Author: Breffni Banks

‘THIS CHRISTMAS’ is the Christmas single from Pete and Tom On Song which is out now on Spotify, iTunes etc.

Pete and Tom On Song are Pete Nugent and Tom O’Brien, two gentlemen of a certain age, who have returned to music after a long absence.

Since 2019 they have released eight singles. Aided and abetted by Aingeala D Búrca(ex In Tua Nua) on violin, they plan more releases in January and March of 2022.

They record at Floodplain Studios in Clontarf with Graham Watson engineering, co-producing and mastering.

‘This Christmas’ is a song about realising that being with the one you love  is the only thing that can keep the problems of the world at bay.

Website: www.peteandtomonsong.com

Instagram: @pete_and_tom_on_song

Twitter: @peteandtomonso1

Facebook: @PeteAndTomOnSong

Apple: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/pete-and-tom-on-song/1476455033

‘Always’ is a deep dive into the mind of Arn., a song centered around the need for love but explaining why he needs it.

Growing up, Arn. always felt out of place and came to realise that catering to different people’s personality traits allowed him to cope with various social situations. This eased the burden, but he hated these sides to who he was. In his late teens, Arn. found someone he could let his guard down with and truly be himself. Therein lay the foundations to ‘Always’.

Growing up in Letterkenny, County Donegal, Aaron Shaw aka Arn.’s penchant for writing infectious pop hooks and his borderless aesthetic is challenging any preconceived notions of what it means to be an artist from rural Ireland.

Having been raised on a diet of classic rock and The Dubliners as a child, he inhaled hundreds of hours of seminal records on family road trips to Waterford and fed his fascination for anthemic pop hits through looping VCR clips of Enrique Iglesias as a child at the weekends.

As his taste developed and the challenges of adolescence unfolded, Arn. found solace in the recommendations of his brother. Blaring Slipknot, Wu Tang Clan, Korn and early pop-punk heroes like Paramore through his bedroom speakers Arn. was able to channel his teenage angst into visceral and emotive records that would come to inform his heart-on-his-sleeve songwriting. Subsequently, the rising act has developed a unique way of borrowing from music before his time and transforming it into future nostalgia indie earworms.

Coupled with a modest but growing discography that shares DNA with the bedroom-pop textures of Clairo and the hook game of indie highflyer Remi Wolf, Arn. is developing a reputation as an act crafting infectious cuts on his own terms. An approach highlighted on ‘White Nikes’ and ‘Alive’, where rather than compromising the rousing instrumentation, the vulnerable lyricism accentuates the sound, pulling his ability to seamlessly marry disparate elements into full focus.

Emboldened by the homogenous and limited pub scene of local musicians, Arn.’s mission statement is fueled by a desire to take the road less travelled. “My surroundings informed what I’m doing now, because I didn’t want to do country. I didn’t want my music to be a direct association of where I’m from. It was the things that weren’t from where I’m from that moulded my taste of music.”

It’s an attitude that won fans in Nialler9, An Nota Ard, DeMars Entertainment and resulted in airtime on Highland Radio, KCLR, Dublin City FM and Tomorrow Radio.

Achievements that hold significant weight when contextualised against the backdrop of a small-town mentality that shuns progressive art and the isolating experience of creating forward facing music in rural Ireland which was further underscored by the national lockdown. However, not to be discouraged by conditions out of his control, Arn. took the extra time granted in 2020 to up his game and fine tune his sound.

“I was releasing a song every 2 weeks at the start of 2021. I Did like 11 I think. That was me on overdrive. It was fun, the creative flow never lapsed but I had no time to do any other music content such as music videos etc. Had to stop then to focus on the bigger picture.”

Now, with a number of singles under his belt and an appetite to bring Letterkenny to the world, Arn. is gearing up to be next up on Ireland’s conveyor belt of DIY trailblazers.

INSTAGRAM |    TWITTER |    FACEBOOK  | SPOTIFY

Christmas is a time for reunions with families and friends but sadly, for a second year in a row, many will be on a screen rather than in person.

