Author: Breffni Banks

Dublin art-rock quintet Silverbacks are today sharing “Rolodex City”, the latest track to be taken from their upcoming new album Archive Material which is set for release on January 21^st 2022 and via Full Time Hobby. Pre-order the album here.

The band have also announced a string of dates shortly after the album’s release, taking place in Ireland and UK from March.

As Silverbacks release more new music from the follow-up to their Choice Music Prize-nominated debut album Fad, a picture of the band’s sardonic, often surrealist view of the characters and communities in their lives becomes clearer. New track “Rolodex City” is perhaps the most forensic in how it approaches its story of the latest anti-hero to find themselves under the Silverbacks microscope. Vocalist and guitarist Daniel O’Kelly comments further on the song.

“Rolodex City is about a property mogul who has fallen on very hard times during a period where technology has changed the way his business and people work. Similar to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid getting caught out by the trains, bicycles and an increasingly small world, Mr Rolodex is running out of options. He visits a town in a barren landscape with the hope of flipping a bit of land, posing as whatever character the people there will trust – Rolodex City. Ultimately, our anti-hero has no luck and reluctantly ends his trip at a line dance led by Emma – feel free to join in! To help set the scene, we used a live drum sound and contrasting drum machine claps and mechanical percussion. The guitars are inspired by the twang of country music with some Verlaine techniques employed on the solo, for the riff spotters.”

2022 UK / Ireland Tour – Tickets

March

2^nd – Dublin, Whelan’s

6^th – Manchester, Yes Basement

7^th – Liverpool, Jimmy’s

8^th – Bristol, Louisiana

9^th – Brighton, Prince Albert

10^th – London, Sebright Arms

11^th – The Loft, Portsmouth

Silverbacks: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Spotify | Apple | YouTube

Photo credit: Róisín Murphy O’Sullivan

A new single, “Mountaineering”, is on the way from Josh Johnston

The second step in the rollout of the forthcoming full-length album “Reasons To Fly”, “Mountaineering” is a song written by Dublin songwriter Ronan Swift

Find the single from 29th November at streaming and digital download sites, and from Bandcamp via www.joshjohnston.com

Hot on the heels of the single “Strange Weirdos” in September, “Mountaineering”  picks up the pace a little with a positive, melodic and hopeful riff on the notion of triumph despite adversity – a tune for our times.  Josh occasionally plays in the band of the song’s writer Ronan Swift, a talented and erudite composer who divides his time between teaching, writing songs and playing cricket.

The song is performed by a band of versatile musicians drawn from previous collaborations and friends including Dave Hingerty & Brian Hogan (the rhythm section in Kíla) and Jack Maher (Sharon Shannon, Declan O’Rourke).

Check out the recent video produced for “Strange Weirdos” on YouTube as well as Josh’s forthcoming podcast series unveiling new songs and chatting to various collaborators on the forthcoming record about all things life and music.

Due to Covid, there are no live gigs to promote this release.  Josh is, however, looking forward to playing the songs from the album live in the Spring.

www.joshjohnston.com // Facebook @joshbdjohnston // Twitter @jbdjohnston // Instagram @jbdjohnston2018

Girl Band announce that, with immediate effect, they will be changing their name to Gilla Band;

“We are changing our band name. We will no longer be performing or releasing records under the name Girl Band. We apologise for choosing a misgendered name in the first place and to anyone who has been hurt or affected by it. When we were starting off it was chosen without much thought, from a place of naivety and ignorance. We had no grasp of the weight of it at the time and in the past few years have found it impossible to justify or explain this choice.  Regardless of our intention the effect of the name has been damaging to individuals. To try and negate any unfortunate role we’ve played in propagating a culture of non-inclusivity in music or otherwise, we have decided to change it. Thank you to those who spoke up about it and educated us on this, either directly or indirectly. Moving forward we will be performing and releasing records under the name Gilla Band. Gilla being a given name taken from Old Irish”.

Gilla Band will be playing a residency at Whelan’s, Dublin across three weekends in January 2022, where they’ll be performing new music. Tickets will go on pre-sale to mailing list subscribers on Wednesday 17th November at 10am and will be on general sale on Thursday 18th November from 10am. They will play a sold out NYE show at Dolans in Limerick on Dec 31^st 2021.

They will also be supporting IDLES on their February 2022 European Tour.

