ELKAE (pron. ‘L.K.’) will release the title track single of her debut EP, ‘Girls Like You Like Me’, on Friday 9th April. Dubliner Laura Keane is better-known to many as ELKAE – the electronic soul artist, songwriter and producer renowned for her high energy live shows. She is due to release her debut EP in May 2021; a project that truly reflects who she is and shows what she can do. “With ‘Girls Like You Like Me’, I threw away the rule book and just let myself create,” she says.
For the ‘Girls Like You Like Me’ single, ELKAE has drafted in a who’s who of Irish music right now, with Lydia Ford, Chloe Agnew, ZaPho, Toshín, Karla Chubb (Sprints), Sinead McConville and Taylor Mas all coming together to sing the song’s resounding chorus. The song sees ELKAE hone in on a time in her life where she was getting her heart broken, breaking hearts, hooking up with different people, getting into different relationships, making mistakes, falling in love, making friends and partying.
“It’s the time when you’re figuring everything out and being a bit reckless at times too. We’re too young to settle down and we all want what we can’t have,” she reminisces. “As a gay girl, a lot of my experiences were with girls. Girls who were breaking my heart, girls whose hearts I’d broken, the girls who were my friends, and how some of those broken hearts also grew into friendships and how we helped each other through it all. There’s a strange kind of unity in it all that I think can be quite unique to the gay scene at times,” she explains further.
This single is just a taster of what’s to come from the full GLYLM EP from ELKAE.
1000 Beasts teams up with Alex Tierney again for this 808 laden track combining soulful R’N’B rhythms with oriental influenced samples.
This is the second time we see the pair collaborate, after last years ‘5 Points’ from 1000 Beasts debut EP.
1000 Beasts is the alias of Cian Sweeney, an Irish producer/artist who collaborates with different artists on every track (they are the “beasts” behind the name) to make soulful, indiepop & hip hop inspired tracks.
His debut EP ‘On A Different Page’ was released in July 2020 through Unity Group (Paris) followed by the runaway success of his remixes for Elaine Malone (You), Joshua Burnside (Noa Mercier) & Pollena (The Pool).
2021 will see 1000 Beasts release his debut album.
‘For You & I’ is the first release from 1000 Beasts upcoming debut album, due out later in 2021.
The track sees the return of past collaborator Alex Tierney for an 808 laden track to combine soulful R’N’B rhythms with oriental influenced samples and Tierney’s brooding vocal to make the perfect alt/indie track for summer 2021.
Alex Tierney is a 21 year old singer-songwriter from Dublin, Ireland who’s inspired massively by R&B and hip-hop production with folk and pop songwriting sensibilities. His music is inspired by a broad range of artists across many genres like Bon Iver, The Weekend, Ólafur Arnalds, Dermot Kennedy and everything in between.
Before he had any music officially released, Alex was invited by Lewis Capaldi to open his show at Dublin’s famous Olympia Theatre where the multi-instrumentalist wowed the crowd with stripped back piano and guitar versions of his originals.
Throughout 2020, Alex released his first two singles titled ‘Over The Maybes’ and ‘Painkiller’ achieving worldwide support from the likes of Vevo, MTV and Iheart Radio as well as Apple and Spotify playlisting.
Alex is massively excited for the release of ‘For You & I’ as he feels it shows off a perfect blend of his and 1000 Beasts’ varied styles while also being a fun energetic track. The song came together so quickly and naturally in Alex’s home studio and the sense of enjoyment that he and 1000 Beasts felt making the track can be clearly heard.
“We started out with this Guzheng sample that I had manipulated & built a beat around. When I showed this to Alex he really vibed with it and got the verse and the chorus down so quickly. It was such an easy process, I always feel like the best tracks come together like after. Afterwards I added a soulful brass part to the bridge, it has a classic Jay Z feel to it I think in that it’s a contrast but a perfect counter-balance to the rest of the track. We were lucky enough to play this track a few times over the past year, like at the private live streaming gig we did for a small audience in the Gate Cinema last autumn, and it always goes down so well so I can’t wait to share it properly” -1000 Beasts
‘Empire One’ by Katie Kim & Seán Mac Erlaine is the first single from ‘In The Echo: Field Recordings from Earlsfort Terrace’, due for release on the Ergodos label later this year. The eight-track concept compilation album, ‘In The Echo’ was curated and produced by drummer and multi-instrumentalist Ross Turner.