It’s a situation captured by Tommy Keyes in his new single ‘Christmas Time With You’, taken from the recent album ‘Radio Days’.

It’s a bluesy pop song featuring a sublime acoustic guitar solo from Dick Farrelly, backing vocals from Ellen O’Mahony of ELKIN,  and a beautiful arrangement for string quartet by Rob Molumby.  Bittersweet, with a quirky humorous undertone, it’s not a traditional Christmas song but perfectly reflects the feeling of the moment.

2021 has been a breakthrough year for Tommy.  In advance of the release of  Radio Days, his sixth album, three of its tracks hit No 1 in the Irish iTunes singer-songwriter chart (Any Other World, Radio Days and The Emigrants’ Blues) helping him clock up almost 400 plays on Irish radio to date this year and over 3000 worldwide. “It’s a gem of an album” , according to Martin Bridgeman of KCLRFM ; “a musical experience that’s as nourishing as it is exciting”, says Jackie Hayden of Hot Press.

Christmas Time With You is available now on all download and streaming platforms.

Carlow-based songwriter-producer Hawk Jupiter has unveiled the music video for fifth single, ‘Cut and Run’, an atmospheric indie-electronica offering which launches on December 10th.

Written in empathy with the many victims of coercive control and domestic violence across the country, the tension-filled track contrasts strikingly stark lyrics with a burgeoning, infectious 80s inspired bassline and tension-filled toms. Sparkling guitars interweave with shimmering synths and textured vocals to create a compelling atmosphere reflective of the subject matter.

The animated video that accompanies the song features an immersive storyline that reflects the perils and fears that can be experienced when living in a situation of domestic abuse.

‘I began writing this song when I had heard about the rising cases of domestic abuse that coincided with the pandemic,’ mentioned Hawk Jupiter (real name Eoin Mulvihill). ‘What started off as an ominous synth riff soon gave birth to a lyric that reflected the many stories I’d heard through the airwaves, from friends and online. I hope that this song increases awareness of this issue, while also providing a sense of empathy to those who are affected or find themselves in a situation where they are experiencing domestic violence or coercive control.’

The song was written amid reports of the shadow pandemic – a term used to refer to the rise of domestic violence that can coincide with a pandemic.

The song can be pre-saved on Spotify here: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/hawkjupiter/cut-and-run

If you or someone you know has been affected by the themes covered in this video, support can be found at the following link: https://www.safeireland.ie/get-help/where-to-find-help/

Hawk Jupiter Social Links:
Instagram
Facebook
Twitter
Soundcloud

Over the last 10 years, Hip Hop in Ireland has transcended through waves of subgenres, taking its journey from Trap to Drill. It is no longer a mystery why the Irish sound has exploded in popularity. Known as a pioneer in Irish hip-hop, Lethal Dialect was one of the first artists to combine an East Coast boom-bap sound with a North Dublin accent, inspiring a remarkable new language for Irish artists to follow suit. Falling under the boom-bap category, Lethal Dialect has championed the sound since his debut LD50 which saw him tackling the bravado, paranoia and instability of his experiences over a sonic amble that both grates and glitters.

Following five albums and the end of the LD50 trilogy, LD has had numerous breakthrough achievements including appearing on the hit television series Love/Hate and Netflix’s classic film Cardboard Gangsters. Songs of a Dead Dreamer, his sixth studio album, take us back to LD’s origins of honest, no nonsense hip-hop. Produced by GI / Bobby Tuna, the 10 track album features assists from Costello, Monk, Mouse, GI and 4Real. Describing what the feel of the album was Lethal Dialect stated “10 years ago I released my first album, LD50. It was just me and a few of my mates smoking joints and making the music we wanted to hear with no agenda. Then you get a couple of decent gigs and a few fans and youthful ego sets in and you chase that a bit and it ends up affecting the music. This was a return to the old way of doing things and to that pure unadulterated sound.”

