D. Cullen closes a turbulent 2021 with the best balm that anyone could wish for.
Measured, melodic and mellifluous, “She Is A Song” is the perfect, timeless ode; a lush, strings-laden tribute of monumental proportions to the purest most innocent emotion of all. Love!
“She Is a Song is a departure for me, in that it’s a love song,” D. Cullen admits. “A no frills, full blown, romantic love song!
“I wrote the song on December 22nd, 2018. The night before I had met my friend Sinead McConville for a Christmas drink. One drink became six and we ended up in a lock-in at the pub because we didn’t want to leave. I finally made it home at around 4am with that incredible butterfly-in-the-stomach feeling that occurs when you realise you fancy someone! This song was written as a Christmas Present for her that year and is a tribute to the joy she brings to my, and everyone else’s life. Three years later we now happily live together. It worked out!
“It was mostly recorded in my apartment. Roger (who co-produced and mixed the tune) had the brilliant idea to bring a couple of guest musicians in – Anthony Clark and Ash Soan. Anthony put gorgeous string parts over the track, arranged and played entirely by himself, and Ash put down a brilliant drum part. They have played behind some of the biggest names in the world, giving me something in common with Elton John, Robbie Williams, Rod Stewart, Adele, Rick Astley, Take That, Status Quo, Dua Lipa, ABC…even Tom Cruise, since Ash worked on the Mission Impossible soundtrack! So thank you both!
“She Is A Song” means an incredible amount to me. It will always be a reminder of the first flush of love that I felt for my life partner. It will always be my song for Sinead. But if anyone who listens to it would like to use it as “their” song for their loved one, I will be deeply honoured.”
Kind Pirates, the side project of Ollie Cole, former TURN frontman, release a new video for the song Coming Up Fast.
The video features world famous stuntman JamesG taking on some of the most dangerous stunts ever attempted on Heelys. Cole is very clear here that JamesG is a professional and under no circumstances should any of his millions of fans attempt to pull off any of these potentially treacherous stunts.
Cole says ‘It was great to work with someone like James, to watch him jump and glide and roll. It was quite inspiring to see such grace and beauty whilst in the throws of danger. I would never be brave enough to attempt any of these stunts but it has taught me to take more risks in my own life and I have recently bought a pair of roller blades’
The new video is available to watch now on all streaming platforms.
Creep is the latest release from AVA, the name under which Irish singer/songwriter Éabha McMahon presents her solo work. Creep will be available on all streaming services from Friday 1 st October 2021.
In a marked departure from her normal style, AVA has chosen the Radiohead classic Creep, and given it a whole new twist. Compelling, sinister and joyous all at the same time
Éabha has already garnered world attention for her stunning, unique voice, firstly as part of Anúna, the internationally renowned Irish Choral group and then as principal vocalist with the globally successful Irish music collective Celtic Woman with whom she recorded five albums, filmed three television specials and performed sell out concerts in 20 countries across 6 continents. She has been number one on both Billboard’s World Music Chart and Classical Chart and has received her first Grammy nomination.
Her debut album Wildflower, comprising her original songs that encapsulate the rhythm of the earth, has garnered critical acclaim across the world..
Éabha continues the centuries old Irish tradition of storytelling through song, bringing her own modern contemporary style to the art and often blending English lyrics with her native Irish language that adds a poetic rhythm to her songwriting.
Irish multi-instrumentalist Abbacaxi has served a long and proper musical apprenticeship. Now stepping out on his own, he has a fresh and heartfelt sound that brings positive vibrations and good times. It draws on his love of jazz, funk and disco with very modern dynamics.
Abbacaxi contemplates the need for simplicity with his new single ‘More Than I Need’ which glides from funky 70s Disco to classic House.
“I wrote this track because I was getting tired of the unpredictability of certain things in my life, which had great value. Over time I started to feel that perhaps less is more. Maybe these things weren’t as important as I initially thought, and life could be just as good without them.”
Hailing inspiration from the wonky feel of old-school disco, Abbacaxi add’s simplistic liquid bass lines with a nod to artists of the 90s like St Germain and Laurent Garnier.
Abbacaxi is an intentional misspelling of the Portuguese word for pineapple. With that fruit’s sweet and juicy associations, and the extra ‘b’ a subtle nod to Abba’s sing-song disco sounds, you have a big hint at what to expect from Thomas’s music. Though his fun, effervescent character is reflected in his music, he is just as able to break your heart with his melancholic chords and neo-soul vocals. Musicians as versatile as Abbacaxi don’t come along too often, so strap in and enjoy the ride.
Brendan Murray returns with his new single, “Little Island”.
Available from October 8th on all streaming platforms, “Little Island” is a testament to young love and heartbreak with a sublime acoustic sound, polished by its high production quality and radio-friendly tone. The Galway singer/songwriter collaborated with TikTok star and Irish radio regular, Robert Grace (“Fake Fine”) to co-write this track alongside Mark Caplice (Writer of the 2018 Irish Eurovision Entry).