Recorded in various locations in the historic National Concert Hall building in Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin – ranging from old lecture theatres to dis-used stairwells, to a former morgue – this record features collaborations between Irish musicians across an athletic span of musical traditions, including:
Lisa O’Neill & Colm Mac Con Iomaire, Katie Kim & Seán Mac Erlaine, Paul Noonan & Roger Moffatt, Eileen Carpio & Sean Carpio, Conor O’Brien & Cian Nugent, Brigid Mae Power & Adrian Crowley, Saileóg Ní Cheannabháin & Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh, and Lisa Hannigan & Crash Ensemble.
‘Empire One’ by Seán MacErlaine & Katie Kim was one of the first collaborations recorded. “It really set the tone for the rest of the album,” says the album’s curator/producer Ross Turner. “It captures the unique sound of the building beautifully and the sparse arrangement allowed for the space to become a part of the recording.
Katie sang at an upright piano that was located in a room at one end of the second-floor corridor. We kept the door open to enhance the blend of sounds, with Seán situated at the top of a stairwell at the other end of the corridor, maximizing the dynamic between the two performers and the building.”
Katie Kim adds: “I remember the recording of this very vividly, as I think it was my first time wandering the back hallways of the unseen National Concert Hall. The acoustics were beautiful, and the walls were painted this very muted dusty pink and it all seemed a little abandoned. It was visually inspiring straight away.
It’s quite a solitary song and Seán’s response is perfect. It almost sounds like a conversation to me, maybe because we were doing it all in real-time. I could hear Seán like some dreamy memory down the hall – while I sat alone at the piano, facing the wall. It may seem like a love song on sight, but in fact, it isn’t. The unravelling of his musical dialogue feeds that ambiguity.”
“There’s always a heavy shroud of mystery in her songs”, says Seán MacErlaine, who plays bass clarinet on the track. “Katie’s voice is usually heard through lush reverbs and amidst soundscapes, but on this recording, we hear the voice right up front, close with pared-back piano.
Ironically enough, I’m playing into a huge natural reverb of the old empty marble staircase in a dusty end of the NCH just down the corridor. And so, in a way I’m occupying that mystery space while the song unfolds.”
‘Empire One’ by Katie Kim and Seán Mac Erlaine is out now via Ergodos [Thursday 8th April 2021].
Out today Thursday 8th April, the official video of ‘Kush On Anon’, the leading track from Kʒːlu (Curlew) ’s recently released debut album.
K3:lu (pronounced Curlew) is the solo project of West Cork based musician and composer Patrick Hatchett. Speaking about ‘Kush On Anon’, he says:
“This track came from exploring the connected ritual of the dancefloor and the place of worship. How the two worlds would often pass each other by early on a Sunday morning in their search for similar experiences through differing means.
Taking inspiration from the ‘Pick ‘n’ mix’ style spirituality of the new age movement, the film plunders ceremonies, destinations, characters and visions in search of a connection or sense of place that we all seek. ‘Kush on Anon’ harks back to VHS ‘rave’ footage, 70’s funk and soul shows, Waco cults, wild festivals, mind altered states and nature’s influence on the proceedings…”
‘Kush On Anon’ is taken from K3:lu’s debut album of the same name. The record has received widespread praise for its ‘genre defying’ collection of tracks with overwhelming press and radio support across Ireland, the UK and abroad. “All of which I’m ‘over the moon’ pleased about,” says Patrick.
The record includes collaborations with UK Bengali musician Idris Rahman on flute (Soothsayers, Anoushka Shankar, Wildflower, Zoe Rahman); and Irish musicians Seán Mac Erlaine on Bass Clarinet; Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh (The Gloaming, Underground Resistance) and Justin Grounds on Violin (The Vespertine Quintet, Fir Beag).
The project is phonetically named after the curlew, his favourite bird to be seen around the West Cork area where he now lives, having moved from London in recent years.
Naked Animals’ latest single ‘Money Shot’ is a vibrant and festive song, very much in the style of artists like Prince & Vulfpeck. But behind the upbeat sound is a hard-hitting socio-political message. It tackles the issue of our constant need for stimulation and approval in today’s society.
