Month: February 2021

To celebrate the anniversary of possibly the biggest Irish radio single of the last decade, Choice Music Prize Winners and much loved Royseven return with a live stream concert on Valentine’s Day and the re-release their number one hit ‘We Should Be Lovers’.

Now back in the control of their catalogue, Royseven is releasing their singles and albums for the first time on streaming platforms. This started with the band’s massive hit ‘We Should Be Lovers’ out now and will be followed on Valentines weekend by ‘No Romance’. The band’s number one album, ‘You Say We Say’ will be re-issued in March

In a lovely coincidence with Royseven’s back catalogue becoming available on streaming platforms from this month, you can see the band in a special Valentine’s weekend performance Live from The Button Factory, Dublin on the Royseven’s YouTube channel on Valentine’s day, Sunday February 14^th at 8.00pm. Admission is free and the show is presented by MPI and the department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and media, Live Performance Support Scheme. You can watch an advance promo clip from the show here: https://tinyurl.com/1jm71ir3

This time around the band line-up is; Paul O’Hara (Keys), Darragh Oglesby (Drums), Bernard O’Neill (Bass), Stuart Grey, a new addition on guitars and the band is still fronted by the enigmatic Paul Walsh.

Social Media Links

Insta:Instagram/Royseven_Official

FB: facebook.com/RoysevenOfficial  

T. twitter.com/Royseven

Laura Mulcahy has been as busy as a buzzy bee, dreaming up and realising new artistic creations all through the Winter months. This time, she has managed to ‘make’ the title track to a film soundtrack!

‘The Ballad Of Lucy Sands,’ written and directed by Steve Baldwin deals with the murder of teenager Lucy Sands in 1881.

Lucy Sands’ (from Northern Ireland) parents died in the late 1800s, leaving their daughter (11) and son (8) orphaned. They were adopted by an aunt and grandmother in Workington in Cumbria.

By 16 Lucy (Lucinda) Sands had been working for at least three years in various jobs but due to prolonged illness, had returned back to her grandmother’s house from being in service. One night, a few months after moving back with Grandma, 1st December 1881, Lucy went out with three girl friends. She was never seen again…

…Until three months later when the local road mender was breaking stones to fill potholes and he came across her body hidden in a pile of rocks. Three full months later – 1st March 1882.

The man who did it was freed from the courts. He got away with murder….

Lucy lies in a cemetery; no headstone, nothing to remember her by, other than an old court case and papers held in the national archives….

From the motion picture, ‘The Ballad Of Lucy Sands’ Laura Mulcahy presents the eponymous title track to it’s soundtrack. 

‘The Ballad Of Lucy Sands’ will be released on Laura Mulcahy’s YouTube channel on February 14th 2021.

https://youtube.com/channel/UC9I_xU2AkNmQJ04teT3FLJg

Franki’s latest single is the breath of fresh air we all need right now, adding further to the Dublin artist’s reputation for smart, chillwave pop. The track, entitled ‘are u gonna’, is a must-listen for fans of The 1975 and LANY, with some darker RnB undertones recalling the likes of Blood Orange and The Weeknd. Franki integrates the best elements of electronic and RnB-inspired pop and excels in finessing the fine line between these two sensibilities. The rhythm of the track ebbs and flows effortlessly, as Franki’s smooth vocals guide us through this soft pop gem.

The track encapsulates a sense of escapism with thoughts of warmer, sunnier days. Contrary to its confident stride though, the lyrics delve into the artist’s own insecurities around romantic hopes – and fears. Franki says, “I’ve always tried to write my songs from an extremely genuine place and this one was simply about expressing the early stages of infatuation and the hope that things will work out the way you want them to. It’s one of those extremely fragile positions to be in as a human because you’re so hopeful about what could blossom but terrified of what you could lose.”

Franki enjoys this contradiction in sound and subject matter, taking a twisted, wry look at the idea of infatuation against a warm backdrop of electronic textures. The lyricism is bitingly honest, full of longing and always pulling at the listener’s heartstrings. ‘are u gonna’ shows a continued progression and maturity for this exciting new artist, while holding true to Franki’s ultimate purpose to, “communicate honest emotions about where I’m at in my life, good, bad or indifferent.”

