Getting ready to kick off the summer, Dublin based dance/pop artist Butler has just released his brand new single ‘Me & You’ featuring White Wax. Bursting with the signature pop sound we have come to expect from Butler, ‘Me & You’ sees White Wax bring a fresh new dynamic to the song.
The perfectly formed piece of ear candy will have you nodding your head before the first chorus hits. Delivering a radio-ready punch once again, ‘Me & You’ featuring Wax White is the perfect follow up to the ultimate bop ‘Colours Of Love’.
Butler is the brainchild of award winning singer/performer Luke Thomas, and the electrifying new project has allowed him to explore his more commercially creative side. On this track he teams up with Dublin rappers Wax White and the result is bang on the money.
‘Me & You’ the brand new single from Butler featuring White Wax is out now across all digital platforms.
‘Into The Sea’ is the stunning breakthrough debut album from Lahinch-based County Limerick-born singer, songwriter, and musician Susan Quirke, out now [Friday 23rd April 2021]. Recorded alongside some of Ireland’s finest musicians, it features elements of indie-rock and folk, with an ethereal sound that announces this as an album of great depth and beauty.
Susan has released five tracks to date and her music has been played on RTÉ 1’s The John Creedon Show, Late Date, The Ray D’Arcy Show, and also BBC Radio. Susan has performed at the Electric Picnic and Body&Soul music festivals, played for figures such as the Dalai Lama and President Higgins, and she has been featured in Hot Press, The Irish Times, and The Sunday Independent.
‘Into The Sea’ features Irish music luminaries Colm Mac Con Iomaire on violin (solo artist, The Frames, The Swell Season), Colm Quearney on guitar (The Square Pegs, Lír), Robbie Malone on bass (David Gray, Lír), Justin Carroll on piano (The Frames, Iron and Wine), and Graham Hopkins on drums (Therapy, The Frames, The Swell Season). The album was recorded in Dublin (The Qube studio) and Wicklow (The Meadows). It was engineered by Ruth Kennington and Rían Trench and mixed and mastered in France by Grammy award winner David Odlum. It was co-produced by Susan Quirke and Colm Quearney.
The songs on ‘Into The Sea’ were written by the ocean at locations in County Clare, Dublin, and in northern California. ‘Into The Sea’ is a concept album that plays upon the metaphor of the sea as a sea of consciousness. The songs draw upon aspects of reclamation of personal power, healing, transformation, and holding on in hard times. Other songs speak to the power of community, our interconnectedness, the global refugee crisis, connection with nature, cultivating peace of mind, and alchemising fear into love. This is a grower of an album, bringing the listener into a deeper richer experience with every listen.
Particular album highlights include the high-powered indie anthem ‘The Embrace’ (exploring a powerful moment of forgiveness), the upbeat ‘I Like The Way’ (a catchy alternative love song), ‘Let Us Love’ (an ode to intimacy and love), and ‘To The Bone’ (a timely uplifting reminder of our inner strength). Other songs such as ‘Follow Rivers Way’ are stripped back and make for more mellow listening. Susan has written a deeply personal blog about her 10 year journey of making this album which you can read on her website here.
Susan is also an award-winning social entrepreneur for her work in the field of mental health and wellbeing. She is well-known as a meditation teacher and has taught people all over the world to meditate. She has worked with the Irish rugby team and previously led a meditation for over 6000 people during the #StandForTruth social justice event in Dublin.
Susan Quirke’s much anticipated debut record is OUT NOW [April 23rd, 2021].
Susan’s online launch celebration with songs, stories, and guests, is tonight, Friday 23rd April, 8pm-9.30pm, and all are welcome to join. Link to register is www.bit.ly/SQcelebration
Following on from the success of its release in January 2021 Róisín O’s ‘Heart + Bones’ has been reimagined by internationally renowned Irish producer & remixer Mark McCabe.
Speaking about the collaboration Mark said:
“I’m a big fan of Róisín – her voice comes from a really special place. When it was suggested that I remix this track it was a no brainer.”
Mark Mc Cabe’s upbeat interpretation of ‘Heart + Bones’, builds intensity throughout, culminating in a catchy signature sound for summer 2021. This reworking of the powerful pop ballad, with Roisin’s undeniable strength as a vocalist, and Marks midas touch makes ‘Heart + Bones – The Mark Mc Cabe Remix’ a dance anthem for the masses.
Róisín commented:
‘I’ve been a huge fan of Marks for many years, hearing he wanted to collaborate with me was slightly surreal and I jumped at the chance. I really wore my heart on my sleeve when I wrote ‘Heart + Bones’ and I couldn’t have imagined anyone else doing the song such justice. Mark’s given it a new lease of life and I can’t wait to dance to it at a gig as soon as possible”.
‘I Survived’ is the latest single from Irish Americana duo The Remedy Club along with a release of vinyl for their album ‘True Hand True Heart’. The album was recorded and produced by 5 time GRAMMY winner, Ray Kennedy (Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams).