‘Money Shot’ is the second single from the upcoming E.P ‘Business As Usual’ which is due for release this summer. To celebrate the single the band have released their latest video filmed by Cork artist Jack Ahern. Using a mixture of cream and confetti they successfully managed to both block the entire plumbing system and shoot a sparkly yet saucy video in one day.
Naked Animals have many more things in the pipeline besides cream and confetti though, with the release of their E.P on the horizon they plan on recording their debut album this year along with the imminent announcement of their patreon website.
Dave Thomas O’Corman’s unique mix of intimate indie folk and dreampop continues to attract an avid international following of thousands. His profile has been boosted thanks to some of his own musical heroes. James Taylor recently endorsed Dave’s version of ‘You Can Close Your Eyes’ on social media. Feist gave Dave the chance to showcase his music at her concert in the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire. A recent cover of St. Vincent ’s ‘Slow Disco’ has been watched almost 1 million times on social media receiving over 30 thousand reactions and shares.
As well as performing at the Longitude Festival, Dave has had the privilege of headlining the esteemed Ruby Sessions, and performing in leading Irish venues such as NCH, Whelan’s and The Sugar Club.
Dave’s music has featured on radio both nationally and internationally on stations such as RTÉ Radio 1, BBC, Newstalk FM, Radio Nova, FM 104, Dublin City FM, KCLR 96FM, Shannonside FM, RTE 2XM, Galway Bay FM, Carlow FM, Flirt FM and PLAYIRISH RADIO.
A former winner of the all-Ireland Slógadh music competition, Dave Thomas O’Gorman continued his musical journey with a series of solo EPs, a commercial album release with Square Revolution and live performances all over Ireland and beyond.
‘With No Control’, the indie artist’s latest solo single, will be officially released on 15th April.
Dave has a Master’s Degree in Music & Media Technologies from Trinity College Dublin, and he also studied Music Production for Video Games & Film at Griffith College and Pulse College, Windmill Lane.
Great art has the power to somehow articulate the abstract, to explain the inexplicable. After a year of turmoil beyond words singer-songwriter Sean Murphy, has channeled this swirling darkness in to a hauntingly beautiful album: ‘The Dark Below & The Isle of Dogs’.
Originally from Cork, Ireland, living in Dublin and having spent the last 12 months in London, Sean Murphy has seen this last disastrous year through the lens of an artist. Working under the moniker All The Queen’s Horses, Murphy has crafted a raw, guttural and emotive response to what he has observed as a darkness bleeding across the land and in to all of our lives. A twisted narrative is weaved in folktronica-rock; a patchwork of poetry, cello, synths and mournful pianos. A kind of warped, contemporary tapestry, the story of 2020 unfolds in low light and fun-house mirrors.
As a production, ‘The Dark Below & The Isle of Dogs’ has been something of a family affair – fitting for a year in which we have retreated into tight confines and familial bubbles. Murphy’s heavily pregnant wife, Sinead provided backing vocals; Uncle, Kevin Murphy (Slow Moving Clouds, Blindstitch) played cello and long time friend, Darragh Molloy, added further backing vocals. A makeshift community around the record gives it a feeling of collage and layering, something tangible and tactile. The resulting 14 tracks tap in to the national psyche, unlocking an almost freudian out-pouring of grief, darkness and trouble. Most of the record was made overlooking the Isle of Dogs from which it takes its name. Darkness became the overriding theme, a constant pandemic gloom through a rollercoaster of a year with, impossibly, only downs in place fo ups.
Astoundingly this is Murphy’s first full album. Murphy began playing the piano as a child, later exploring synths and guitars and playing in some college bands. The odd inertia of 2020 has provided a space (albeit a dark one) for him to really focus and produce a stunning body of work. There is a winding narrative to navigate here; from a relationship going ‘spectacularly and staggeringly wrong’ in ‘Raised By Wolves’ to a protagonist at war with their own demons in ‘The Dark Below’, the listener is invited into a gloomy theatre of self doubt, implosion and human flaws. With a first single set to drop as spring begins to lift in 2021, others will follow with a planned full album release in early autumn. With live performances lined up, 2021 promises to be a year of a different kind of change for All The Queen’s Horses.