Forthcoming Tour Dates:

31^st Dec 2021 – Dolans NYE Show, Limerick – SOLD OUT

14^th Jan 2022 – Whelans, Dublin

21^st Jan 2022 Whelans, Dublin

29^th Jan 2022 Whelans, Dublin

The band burst onto the scene in 2015 with their debut album Holding Hands with Jamie, stunning audiences with their furious, confrontational, visceral noise and singer Dara Kiely’s cleverly meandering screeds. The record won universal acclaim from outlets such as NPR, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, NME, SPIN, Mojo, Irish Times, The Guardian and many more. Following a two-year hiatus, the group came together in late 2018 to record their follow-up, The Talkies, at Ballintubbert House, a stately manor on the outskirts of Dublin. The Talkies was released in Sept 2019, again to huge acclaim leading Billboard to comment,“A sophomore album as raucous, pile-driving, Dadaist and primal as we’ve come to expect from the Dublin outfit”, and NME to write,“They’ve outdone themselves this time”.  September 2020 saw the release of a blistering live album,‘ At Vicar Street’.

Gilla Band are Dara Kiely (vocals), Daniel Fox (bass), Adam Faulkner (drums), Alan Duggan (guitar)

Pre sale https://singularartists.ie/show/gilla-band-pre-sale/

Photo by Steve Gullick

https://gillaband.com/

Bayonets is a solo project created by the Irish Co, Kerry musician and songwriter Vinnie Flynn.

His distinctive style is a mix of alternative rock, indie, blues and folk. In addition to writing and performing live, Vinnie also works with several publishing companies based in the US who pitch his compositions to prime time TV shows and movies. His body of work conjures haunting intrigue, each melody luring the listener into a dark and beguiling tale. Bayonet’s sound is undeniably his own and unclassifiable in any one genre.

Vinnie has performed at some of the biggest and best Irish music festivals including Electric Picnic, Vantastival and K-Fest.Vinnie will be playing a string of gigs and festivals in 2022, having just relocated to Barcelona Spain.

His new single ”Cheap Cravat’ recorded by a new upcoming Barcelona based producer ”Castell” was released on October 29th.  The release gig was held in Barcelona, Spain on November 13th 2021.

All three of Vinnie’s singles have been premiered by Hot Press Magazine and have made Joe.ie’s song of the day. The tracks have received regular radio play on RTE’s 2fm. They’ve even hit airwaves as far as Brooklyn, United States.

Eastbound Dublin proudly presents Coach Party + M(h)aol live at The Workman’s Club, 6th February 2022.

M(h)aol released their power EP ‘Gender Studies’ which followed an explosive a sold out headline show at The Workman’s Club, Cellar in November ‘21.

On the EP, lead vocalist Róisín says, “Gender Studies weaves past and present in an exploration of how the construct of gender shapes our lives. From feeling like you’re not performing your gender right to the way it shapes how we move through the physical, sexual and romantic sphere it marries urgent lyrics with a threatening yet (blank) sound.”

The band has received high praise from Rough Trade, Hot Press, Nialler9 and many more.

Emerging Isle of Wight four-piece Coach Party released their EP ‘After Party’ in early April 2020 via Chess Club Records. The EP features ‘Everybody Hates Me’ and previous single ‘Can’t Talk, Won’t’, which received rapturous support from the likes of BBC Radio 6 Music’s Steve Lamacq, Jack Saunders (who crowned the track a Next Wave) on BBC Radio 1, and Radio X’s John Kennedy. The band rounded off 2020 with Ones To Watch tips from Dork, The Daily Star, and Radio X – with continuous support from tastemakers The FADER, NME, The Line Of Best Fit, DIY, CLASH, Music Week, Fred Perry as well as national newspapers such as the i and The Observer.

Tickets €14.00 available now from www.singularartists.ie

Connect with M(h)aol Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Spotify

‘Mistake’ is Sparkle’s third release from their debut EP titled ‘Long Way Home’.

The track is a feel-good break up anthem with a pop/rock sound and is literally about learning from your past heartbreaks, making the single a very relatable one to listeners. It is about learning you are better off without this person that drains you of all your energy and trust. It is about moving on with your life after a bad break up.

‘Mistake’ is due for release 19.11.21.

Sparkle are a five-piece pop/rock band based in Cork, Ireland. They consist of Caroline Bailey (Lead Vocal) who is also an contestant on RTE’s ‘Last Singer Standing’, Jen Bowler (Acoustic Guitar/Backing Vocals), Dave Bowman (Drums/Percussion), Ian Carey (Bass) and Tadgh Sheehan (Lead Guitar). The female-fronted outfit have developed a melodic yet fierce and engaging sound. They like to set the bar higher by incorporating a wide range of influences into their music to make their music unique and stand out from the crowd.