Since the beginning of 2021, Brendan has headlined a concert in the Maldives and gained over 30k followers on his TikTok account where he regularly posts song covers. His last single release ‘Deep Fake’ was featured as the iRadio ‘Irish track of the month’ and received National Airplay on RTE 2FM, Spin 1038, and other major Irish radio stations.
Brendan began his career with Irish boyband “HomeTown” in 2014. The band achieved two number one singles in Ireland with their first single “Where I Belong” becoming the fastest-selling single from a debut act and the fastest-selling single from an Irish artist in 2014.
In 2017, Brendan went on to represent Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest which was seen by over 180 million viewers.
In 2018, Brendan entered season 15 of The X Factor. During the Six Chair challenge he received a safe seat from “Louis Tomlinson” and from then on helped him reach the semi-finals finishing in 5th place.
Since his success with HomeTown, Eurovision and X factor, Brendan has been consistently releasing his own original music over the last couple of years and has been placed on leading Spotify playlists such as “Chilled Pop Hits” and “Very Nearly Nashville”
‘Crazy’ is a modern pop/garage song with strong grime influences. The track was produced by Plantain Papi in collaboration with Irish powerhouse producer JBJ.
Mango (half of the legendary duo MangoXMathman) has developed a reputation as a staple in the Irish hip-hop scene. Mango has dropped a critically acclaimed album, performed at many prestigious festivals, and shut down his very own headline show.
Crazy comes as Plantain’s sophomore release this year in succession to his summer smash ‘Take You’ . The timely track comes just three weeks before Plantain’s first headline show at the Academy Dublin. Limited tickets are still available.
The luxurious lead vocals on the hook were delivered by the one and only Sophie Jane. Crazy is Sophie Jane’s musical debut but with a voice like hers, she’ll soon be a worldwide sensation in RnB as well as pop music. You heard it here first!
Dublin art-rock quintet Silverbacks are today announcing their new album Archive Material and sharing the record’s title-track. Archive Material will be released on January 21st 2022 via Full Time Hobby.
Pre-order the album here, including a very special Dinked edition of the record featuring alternative sleeve art, a bonus 7”, clear vinyl and a lyric insert.
Last month Silverbacks announced their signing to Full Time Hobby and shared a brand-new single, “Wear My Medals”, of which Stereogum said: “Silverbacks move like one, wild-limbed organism, and they don’t really have a bad song to their name yet. Everything they do just hits, and “Wear My Medals” is no different.” It was the first new material from the band since the release of last year’s acclaimed – and Choice Music Prize-nominated – debut album Fad, and merged shifting textures from wiry guitar noodling to flute-flecked interludes via scratchy chords. Continuing to demonstrate an element of unpredictability to all that they do, latest offering “Archive Material” pairs a jerky stop-start rhythm with gang vocals and moments of French language.
Vocalist and guitarist Daniel O’Kelly comments further on the song: “The initial demo version started from a drum sample taken from the opening of Jean-Pierre Massiera’s “Bonne Annee”. When we fleshed it out as a full band and Gary gave the track his usual kick up the arse, the song went full Les Baxter exotica mode. When writing the lyrics, I imagined a bunch of government officials in the deep underground of their building digging into archives. As the night continues, they get unusually aroused by the access they have to top secret information that the common folk never see.”
Archive Material only cements Silverbacks’ status as one of Ireland’s most fascinating bands. Recorded at Dublin’s Sonic Studios in November 2020, with Daniel Fox undertaking production duties once more, it finds the band leaning into their early influences, delivering idiosyncratic indie-rock packed with intricate, Tom Verlaine-esque “guitarmony”. Other reference points for the record included Neil Young, Weyes Blood and – on ‘Wear My Medals’ in particular – Bradford Cox and Cate Le Bon’s collaborative record Myths 004.
Where Fad found Silverbacks focused on recapturing the live experience rather than reveling in studio experimentation, Archive Material skillfully traverses the line between the two. As a unit, they replicate that irrepressible live energy via complex arrangements incorporating everything from wistful Rhodes (‘Carshade’) to congas and Gang Of Four-style bass (‘Different Kind Of Holiday’).
Thematically, the record is every bit as rich, displaying an anthropological approach as exemplified by the album’s artwork. The initial premise for ‘They Were Never Our People’ came from a YouTube comment, portraying the decline of a town that has lost its footfall as the result of a bypass. Meanwhile, ‘Central Tones’ is an empathetic character study of someone seemingly content to trade off former glories, but secretly deeply unhappy.
On several songs, the pandemic functions as a particularly effective prism through which to examine ideas of community. ‘A Job Worth Something’ finds Daniel reflecting on his real-life experiences working in insurance while his sister treated patients on a COVID ward, and the feelings of futility and guilt he felt at the time. ‘Different Kind Of Holiday’ was inspired by the ways in which previously uncommunicative neighbours bonded with each other during periods of enforced confinement. Throughout, his observations arrived drenched in the same surreal strain of gallow’s humour that many of us were forced to adopt to lighten the toughest moments of the lockdown.