Spotify
Instagram
Twitter
Facebook

Dublin singer-songwriter Robert John Ardiff first came to the attention of fans as a member of the Choice-nominated band, Come On Live Long. Since going solo, his music has had over 10 million streams on Spotify and has featured on the Amazon original TV series, Modern Love. He has toured extensively around Ireland in addition to playing shows in Europe, The UK and The USA. 

On Friday 12th February, Ardiff will independently release ‘Tightrope Walker’ – the first single to be taken from his upcoming second album, ‘The Corridors of Love’, which will be released in April. 

Robert John Ardiff says: “‘Tightrope Walker’ is a song that deals with the concept of wearing different faces or metaphorical masks and how one changes their personality based upon the situation they find themselves in. It deals with the idea that if someone is wearing this mask they in fact become more, rather than less, truthful.” 

‘Tightrope Walker’ was recorded in an afternoon in Camden Lane Studios and features the wonderful musicianship of Neil Murray, Robert McComish, Stu McMahon and David Crean. It was engineered by Lisa Murray and Mixed by Ruadhri Cushnan.

Having released two albums with Come On Live Long, his debut solo record ‘Between The Bed and Room’ (2018) allowed Ardiff the freedom to write, record and release music at leisure. That album was recorded in various locations including the box room of his own house, the Cultural Centre Irlandais in Paris and in Little Gem recording studio with Andy Walsh. This forthcoming album, ‘The Corridors of Love’, followed Ardiff around the globe in a similar way, being recorded incrementally in houses and studios from Dublin to New York to Copenhagen. 

“The record is an exploration of the stories that take place behind the closed doors of an apartment complex,” explains Ardiff, giving us a teaser of what’s to come. “The songs deal with friendships, relationships, despair, joy and depression. It is a sonically different record from anything I have previously released.” 

‘The Corridors of Love’ features a vast array of musicians and performers. It was mixed by the GRAMMY-winning producer Ruadhri Cushnan (Ed Sheeran, Shawn Mendes, Tom Walker, Mumford & Sons).

Having travelled the breadth of the globe as the acclaimed collective The Young Folk, Anthony Furey and Paul Butler continue their musical journey under the name Elgin, with their brand new single ‘Cherry Picked’.

‘Cherry Picked’ is a beautiful atmospheric indie-folk track which incorporates lush guitars and synths alongside a bold brass section and decadent vocal harmonies to create a vast and expansive sound.

Regarding the new single Paul says, “A phrase that’s being thrown around a lot recently between friends is the idea of impostor syndrome. A feeling of self-doubt and a sense of intellectual fraudulence. It’s the feeling I get when I can’t write, or I haven’t created anything for a while. It’s easy to get carried away with these thoughts and allow them to develop into something they’re not. The song is mainly about letting go of these ideas and allowing yourself to breathe.“

Elgin is a natural progression and represents a new direction for the band. Whilst still centered around the key contributing members of The Young Folk, Elgin gives them the freedom to play different instruments, to untangle themselves from the steady rotation of band members and get back to the simplicity of a duo, just like it was in the beginning. 

“You can be any age with it,” says Anthony. “And you can play in any style you like and write lyrics about any subject under the sun.” 

‘Cherry Picked’ is the first taste of a wider body of work from Elgin due out later this year. Their music is heartfelt and considered, building on their folk roots with new broad instrumentation and a rich tapestry of electronics to deliver something both simple and epic, but most importantly, true. 

‘Cherry Picked’ is released 19th February.

Peter Doran has released details of his first single in six years, ‘Nothing New Under The Sun’ is due out Friday, 12th February. It is taken from ‘Voices’ his upcoming album, due for release this year. Supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media.

Speaking about the release Peter Doran explains: “This is a song about those moments when you feel burned-out, uninspired, lacking in faith and vision. When you’ve given the best of yourself to a pursuit and fallen short when you speak without conviction and find yourself sleepwalking through your days.