The 14 songs on the album plus the hidden track of ‘The Dark Below and The Isle of Dogs’ were produced by producers David Virgin (SPK, Sekret Sekret), Rohan Healy and Al Quiff at Beardfire Studio in Dublin. The production team, made up of father and sons who have worked with the likes of Nick Cave, INXS, Leslie Dowdall (In Tua Nua), Mary Black, The Cruel Sea, Cat Power, Billy Bragg and Lloyd Cole – on stage or in the studio – during their six decades of musical experience together, to name but a few.
Singer & songwriter Tiz McNamara, who produced the songs (‘The Dark Below’, ‘Close Your Eyes & Think Of England’, ‘A Letter Of Recommendation To The Angels’), has already toured with James Bay and his songs reached over 15 million streams on Spotify.
The album will be released in autumn 2021, with 3 singles and videos upfront, kicking off with the single, ‘Raised By Wolves’ and ‘The Ides Of March’ , as an A/B side which was released on 26 March 2021.
The band All The Queen’s Horses is ready to conquer the stages and will play several European showcase festivals in 21/22.
Fontaines D.C. are one of the most lauded alternative rock bands to emerge from Ireland in recent years. They released their critically acclaimed debut album ‘Dogrel’ in 2019 which went on to be nominated for the Mercury Prize and the Choice Music Prize. They’ve toured extensively worldwide selling out shows in iconic venues such as the Brixton Academy and playing renowned festivals such as Glastonbury Festival.
They also performed on the hugely popular American talk show, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Their follow up to ‘Dogrel’, ‘A Hero’s Death’ was released on July 31st to rapturous reviews and was nominated for a GRAMMY in the Best Rock Album category and the band have also just picked up a Brit Award nomination for ‘Best International Group’.
Other Voices are delighted to share the band’s electric set from the iconic location of Kilmainham Gaol which was filmed during the Courage series, in its entirety. This one off special episode will contain a never before seen interview and performances that have not been previously broadcast on television. Tune in to RTÉ2 and the RTÉ Player at 11pm on April 8th – it’s not to be missed.
A performance from the Kilmainham set was played as the opening act to U2’s live stream of their iconic 1983 concert at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado. This stream was shown on U2’s official YouTube channel as part of their Virtual Road series. In 2021, Fontaines D.C. have been nominated for a prestigious Libera Award for best Live / Livestream Act for this performance.
Other Voices Series 19, presented by May Kay and Huw Stephens, will run for 10 weeks, and will include compelling and uplifting performances that capture in full flight the brilliant diversity of the most exciting Irish voices creating the soundtrack to our lives right now.
RTÉ2 & RTÉ PLAYER | THURSDAYS | 11.00PM
Other Voices Founder Philip King, said: “On July 14th last year a remarkable gig took place behind the walls of Kilmainham at the height of lockdown as part of the Other Voices Courage series. On that evening Fontaines D.C. played music from their about to be released album ‘A Heroes Death’. Grian Chatten, says the album’s name was inspired by a line from Brendan Bethan’s play the hostage..”If we give ourselves every breath, we are all in the running for a Hero’s Death”. The Jail was the perfect location for this heroic music, echoing its turbulent past with energy and passion. It was a unique and inspiring performance.“
Justin Healy, Executive Producer at RTÉ, said: “RTE is very proud to be involved in this long-running and much loved series. The Irish music scene, despite its particular challenges right now, has arguably never been so rich in new talent and we’re delighted to feature so many of them on Other Voices this season. Viewers can enjoy the show on Thursdays on RTÉ2 or on catch-up at their convenience on RTÉ Player.“
‘Hold Your Head Up’ is an uplifting, positive, timeless song, full of hope from Francie Conway. It’s the first single from the highly acclaimed album ‘Hidden Gems’, selected not by the artists, but by radio…
“While going through emails looking for music to go on our ‘Locked Down/Still Rocking Out’ slot, I came across ‘Hold Your Head Up’ (the old Argent song – the original of which I love) on Francie Conway’s new album ‘Hidden Gems’. I thought, this is going to be awful or brilliant. It was unusual, but brilliant!
I said to myself, someone is being very clever here, creating a really interesting re-interpretation of a song everyone knows, that everyone will hum along/sing to, and it’s less than three minutes, made for radio!!” Mike Maloney, Music One Ireland.