‘I Survived’, out 30th April, is about experiencing the challenges in life and closing the gap on what the world thinks we should be and what we truly desire. It is about finding our inner strength to carve out our own path and survive the curve balls that life throws at us.
Working from their own studio in the idyllic surrounds of West Sligo, Lazyrevs, made up of Nadine Keogh and Tom O’Connor operate as true independent artists, writing, recording and producing all of their own material and releasing on their own label Revelate Records. The duo have featured on BBC’s Introducing Mixtape with two of their previous singles, and also recently featured in the final season of ABC’s hit TV show ‘Mustangs FC’.
“’Sorry What I Said’ has an Indie Pop summer vibe with lyrics that come from a genuine place of real conversations and memories from past relationships.”
The band took inspiration from Andy Shauf’s ‘Neon Skyline’ on this song. “We were obsessively devouring that song and the sound of that album while in the middle of production for ‘Sorry What I Said’”.
The dry Indie pop sound and catchy guitar hooks are a slight departure from the band’s last single ‘Tidal Wave’ and while ‘Sorry What I Said’ is a definite tip of the hat to Andy Shauf’s production style, it shows that Lazyrevs aren’t afraid to dip a toe into a more diverse sound.
The official release date for ‘Sorry What I Said’ is 30/04/2021 but the song has already received support and airplay from BBC Radio and Amazing Radio in the UK.
The X Collective are very excited to announce that they will release their debut album coming later this year.
‘WB’ the first song from The X Collective’s album, performed by members Chloë Agnew, Zapho, Senita, Toshín, and Gemma Bradley, is out now on all digital platforms.
“This song has been a long time coming, we knew it was special and so we had originally intended to pitch it to a well-known girl band, instead we came up with the idea to make our own band within the collective itself. We weren’t short of some outrageously talented vocalists! Seeing the song grow from a small home-produced demo to a ten person musical collaboration was magical, and making the music video to match our vision was key to capture a sense of the women behind the music.” – The X Collective
In 2020, Oíche Events launched a new Irish music platform The X Collective, with music and artistic expression at its core. Founded by industry pro’s, Emily Shaw (Oíche Events) and Ele Breslin (ZAPHO), The X Collective is a growing community with over 70 artists and creatives signed up to the initiative, offering them a broad spectrum of music industry skills and expertise including recording, songwriting, producing, management, PR, videography, event management and much more.
The first single from the collective, released in 2020, was ‘Collide ft Jenny Browne’ by ZAPHO & Tolu Makay.
Two years ago at a songwriting camp ‘WB’ producer/songwriter Ele Breslin (ZAPHO, The X Collective Co-Founder) and singer/songwriter Chloë Agnew (Celtic Woman) crossed paths on their musical journey’s – a meeting they would later remember as the very beginning of ‘WB’. It was during that camp matchup that a shelved ZAPHO loop was dusted off and revived into a demo reflective of Breslin and Agnew’s collaborative labour. Quickly and organically that demo evolved further into not just an infectious track, but also a powerful concept. Breslin and Agnew lost themselves in the creation and performance of ‘WB’, and soon a track that they initially intended to pitch to a well-known girl-band, became the one you’ll see them both appear on today, ‘WB’.
Also featured on the track are singer/songwriters Tosin Bankole (Toshín), Gemma Bradley (artist/BBC Radio1 presenter), and Senita Appiakorang (FKA Shookrah), each of whom bring with them their own unique blends of fresh vocal talent and not-to-be-messed-with girl power.
The result is an empowering, female-driven pop anthem with a girl-gang energy similar to that of 2001’s Lady Marmalade. ‘WB’ is a hitting the gym song, a girl’s night out song, a forget the one who did you wrong song. It’s a showcase of balanced and varied female vocals, clean production (Zapho) and a finished product unlike anything else on the Irish music scene today. But most of all it’s a celebration of reclaiming one’s own strength and confidence, and a bold musical embodiment of female solidarity.
‘WB’ the first song from The X Collective’s forthcoming album, performed by collective members Chloë Agnew, Zapho, Senita, Toshín and Gemma Bradley, is out now on all platforms.
Upcoming Shows:
The Black Gate (Tra Gheall Ltd) “EYE on the Edge performance” 23rd – 25th of April
The Gossie Awards 2021 – Live Performance
Drogheda Drill Prodigy Offica has confirmed he will tour the UK and Ireland this October. In addition to his previously announced headliner at The Academy in Dublin (October 22). The tour will be supported by his collective, A92. As well as Offica, A92 is made up of BT, Nikz, K-Sav, Andre Fazaz, Dbo and Kebz. Each member of the A92 collective.
