Author: Breffni Banks

London and Dublin based Keelan X marks his stunning return to the world of music with his reflective single ‘No Fall of Rome’, set for release 11/11/21.

The new track conjures the grandeur of its title and the multi-layered style Keelan X has to life and music. A texturally rich, guitar-led atmospheric exploration coloured with retro-pop synth sounds, No Fall of Rome builds on the artist’s late 70s & 80s pop/rock influences, lyrically exploring themes of agency and fortitude in life, no matter what shows up.

“There’s a synergy between how you live and what you write…it’s inevitable. ‘No Fall of Rome was’ born out of a fascination I have with both Rome and people’s journeys. Freud referred to the mind as being like Rome (in Civilisation and its Discontents) with a long rich past. It all begins in the mind and how you manage it. I’d seen people in different life-stages entertaining giving up on themselves a bit – letting their earlier hopes and dreams slip. I liked the metaphor of Rome and your life as having all the attributes of a city and hypothesising that there ain’t no fall of Rome gonna happen on my watch.” – Keelan X

Thematically the song signals the artist’s observations reflected through his own personal journey. Keelan X (real name Keelan Cunningham) found success with co-founding and front-manning late 90s indie-pop band The Marigolds with who he toured Ireland, played US and UK gigs, released two acclaimed EPs, and received coveted television and radio coverage. The artist suffered a blow in the late noughties when his laptop and hard drives were stolen, practically erasing a years’ worth of recorded songs overnight.

“I took the disappearance of my songs at that time as a sign that now was not the time… Now roughly 10 years on, I felt compelled to go dust off my guitar buried in my parent’s attic and over the last 9 months have thrown myself into recording the most part of an album”

Cunningham had found himself on the verge of bankruptcy and knew he had to make a change. The artist spent the decade building his web technology business and getting into property investment development, all the while developing a more spiritual side. Diving into yoga and literature, Keelan excavated his own depths, pushing his boundaries, which in turn took him to back to music.

Audiences can look forward to hearing ‘No Fall of Rome’ on 11/11/21.

Podge Lane has announced his debut album, “Outer Monologues”. The LP is set to release on November 26th, 2021 via his self-run Teip Records.

Receiving notoriety for the records’ singles, “Reasons to Scream” and “The Party”, Lane provides a further glimpse into the album with the final single, “Hey Bartender”. Opening the door onto the trill of a late night honky tonk piano, “Hey Bartender” gives a glimpse into the bar from a perspective of escapism and loneliness.

Lane’s expressive sound and painfully honest lyrics have gained him acclaim as a “serious one-to-watch” by Hot Press Magazine. Lane has been play-listed and gained popular airplay across Ireland, the UK and the US and possesses a unique talent for melding alt-country stylings with honest lyricism to conjure intimate stories.

Written in early 2021, Podge Lane describes “Outer Monologues” as an album-long wander, set between the hours of 6pm and 11am.

I started writing early in the year and had this idea of this one long walk, we meet the character, get to know him, watch him fall apart and build himself back up. Simple premise, but with some fun (and not so fun) twists and turns.

The records DIY spirit can be seen in its minimal personnel list. Lane plays the majority of instruments along with solo producing and mixing, with Peter O’ Sullivan on keys duty and Rebecca Dermody on backing vocals.

I wanted to record as much of this album as possible on my own at home, to really make it feel like theres a band playing this one guys thoughts in his head, but in reality it’s just him.

Lane’s debut record, “Outer Monologues” comes out November 26th.

When Irish musician and producer Enda Gallery released his debut album ‘The Journey to Zero’ in April 2020 under his old name delush, the Irish artist had collaborated with a diverse range of talents: Kid Simius, Dead Rabbit, Nobody’s Face and written/produced for Tolü Makay, Willzee and Strange Boy. His history of producing and enabling these unconventional artists across many genres have gifted him the capability to thoughtfully mix his skills, self-determination, and empathy with the mastery of his own presence inside of a song.

Now, releasing under his own name, Gallery teams up with Grammy-nominated producer duo Christian Rich in ‘So Easy Pt. II’, the innovative sequel of his lush pop ballad ‘So Easy’, released on his 2020 debut album ‘Journey to Zero’.

There’s a unifying theme among the most progressive tracks that Drake, Childish Gambino, J.Cole, Earl Sweatshirt, Jay Sean and Vince Staples have released in the last decade: the musical duo behind their production, Christian Rich. Innovative beats produced by twins Kehinde and Taiwo Hassan have been gracing albums by the biggest names in Hip-Hop since 2001. The creatives’ strength lay in their flexibility, which enables them to engineer sounds that complement the unique strengths of each artist they work with. And now they join masterminds with County Clare based artist Enda Gallery. 