The seeds for this album ‘Hidden Gems’ were sown when The Zombies were inducted to the Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame in March 2019 in New York City. Due to this achievement widespread interest has grown in the band members individual projects which include ARGENT, Colin Blunstone and The Chris White Experience.
Francie and Chris have a longstanding musical relationship since the 80’s and Francie is featured on three of the albums from The Chris White Experience; these songs are also included on ‘Hidden Gems’.
‘Hidden Gems’ is a feelgood rock album with some outstanding performances from many iconic musicians, including:
Tim Renwick (Pink Floyd), Russ Ballard (ARGENT), Russ also wrote many classic songs including ‘God Gave Rock’n’Roll To You’, ‘Since You’ve Been Gone’, plus so many more… John Verity (ARGENT), Jim Rodford (ARGENT/The Kinks), Bob Henrit (ARGENT), Vivienne Boucherat & Chris White (The Zombies), Jan Akkerman (FOCUS), Christy Dignam (Aslan), Finbar Furey (The Fureys), Gerry O’Connor (Joe Bonamassa/The Dublin Legends), Keith Donald & Matt Kelleghan (Moving Hearts) plus many more..
One of the hidden gems is a first recording of a new song written by Paul Williams, Oscar and GRAMMY award winning songwriter, with Keith Donald and arranged by Fiachra Trench.
A hidden gem from the archives, a live recording from a TV show in RTÉ Dublin 1974, when Francie was just a kid!!
Irish singer-songwriter Rory & The Island has just released the video for his brand new single ‘Miss This’ – out now. ‘Miss This’ explores the basic little joys we all miss during this crazy situation, and has become a firm favourite during Rory & The Island’s successful weekly Facebook Live broadcasts which have built up something of a cult following with an average of 30,000 weekly views over the past year.
Speaking about the video for ‘Miss This’ Rory & The Island said: “It was a simple concept of creating a contrast between old images of normal lively scenes of life such as music festivals, gigs, football games and busy cafes etc against the backdrop of being stuck indoors with my family during lockdown just waiting around and trying to pass the time without going insane, I filmed it on my phone and just edited it all together with old footage I had on memory sticks. My two sons Aidan (5) and Shay (2) , played their parts perfectly and deserve an MTV award. Strangely when I watched it back a week later it looked and sounded less like a lockdown video and more like a mid-life crisis! I hope this flaw makes it timeless, haha.”
Rory & The Island has had 12 Top 20 iTunes singles in Ireland in the past decade. His most recent single ‘When The Lights Go Down (Valhalla)’ reached Number 1 in early November 2020 and raised a few eyebrows when it kept Miley Cyrus, Lizzo and Dermot Kennedy off the top spot for the weekend. The single also climbed to Number 8 in the UK iTunes Songwriters chart.
Rory’s journey began as lead singer of indie-rock band The Revs, who alongside being hotly tipped by the likes of U2, found themselves topping the Irish charts with two top 5 albums and a string of successful tours that made waves throughout Ireland, Europe and even reached Australia with a top 30 single – as well as beating Damien Rice, Relish and Six to take both the Meteor IRMA award and the Hot Press Award for Best Newcomer. After the bands split in 2007, Rory moved to a remote island in the Canaries where he opened a live music venue ‘The Island Bar’.
It was there the Donegal songwriter performed weekly residency shows building up a following of people from all over the world that would travel to the island to come and see him perform. It was also here that Rory & The Island was born – with Rory Gallagher beginning his solo project under the name to avoid any confusion with the Ballyshannon/Cork Blues Legend. Two albums later, Rory & The Island independently earned himself 8 top 30s, 2 top 10s and a Number 1 single in the Irish Charts alongside performing all over the UK and Ireland supporting the likes of Ocean Colour Scene, Feeder and Alabama 3. 2019 saw Rory leave the island, return back to Ireland and extensively tour, filling out rooms around the UK and Ireland with his London show at The Dublin Castle selling out within 48 hours of going on sale.
In March 2020, Rory and his wife Cara announced the opening of a new music venue ‘The Wildcat’ in Edinburgh, sadly due to the Coronavirus pandemic it never reached its official opening night on the 21st March. Ever productive, Rory & The Island has spent the past 11 months writing and releasing new music and performing gigs through Zoom and Facebook continuing to build up a strong fanbase.
‘Miss This’ the brand new single from Rory & The Island is out now across all digital platforms.
