.

Divided into a few movements it traverses between abrasive beats and ambient soundscapes utilising a blend of synthesisers and acoustic instruments.

The artwork and accompanying videos were also created by CADA.

Influences in no particular order, Aphex Twin, Roger Doyle, Flying Lotus, Can, Kamasi Washington, Low.

‘Muloc’ will be released on Friday the 19th of June and will available at https://cada.bandcamp.com

New EP out now to listen/buy direct on Bandcamp:
http://annamurray.bandcamp.com/album/these-are-the-first-words-ive-spoken

Available on streaming services 26/06/20

Electronica made from digital synths, beats, and samples. Organic sounds of beach waves, gamelan, voices, early gramophone recordings and noh percussion build and interlock with digital synths to build a world of industrial clanking, claustrophobic drones and incessant beats.

Anna Murray is a musician/composer from Ireland and currently based in Tokyo, where she is studying Japanese traditional noh theatre. These Are the First Worlds I’ve Spoken is her first EP of beat-based electronica, following from two albums of improvised experimental drone music, Rndr and RndrII. She also released an album, Goodbye Iowa, with indie band The Manhattan Syndrome earlier this year.

Masamba Samba School is a community music collective, which has operated in Dublin since 1994.

While the performance side of Masamba is loud, colourful and well-documented, the organisation’s work in the community is less well known.

“We deliver over 400 music workshops each year, mainly with children in disadvantaged communities, but due to child protection and GDPR issues, we rarely have an opportunity to document this work”, reports Masamba’s Manager, Simeon Smith

Towards the end of 2019, Masamba teamed up with long-time collaborators Champlain College, to host  film student Connor Rousseau. Connor engaged in the project of documenting Masamba’s work enthusiastically, visiting every aspect of the group’s work, and shooting many hours of video footage.

This week, the first product of this partnership is being released. Entitled ‘A Young Heart Sings to the Beat of a Drum’, this short documentary details Masamba’s work in the community, with a specific focus on one of their long-term projects with St. James’s Primary School, in Basin View, Dublin 8.

‘A Young Heart Sings to the Beat of a Drum’ is a sensitive and thought-provoking insight into an innovative music project, taking place in the shadow of the famous Guinness Storehouse.

On Friday 3rd July Blue Fish Diamond will release their latest single, ‘Lady Marguerite’.  A song about life and love, ‘Lady Marguerite’ is summer personified.  The opening interplay between Rhodes piano and lead guitar sets the tone for the song, whose dynamics build from there. ‘Lady Marguerite’ will take you on a happy journey with its warm vocals, its undulating drum patterns and guitar and Rhodes riffs and it will bring you home on the crest of a viola bass wave.  A welcome antidote in current times. ‘Lady Marguerite’ was recorded in Hellfire Studios in the Dublin Mountains and was produced by Gavin Glass.

Blue Fish Diamond are a Dublin based indie folk rock band who formed in late 2016.  In 2018, they released their debut album ‘From Dark To Light’, which Hot Press magazine described as ”essential listening for those who like their music powerful and heartfelt”.  The band released further singles in October 2019 (Morning Star) and February 2020 (Do You Wonder) along with music videos, both of which received very positive reviews.

The band’s songs are written by Jim Murphy whose influences include Neil Young, The Beatles, Leonard Cohen and R.E.M.  In 2014, he began a degree course in Commercial Modern Music at BIMM music college.  At BIMM, he met like-minded musicians with whom he formed the band in late 2016.

Paul Doran, the writer of Christy Moore’s ‘The Gardener’ and ‘Natives’ releases a double A side from forthcoming album ‘10 Days in Rome’. The singles, ‘I Remember You’ and ‘Just Passin’ Through’ are out now.

The album, to be released in September, was recorded between 1998-2000 and is released now in memory of his Italian collaborator in the project Fulvio Fanelli.

Best known for his songs ‘Natives’ and ‘The Gardener’, both of which featured in Christy’s recent lockdown videos and have been viewed almost 300,000 times, the singer-songwriter began releasing material late in life with his debut album ‘Sand’ in 2018.

https://pauldoranmusic.com/home

Eager to rise to the challenge of making a feel-good, inclusive music video during lockdown, Irish brothers Harry & Alfie Hudson-Taylor teamed up with Dublin-based directors The Reelists, then invited fans to dress up as their favourite pop stars for a bit of lip-sync fun. 