Inspired by Nas, Tupac, DOOM and Wu-Tang, Paul Alwright has been active since 2006 pioneer for Irish Homegrown Hip Hop. With enough talent and charisma to silence any doubters, LD has become one of Ireland’s most exciting artists to watch. Touring and Collaborating with Damien Dempsey and Maverick Sabre, The Game, Action Bronson and heroes’ Wu-tang Clan. Staring in award-winning film Cardboard Gangsters as well as films written by Roddy Doyle and John Connors. Lethal Dialects artistry continues to grow day by day inspiring and empowering acts to own their sound and accent.

Keep up with Lethal Dialect via:

https://www.instagram.com/lethaldialect/

The new single from 1000 Beasts ‘I Wish’ is a soulful R&B infused track featuring Waterford’s Carrie (Carrie Mullane) on vocals and co-written by Orla Gartland and April. Accompanying the single is the official music video with creative direction from Stephanie Naughter (Jafaris, Soule, RUSHES) and directed by Paul Mahon. ‘I Wish’ is the next offering from 1000 Beasts highly anticipated debut album ‘Naruda’ which is coming in April 2022. Previous singles from the album include collabs with Celia Tiab (Kojaque, Soft Boy Recs), Nigerian Irish poet FELISPEAKS, TOUCAN and Alex Tierney.

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 production work has seen him garner over 15,000,000 streams on Spotify for collaborators songs and his own artist project, and he’s a platinum selling producer thanks to his work on the 2020 hit song ‘Fake Fine’ by Robert Grace.

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 Joshua Burnside (Noa Mercier) & Elaine Malone (You), the latter has just topped 1,000,000 Spotify streams and is featured on the new Café del Mar album Café del Mar  XXVII (Vol. 27).

Most recently 1000 Beasts released ‘For The Honour Of The Pen’ in collaboration with Irish Nigerian poet and performer FELISPEAKS. This led to a collaboration with Body & Soul Festival in conjunction with Sounds From A Safe Harbour on their new film ÉRIU which you can watch here.

Strong blog and radio support has seen 1000 Beasts playlisted on 2FM, Track OF The Week on 2FM, ‘Best Song In The World’ on BBC Introducing Across The Line BBC Ulster and support from EARMILK, Nialler9, Hot Press, District Mag and more.

Carrie, a talented young singer/songwriter, is putting her stamp on the Irish music. Her powerful vocals and ability to pull listeners in and have them hanging on her every word, make her stand out amongst the sea of talent around these days. Originally from Waterford, Carrie studied Popular Music in the Cork School of Music. This is where Carrie found her voice and developed her skills in performance and songwriting. Having featured on ‘Want’ in 2019 with producer and beat-maker 1000Beasts, she has spent some time touring Ireland with his live band for performances at Ireland Music Week in Lost Lane, 1000Beasts live from the Gate Cinema and Rag Week in Cyrus Avenue Cork.

When Cian asked Carrie to feature on his latest release, I Wish, Carrie jumped at the chance to be on the track, it being one of her favourite tracks from his live set; “Recording the track with Cian was an incredible experience and although I didn’t write the lyrics, I felt every word as if they were my own.”

“I Wish was initially written way back in late 2019 on a writing trip in London with April & Orla Gartland, making it one of the oldest tracks on the album. I suppose I always knew it was a little different to everything else on the album, being a lilting waltz, so I always had it in my mind that it would go as the last track on the album. When lockdown rolled around, we had only just started to get the live show on the road of course Carrie is the live vocalist for those shows. It became really obvious to me after one or two gigs that I really wanted to find a way to include her voice and her talent on the album and this track was the answer. We played it live a handful of times already, closing the show with it by getting the crowd to sing along to the harmonies at the end & it always went down a real treat. I asked her if she’d be interested in making it her own and she accepted saying it was her favourite track to perform live, it was that easy really.” – 1000 Beasts

1000 Beasts: Bandcamp  Instagram   Youtube  Facebook  Twitter  Spotify

Carrie: Instagram  Twitter