Having made a unique entrance to the scene with his ‘Naruto Drillings’ he has created a name for himself as one the most diverse and creative minded rappers in both Ireland and the UK scene. With a hard-hitting flow and a trademark fusion of Yoruba, Irish slang and anime references, the Lagos-born and Irish raised artist is known as the Offica in charge of the Irish scene. In late 2020, his A92 collective released their debut mixtape, ’92 Degrees’. One of their recent releases, ‘Plugged In Freestyle’ with Fumez The Engineer reached Top 40 single Charts in both Ireland and the UK. To date the freestyle has clocked up over 40 million streams on Spotify, and a further 25 million views on YouTube.
The Irish Drill artists tour which will support his upcoming and highly anticipated Mixtape also announced today via Instagram. “My tape is coming soon”. Kicking off on October 1st in Galway at Monroes Live and ending at Warehouse in Leeds, UK on November 19. Offica shared via social media “Grateful to all my fans and supporters we about to shut it down.”
Tickets for Offica’s Ireland and UK tour go on sale this Friday, April 23, at 9am.
OCTOBER 2021
Oct 1 – Monroe’s Live, Galway
Oct 14 – Cyprus Avenue, Cork
Oct 15 – Limelight 2, Belfast
Oct 20 – Dolan’s, Limerick
Oct 22 – Academy, Dublin [tickets on sale now via MCD]
NOVERMBER 2021
Nov 13 – XOYO, London
Nov 14 – Tramshed, Cardiff
Nov 15 – The Mill, Birmingham
Nov 16 – Club Academy, Manchester
Nov 18 – Classic Grand, Glasgow
Nov 19 – Warehouse, Leeds
Irish post-punk duo Twin Diver were born out of necessity. The pair packed up for London last year to work on new material and play the circuit. Unfortunately, their plans were cut short when the world closed down within a matter of weeks. During this period, the pair found themselves temporarily stranded with nothing but a bass guitar and a midi controller. From this desolate environment came a new sound and a new beginning for Twin Diver.
New single ‘Sweet Sick’ is the epitome of cool, overflowing with Joy Division-esque production and conjuring up images of basement dancefloors in better times. In the artists’ own words, the track takes a “comically negative” approach to matters of employment, purpose, and social standing –
“Sweet Sick is about boredom and existential dread. A lot of my friends who are also in their early 20s have talked about not knowing what they’re “supposed” to be doing with their lives. Trying to plan your life is a losing game at the best of times, but given the pandemic I think that feeling was exacerbated for many people, including us.”
SVEN is an exciting and ambitious newcomer on the Irish pop scene with a determined DIY spirit to his music.
A sharp all round talent as a writer, singer and multi-instrumentalist, SVEN’s musical journey began in his early teens with a craving to be in a rock band, but quickly evolved into him writing and producing his own music. He cites Bon Iver and Jeremy Zucker as early inspirations as well as his love for Rock, Indie & Hip-Hop. With a 4 year degree in music under his belt, coupled with time spent writing in both LA and London, SVEN has worked tirelessly to mould his own distinct take on pop, resulting in a captivating DIY indie aesthetic accompanied by dreamy RnB-esque vocals. SVEN’s ultimate goal with his music is to inspire others to reflect and pursue ambitions.
Following on from his debut release last year ‘Shoreditch’, ‘Frustration’, out 30th April, paints SVEN’s story of recent pressure he put himself under to be his own best self, the pursuit of constant perfection in life as a whole, only to realise this isn’t how life needs to be, that life should be lived as desired and dreams should be chased.
Set against a melancholic but warm melody and offset against an uplifting driving rhythm backed by SVEN’s soothing but powerful vocals, Frustration is just the beginning of the promising road down which SVEN is headed.
‘Frustration’ officially releases on DFL on 30th April across all streaming platforms.
Clannad are celebrating an exceptional award winning 50 year career with the announcements of a farewell world tour. They will perform in Wexford, Limerick, Galway and Limerick in March 2022. Tickets will be available from venue box offices and Ticketmaster.ie, www.clannad.ie/live from Friday 23rd April at 10am.
The GRAMMY and BAFTA award winning band have sold more than 15 million records worldwide.
To coincide with this very special Farewell Tour, BMG have released ‘In a Lifetime’ Anthology; a multiformat, career-spanning anthology containing tracks from Clannad’s 50-year recording career. It is available as a 38 track 2CD set, 2CD deluxe, 2LP, 2LP deluxe and an expanded deluxe 100+ track set as well as digital versions. The anthology will both delight and excite Clannad’s enormous and loyal fanbase as well as introduce this legendary, influential and culturally important band to a whole new generation of music fans.
The multi-award winning Clannad have without doubt done more than any other group to take Irish music and the Irish language to a worldwide audience. Fusing elements of traditional Irish music with more contemporary folk, new age, and rock they have created a beautifully unique and ethereal sound which combines haunting melodies and mesmerising vocals to transcend the sands of time whilst appealing to a worldwide audience of all ages.
National Opera House, Wexford Wednesday, 23rd March 2022 Ticket link
University Concert Hall, Limerick Thursday, 24th March 2022 Venue ticket link
Leisureland, Galway (with Roisin Dubh Ltd) Saturday, 26th March 2022 Venue ticket link