“I wrote the original ‘So Easy’ when I gave up thinking that there would ever be an end to the tricks of the mind, the stresses and challenges that ripped me from momentary balance.

Self-compassion and forgiveness were the answers.” (Enda Gallery)

 

Enda Gallery is an artist with a real purpose, and that is to create beautiful and liberating art. He takes influence from genre defying artists such as Frank Ocean and Prince – mixed with the deep sincerity of songwriters like Sufjan Stevens, Alicia Keys and even Freddie Mercury. His fresh sense of creative deliverance provides some of the truest realisations and experiences in his songs.

Beyond the purpose of Enda Gallery’s craft are his goals as an artist. To create deep, innovative, and meaningful music as well as images, films and messages that connect with as many people around the world as possible. To in turn create an inspiring world.

 ‘So Easy, Pt. II’ by Enda Gallery & Christian Rich is out now on all digital platforms.
 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/endagallerymusic/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/endagallerymusic

Twitter: https://twitter.com/endagallery/status/1337544847733952512

YouTube: http://bit.ly/2OmGRLK

Spotify: http://spoti.fi/3uOFGp0

Apple Music: http://apple.co/2O0wqgK

Part three of Ruby Moss’ Climate Trilogy was released on November 1^st to mark World Vegan Month and COP26

‘We Can Change’ is a strong song, lyrically and musically, and has a message that we all need to hear.

Although this is the third song released as part of Ruby’s Trilogy, it was in fact the first song what she wrote on a climate theme and she wrote it when she was still in 6^th class in Primary school at age 12.

This song is a Bandcamp exclusive exclusive for now and you can find ‘We Can Change’ with her other #1 hit songs on her Bandcamp page.

All of Ruby’s Songs are sold in aid of Jigsaw for Youth Mental Health and Go Vegan World.

The lyrics speak for themselves, so here they are;

We Can Change 

Earth is falling apart right here right now

It’s falling apart because of us

Creatures die every day, innocent creatures

Creatures are killed because of us

We Can Change this x 3

Trees destroyed by the second

Thousands of trees

How will we breathe

What have we done

Plastic throughout the land

Polluting the oceans

Environment dies

Because of us

We Can Change this x 3

People live in poverty

Living in sadness

Cannot do much

Because of us

People judged by their skin

judged by their race

By their beliefs

Because of us

We did all of this

We need a change

We need it soon before it’s too late

Whispered

Innocent Creatures die everyday

How will we breathe

What have we done

Living in Sadness it’s falling part

We can change this

We will change this

We must change this

We Can Change! 

The City and Us – an Irish four-piece made up of Elva Trill, Mark Hogan, Stephen Youster and Stephen Reilly. Their sound is a mixture of indie, rock and pop.

Elva – who has a background in performance as an actor – and Mark – a singer/songwriter – decided to collaborate on music after years of friendship. They captured this moment in Elva’s kitchen one August afternoon in a 60 second clip they uploaded to Instagram garnering plenty of attention online and eventually leading to an offer of an opening slot with fellow Irish band Keywest on their tour of England and Ireland.

Both Elva and Mark said yes immediately and began feverishly writing and rehearsing brand new songs to perform for a crowd in Birmingham just days later. With the prospect of being asked to open the final date of the tour at the Olympia Theatre in Dublin, Elva and Mark recruited the final two members – Stephen Youster and Stephen Reilly – the band’s guitarist/music producer and drummer.

In January 2017, the foursome became The City and Us. The name itself arose from a conversation Mark and Elva had after watching the film ‘Charlie Countryman’ in which the lead character travels to Bucharest and falls in love with everything about it. This was something that had happened to them both many times whilst traveling alone to new and beautiful cities, and meeting new people.

In July of 2017, they headlined their own show at the infamous Whelan’s of Dublin. That night, they released another video – a cover of The Chainsmokers ‘Paris’. This time the instruments were an acoustic guitar and a table of cutlery and glasses filled with water. The cover received high praise, going as far as reaching the singer on the original track – Emily Warren – who has said she loved the creativity with which it was done.

After the show at Whelan’s, the band got the opportunity to headline a festival in Zittau, Germany. Then it was back to the studio to write and record new music. They also released a third video covering Calum Scott’s version of ‘Dancing on my Own’, which was shot in a field in the Irish countryside and caught the attention of a few Irish media outlets such as Joe.ie. Finally, they prepared to play Electric Picnic.