The band originally started out as a two piece making videos online in 2017, one of their first covers was Ed Sheeran’s ‘Castle on The Hill’ which went viral and gained them radio support from Cork’s 96fm. The band have graced the stages of Whelans, Electric Picnic, National Concert Hall, Dublin Pride, Cork Pride which allowed them to perform alongside acts such as Kodaline, Gavin James and Stephanie Rainey.  They also got a fantastic opportunity performing at outing festival and also played at the Sko Awards in Tokyo, Japan for Trend Micro. They have supported acts such as Ryan O’Shaughnessy, Niamh Kavanagh and Johnny Logan to name a few. The band are currently at work on their upcoming debut studio EP.

Sparkle are unique because of the interplay between Caroline and Jen, who both do an excellent job fronting the band and fill up the room with passion, charisma and undeniable energy. Their live performance is captivating, with the group being able to connect with the audience in a personal way. With previous support from RTE 2FM, Planet Radio and Cork’s Red FM, Sparkle are definitely a band to keep all eyes and ears on.

Twitter  Facebook  Instagram  Spotify

Irish alternative r&b soul artist Helen Murray’s powerful, vocal driven, and heartbreaking sophomore release ‘Move Me’  has been making waves in the music scene since it’s release on the 5th November 2021.

Her second single follows a highly successful debut with ‘Thank You’, which charted at No.1 on iTunes, featured on Nialler9 and We Plug Good Music, and garnered airplay across RTE Pulse, RedFM, Cork’s 96fm, 98fm, among others.

Originally from Cork but now based in Dublin, Helen wrote ‘Move Me’ in her childhood home on the piano that started her musical journey. ‘Move Me’ details a whirlwind romance that ultimately ends in disappointment and heartache. The lyrics are raw, conversational and talk about a situation where you invest in someone, and you discover down the line they’re putting their time, energy and love into someone else. The song is emotive and deals with feelings of desire, loss and anger.

“Do you want me to come over in the middle of the night? Is all my worth to you a bit on the side?”.

Helen explains, “I guess I was writing from the perspective of the ‘other woman’, a side that is not often spoken about. I had to deal with the realisation of knowing I needed to move on and navigate my way out of that situation, while also still harbouring feelings for the person. It was a difficult and confusing place to be in.”

Helen Murray wrote and arranged ‘Move Me’, an R&B Contemporary Soul Ballad and also co-produced it alongside producer RVSTLESS (Tomike, Melina Malone, Tobi-A). Helen also worked with producer Adam Shanahan (Nealo, Bobbi Arlo, Shiv) who recorded and edited the vocals for ‘Move Me’’.

‘Move Me’ is out on all streaming platforms.

Find out more below:

Instagram | Facebook | Twitter |TikTok | Website

Rising electro-pop artist Vale returns on Friday 12th November with the beautifully atmospheric single, ‘Allow and Breach’.

The Tipperary-based producer and vocalist has been quietly building his catalogue and prolifically testing the waters with previous singles like ‘Tore It Down’ and ‘The Sun Is My Filter’. Collaborating with people like Nashville-based producer Owen Lewis, Icelandic musician Sin Fang (of the band Seabear) and producer, multi-instrumentalist David O’Connor, Vale is the new project of Eoin Hally, who will be familiar to many from his previous band, Pale Rivers.

Although Vale is yet to play live, having been conceptualised just before the dawn of lockdown in Ireland, the USA and Iceland, an incredible electronic live show is in the works with a full four piece band that includes Alex Ridley (HousePlants, Daithí) on drums, David O’Connor (Pale Rivers, The Workshop Studio) on Ableton and samples duty, Kate Twohig on piano and OP1 and Hally himself on vocals and, as he puts it, a whole bunch of synths.

Speaking about ‘Allow and Breach’, Vale says:  “’Allow and Breach’ is about inner conflict. It’s about wanting, more than anything, to give someone more than you can ultimately offer, and accepting this reality that we are bound by. The realisation that in a moment of crisis, when someone you love is in danger, the only role you can play is that of being there, in the moment. When no one else is.”

Without a doubt, Vale is Hally’s most striking musical project to date; one that showcases honed writing skills and production that isn’t afraid to push boundaries, but nor is it afraid to show restraint. The result is expansive music that is as lush as it is sparse, with just the right level of restraint in between crescendos. This is music that is crying out to be experienced underneath a stretch tent, resplendent with an immersive AV show.