It’s about that feeling and figuring out a way to shake yourself free of it, to feel vital once more. ‘Give me one time, something tribal, something bloody for my survival’. The final verse offers hope of reinvention and the belief that there is something yet to become.”

Features guest vocals from Irish Songwriter Emmett Tinley.

Peter Doran is an independent Irish singer-songwriter and musician. ‘Voices’, the fifth studio album from the Mullingar native, was awarded a MISP grant to help fund its release.

Recorded and Co-produced by Hally at Arthouse Studios in Naas throughout 2019/20, ‘Voices’ features extensive contributions from multi-instrumentalist Lenny Cahill (Piano / Drums / Bass / Organ) and special guest vocals from US Songwriter Haley Heynderickx and Emmett Tinley (The Prayer Boat). String duties were shared by Dublin-based composer/arranger Mary Barnecutt and Peter’s long-term collaborator Gerard Toal.

‘Every Little Thing’ from his 2012 album ‘Overhead The Stars’ has been played over 1,300,000 times on Spotify and is the theme tune for the American podcast series “The Minimalists”.

In recent years Peter has headlined shows in Holland, Germany, England, Ireland, Belgium and New York and opened shows for Mick Flannery, The Lone Bellow, Declan O’Rourke, Fionn Regan and Duke Special.

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Website

Ultan Conlon’s new single ‘The River Flows’, is on release on February 12^th and features Emmy Nominated and GRAMMY winner Gaby Moreno.

Somewhere between Guatemala and Galway is Largo in Los Angeles. This is where Ultan Conlon and Gaby Moreno first met at a Milk Carton Kids show. A few weeks later they met again when both were guest artists at the prestigious The Watkins Family Hour show. A friendship was born and Ultan subsequently shared a stage with Gaby as special guest on her German tour in the autumn of 2019. From here on, all roads (and oceans) eventually led to a collaboration on Conlon’s ‘The River Flows’, a powerful duet where Conlon’s Celtic-infused sensibility merges beautifully with Moreno’s border-crossing self-described “Spanglish folk soul”.

This re-imagined version of ‘The River Flows’ was recorded in Ireland, London, LA and Nashville. Tim Ross produced and scored the strings which were recorded in London. Marty Stewart’s bandmate, Chris Scruggs recorded the guitars and pedal steel in Nashville with Gaby recording her vocals in LA and Ultan recording his in Galway. The original (solo) version of this song features on Ultan Conlon’s ‘Songs of Love So Cruel’ (2016) record.

Ultan, who is currently writing songs for his fifth studio album, released his LA recorded fourth, There’s a Waltz’, produced by Grammy Winner Sean Watkins to much praise both at home and internationally, just six months ago, in July 2020.

When he launched his album Ultan also became the first artist to play a live show in Dublin since the original lockdown in March, some five months earlier; with a socially distanced, seated, table service show at The Workman’s Club, Dublin. Later in the year, with the support of The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media live music initiative Ultan played some additional shows in Galway, Kilkenny and Dublin.

NPR Music says, “Moreno’s breath-taking voice is passionate and stylistically malleable, as she glides back and forth easily between bossa nova and bluesy rock.” Gaby Moreno won a Latin Grammy Award for (Best New Artist) in 2013 while also having two further Grammy nominations and an Emmy nomination (theme song) for ‘Parks and Recs’, the successful American political satire mockumentary sitcom television series created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur. The series stars Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope. Gaby’s ‘Cucurrucucú Paloma’ also features as the closing song in series 7 season finale of Orange Is The New Black. Gaby has toured the world extensively as a headline artist and also with Hugh Laurie, Tracy Chapman, Van Dyke Parks and many more. She recorded her latest album, ‘Spangled’ with Van Dyke Parks producing and arranging, which features a track with mutual friend Jackson Browne and Ry Cooder.

With its onomatopoeia-esk title, its lush and sweeping melody and vocal arrangement, ‘The River Flows’ signals the start of our spring. It is released 12th February.