The brothers say: “Since writing ‘Favourite Song’ we had the idea of us performing the song dressed as our favourite musical icons for the music video. We couldn’t be together to film it so we asked our fans to help us out.

We were blown away with how many people took part and how good they all were. Those people and the amazing editors at The Reelists have made this music video better than we could have ever imagined. The response was fantastic!”

We’ve spotted Kiss, Bruce Springsteen, Sia, Axel Rose, Charlie Chaplin and Zig, or is it Zag? Plus two very good Hudson Taylor impersonators. Not to be outdone, the brothers themselves take on Bowie, Elvis, Elton and Paul McCartney. A splendid time was had by all. 

‘Favourite Song’ is the new single from Hudson Taylor’s Number One Irish album ‘Loving Everywhere I Go’, which has already racked up an impressive 18 million streams on Spotify. The brothers have been hosting regular lockdown live sessions on YouTube every Wednesday night.

June 12 sees the release of ‘Fake Fine’ the brilliant new single from Irish pop newcomer Robert Grace. 

Sounding like a cross between Shawn Mendes and Charlie Puth, Robert has the ability to write slices of cool heartfelt pop readymade for radio and ‘Fake Fine’ is no exception.  Showcasing Robert’s skills as a songwriter and a performer in his own right, ‘Fake Fine’ sums up the trials and tribulations of living in the current climate. “The song is about pretending to be ok when you’re really not,” says Robert. “When everything is all an act. You might not even be in a bad situation but still, for some reason somethings not right and you’re trying to figure out what that something is.”

Championed by tastemaker publications like Clash and Popmuzik ‘Fake Fine’ follows a stream of successful singles which have seen Robert crowned ‘Artist of the week’ on Today FM (Ireland’s Biggest Independent Station) and topping the audience chart on Beat 102/103 (Ireland’s Biggest Regional Station) on three occasions. His last single ‘Be Your Friend’ made it straight on to ‘New Music Friday’ on Spotify UK and was ‘Track of the Week’ on 2fm’s Breakfast show. “The Good Place” was added to the influential ‘Easy playlist’ on Spotify where his last three releases have clocked up over 750,000 streams. And in May 2019 Robert’s song ‘Moving Fast’ was ‘Track of the Week’ on 2fm and was also B-Listed at the station.

An excellent live performer Robert has performed at Ireland’s biggest festivals Electric Picnic and Indiependence, plus aside from his own music, Robert has also developed into hugely in demand songwriter. Robert has 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) and Josh Wilkinson (One Direction / 5 seconds of Summer). His co-writes have accumulated in excess of 2m streams on Spotify.

‘Fake Fine’ is out now.

https://facebook.com/RobertGraceMusic
https://instagram.com/RobertGraceMusic
https://twitter.com/Robert_Grace

1000 Beasts is an electronic producer & musician coming from Cork City, who focuses on collaborations and creativity in all his works. Starting off producing electronic pop songs in 2017, he got a strong press support on his works back then, especially thanks to his frequent plays on important radio stations such as Today FM, 2FM, CoolFM (NI) and even BBC Radio 1, including a RTE Studio 8 live session with Jenny Greene on 2FM. 

He emerges with both a debut double EP whose tracks are being progressively released in 2020, drawing influences from artists such as Mr Jukes, Tom Misch, Flume & Kaytranada, and a hi-tech live show that combines live looping, triggering and sampling with live vocals leading to a very different kind of performance from what people are used to see on the Irish scene. 

‘Le Marais’ was produced by 1000 Beasts in the middle of the night in an apartment just off the Rue De Rivoli in Paris during a short break in the city in late 2018. The vibe was chill, and the track, which closes out his upcoming EP, marks the most lo-fi and downbeat beat piece the artist has re- leased to date.

1000 Beasts took that beat back to Ireland and collaborated with young Dublin born, but London based, artist Kayleigh Noble. The majority of the song was written across voice memo’s on WhatsApp, bouncing different ideas, melodies and lyrics between them so that when the duo met up to record the following month, the whole track was nearly written. The track is the first in a series of collaborations between Noble & 1000 Beasts and sets a precedent for repeated collaborations which are with other artists such as Lenii & Alex Tierney who have featured on 1000 Beasts’ debut EP.