In 2018, the band was offered a spot at the Ho-Hai-Yan festival in Taipei, Taiwan. The rock festival, held on Fulong Beach in July, was jam-packed with over 30,000 people. While in Taipei, the band seized the opportunity to shoot their next music video for the song ‘Something Better. ‘Something Better’ released 29th March 2019 followed by a tour of Ireland, UK and mainland Europe once again opening for Keywest.

In February 2020, The City and Us released their single “Just For You” leading to national radio airplay and a music video made up tour footage shot by the band and clips from live shows and previous music videos. The release was marked by a packed out headline show in Dublin’s Lost Lane.

Post-Pandemic, The City and Us are ready to pick up where they left off having spent much of the time in lockdowns writing and recording behind the scenes. This begins with new single “Save Me”

‘Kin’ is the eagerly awaited second solo album from Damien McGeehan. It differs greatly from his previous solo offering, the critically acclaimed ‘The Tin Fiddle’, which was an exploration of looping and multi tracking a tin fiddle to create ensemble like arrangements from one instrument.

‘Kin’ is a band album featuring several tracks of Damien’s own composition. The arrangements incorporate influences from many other genres including jazz, rockabilly and Senegalese kora music. The glorious voice of Shauna Mullin features on three powerfully delivered songs.

The album was produced by Damien & Seán Óg Graham, and features a stellar line up of musicians, including Pauline Scanlon and Shauna Mullin on vocals, Kieran Munnelly on flute and whistles, Liam Bradley on drums/percussion, Conor McCreanor on bass, John McCullough on piano/Hammond organ, Rory Hoffman on clarinet, James Simmons on trumpet and Jeff Adams on trombone..

McGeehan has been heavily influenced by other genres of music and these influences present themselves in the arrangements as well as in the fiddle playing, particularly in the improvised passages where you can hear elements of jazz and double stop runs that come from bluegrass/western swing fiddle styles. He has worked primarily as a session musician the past number of years contributing to hundreds of recordings on fiddle mandolin and guitar as well as touring with artists internationally. He is one of the trio of Donegal fiddlers ‘Fidil’, along with Ciarán O Maonaigh and Aidan O’Donnell

‘Kin’, has been in the works for a few years due to the busy work schedules of everyone involved, further scuppered by a certain pandemic. The wait is over.

Kin was recorded with support of The Arts Council and Music Network. It’s available to purchase or download from www.damienmcgeehan.com

Dublin-based Kilkenny-born indie pop artist Cat Dowling has announced that her new 11-track long-player, to be released via Forever In Financial Arrears Records (FIFA Records) on November 12th, will be called ‘Animals’.

There have been three singles released from the album so far, and are assembled here to whet your appetite for the full thing.

Lauded as one of the most wonderful and evocative vocalists in Irish contemporary music, Cat Dowling’s beautifully dark pop songs and those husky and achingly intimate vocals will grip you from the outset. The former Babelfish and Alphastates frontwoman creates well-crafted songs that inspire.

Produced by Gerry Horan with Dowling as co-producer, and mixed by Ger McDonnell (The Cure, U2, Van Morrison, Martha Wainwright, Shane McGowan, Sinead O’Connor), Dowling’s latest output was partially recorded at Crossroads Studio in Kilkenny with support from Ireland’s Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media.

In 2013, Dowling debuted with ‘The Believer’ LP, ranked in numerous ‘Best of Year’ music polls, including The Sunday Times. The title track featured in the second series of ‘Banshee’, produced by Alan Ball (Six Feet Under, American Beauty, True Blood) and the ‘Witches of East End’ TV series, featuring Julia Ormond. The song ‘Somebody Else’ was also used in ‘My name is Emily’. Cat has also lent vocals on many collaborative projects, including for ABC’s ‘How To Get Away With Murder’ with Emmy-winning actress Viola Davis.

FIFA Records is a steadily expanding label, who have continuously worked with exciting new Irish talent (Fight Like Apes, One Morning in August, Klubber Lang, Hope is Noise, Dae Kim, Lorraine Nash), as well as releasing material from more established names on the Irish indie scene, such as The Frank & Walters, Emperor of Ice Cream, August Wells, Power of Dreams and Whipping Boy.

‘Animals’ is released November 12, fans can expect the release of the full album digitally, as well as on CD and limited-edition cassette.