Insta.@ultanconlon
T. @ultanconlon
FB. @ultanconlonmusic
W. ultanconlon.com

Cork singer songwriter Jen Ella previously released her song ‘Lipstick Queen’ back in November where it has received huge attention across Irish radio and in Scotland where she is based featuring on BBC Sounds and RTE radio amongst many others. The story embedded within the song is about longing for acceptance, not comfortable in an inner self along with being guarded by the social pressures that influence our own unique persona.

The music video for ‘Lipstick Queen’ was released on the 31^st of January and was shot all over different places in Glasgow. In a very emotional and unique performance, Jen Ella strives to be the ‘Lipstick Queen’ who at the beginning is set in a dark mode where there is that feeling of not being acknowledged for who she really is until it transitions in to lighter tones and places with open spaces where the ‘Lipstick Queen’ begins to express ‘now I’m free, now I’m free, now I’m free’. That’s when the Queen is free from the other side of who they are and is wearing the real crown now as she feels accepted. Shot and produced by film director and producer Lewis Smith and Leona Gove who edited the music video, who are both insanely talented at what they do both within the music and film scene.

Jen Ella describes below their ideas behind portraying the story of ‘Lipstick Queen’:

‘’We wanted it to be real for people, I decided to take on the role of being the Lipstick’ Queen in the video. We aimed to portray the two sides of the ‘Lipstick Queen’ and of how people in society might feel at times when trying to fit in with certain social groups. The idea of having two characters; the side of the Queen where she is dressed in dark clothing and under pressure to be accepted by others versus the side of the Queen in the yellow dress where she is finally free and can be herself’’

Last month saw the release of the much anticipated debut album ‘Irlandalucía’ by Kildare-based virtuoso Flamenco guitarist John Walsh.

For the last 10 years John has been at the forefront of Flamenco in Ireland, as a performer, composer and educator.

Having studied with Flamenco masters in Algeciras, Seville & Granada, John returned to Ireland to bring his passion for Flamenco music to the stage.

He has performed as the International Artist at the Paco de Lucia Guitar Festival in Algeciras, Spain and The International Flamenco Festival in Consuegra, Spain as well as in the famous Flamenco venue ‘El Candela’ in Madrid, Spain and numerous venues throughout Ireland & the UK. He has composed music for the National Ballet of Ireland, Riverdance and Michael Rooney’s De Cuellar Suite.

A first of its kind for any Irish artist, ‘Irlandalucía’ is the culmination of over 10 years of deep immersion in Andalusian Flamenco culture combined with John’s Irish heritage and upbringing.

Containing 7 original and spellbinding Flamenco guitar compositions composed by John over the last number of years, features collaborations from percussionists from Spain and the Netherlands.

Although a little over a week old at the time, the album was featured by Ellen Cranitch on Ireland’s national classical music radio station Lyric FM as one the ‘best albums of 2020’ as well is receiving airplay in Spain and the USA.

“Each piece on the album has a different mood but it’s united by the common thread of John Walsh’s musical quest. There’s melody, depth, emotion and brilliant technical virtuosity, but also elegance… a very beautiful and haunting composition which manages to convey both lyrical freedom and grace…It’s really superb stuff” – Bernard Clarke, Lyric FM

‘Irlandalucía’ is available in both CD and digital download formats from the online store on John’s website www.johnwalshguitar.ie

Following the success of his latest EP and singles featured on the prestigious Spotify editorial playlist “Jazz Vibes”. Nicolas Kluzek teams up with Berlin based, Dublin composer/producer bencon on the single: ‘Sonnenallee’.

“Born and raised In France, Nicolas Kluzek studied music in Dublin where he now lives. There he met bencon (Ben Connolly) who now lives in Berlin and is a part of the successful Indie band All The Luck In The World. Together they have created an atmospheric loft song with a historical important title, creating a very harmonious unity between the two producers. Enjoy these soulful saxophone melodies and warm jazz vibes on this dreamy tune.” (Mark Stock)

‘Sonnenallee’ by Nicolas Kluzek and bencon is available across all digital platforms now.