Daniel explains, “I can’t remember who it was, but I saw a musician who said that they’d be keeping away from writing anything about the pandemic, because who wants to hear about that? But I’d much rather hear about an event via someone who actually lived through it, rather than someone writing about it retrospectively.”
Keenly observed and vividly rendered, Archive Material is an eye-witness account of human resilience as much as it is a compelling indie-rock record. Future historians take note.
Silverbacks begin a headline tour in Ireland and the UK later this month. Full dates below.
‘Ache’ is the upcoming single from Irish indie artist Kev Olden. The Toronto based songwriter’s newest release captures the paranoia and defeat of ongoing heartbreak with an untrustworthy lover. Written in lockdown and produced with fellow Irish artist Tiz McNamara, ‘Ache’ is a tension-filled belter that culminates in a spiralling and archaic outro of gritty guitar and bellowing drums.
This is the 3rd single from Olden’s EP ‘Time We Have Left’.
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Kev Olden is an indie artist from Cork. His debut single Hush captures the arresting power of memories – how they can be both painful and restorative. He blends folk, alternative and indie pop to produce a sound that’s melancholic, atmospheric and instantly memorable.
He moved from Dublin to Toronto in March of 2020, just before the world shut down. He says ‘Time We Have Left’ is the culmination of a year in a new environment, in and out of isolation and in and out of the studio. Lockdown gave him the space to contemplate and write and the result is reflective, tender and clearly influenced by artists like Bon Iver and Jack Garratt.
“‘Time We Have Left’ is about capturing and recreating the connections that we’re lacking at the moment but that give us hope that we’ll experience those feelings again. I wanted to describe the mood between two people who have nothing to do but be with each other. It’s about being able to sit in that calm, comfortable silence that’s also charged with anticipation and desire,” said Olden.
‘Circles’ marks the return of Irish award winning singer/songwriter/recording artist Hallie following her one year music journey with three singles in her belt and national & worldwide airplay. Inspired by relationships which are challenging and difficult to hold firm boundaries. It deals with emotive, deep issues while bringing Hallie’s sound to an upbeat dance pop track!
Hallie was diagnosed with inoperable end stage double jaw joint degenerative disease earlier this year & no hope of replacements due to permanent mental health & chronic illnesses. Hallie will never be free of chronic pain which debilitates her singing but made the decision to continue despite it all. She wants to use her platform to advocate for others going through similar issues.
She wants to remind people they are not alone & raise awareness of conditions which aren’t talked about enough & help end the stigma.
Hallie wants to inspire others to make their own music career path, break music industry norms for people who are debilitated & can’t preform live to ‘normal artist standards’.
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Hallie is an Irish multiple award winning cross genre singer/songwriter/recording artist. She emerged as ‘Hallie’ in early ’19 with her debut single “Familiar Place” to critical acclaim, with rotation on multiple national/worldwide radio stations. Hallie has made the ‘RTE Recommends Playlist’ with all her singles to date. Hallie is an avid mental health & chronic pain advocate living with chronic illnesses & wants to use her platform to advocate & remind others who’ve struggled that they’re never alone. She began writing poems & songs as a personal release to soothe & channel her life long battle with depression, anxiety & chronic pain. She graduated with a BA Hons Degree in Music (WIT) ’15, after completing her first year in BIMM Dublin. Her music & songs were kept private and personal for years. Hallie won the first Golden Discs Golden Busker Competition ’19 & Best Original Song in the Guinness Singing & Swinging Awards. With her Golden Disc’s prize she recorded her music professionally for the first time at The Orchard Recording Studio. She was diagnosed with inoperable end stage double jaw joint degenerative disease, debilitating her from touring as a ‘normal artist’ in ’21. Despite her challenges, she chose to continue and fight! She wants to inspire others to follow their dreams, rewrite music industry norms & fight for what you love even when you don’t feel deserving. Her new single ‘Circles’ is out now. So much more music coming!
His latest edition to the ‘Start of Something Blue’
is the great tragedy:
‘Deirdre of the Sorrows’
“A heartbreaking story of a young woman whose life is ruined by a terrible king… driven to the extreme of suicide.”
Nathan Mac grew up travelling through the Irish countryside with his family. He lived the stories of Fionn, Medb, & Cu Chulainn, visiting the most famous sites in Irish literature. This personal history combined with his time working as a storyteller for the National Leprechaun Museum, has set Nathan up with an intimate relationship to Irish myth & legend. His favourite story? ‘Deirdre of the Sorrows’ of course.
The tradition of Irish storytelling, blended with Nathan’s contemporary cinematic-pop has created a new link between the past & the present. ‘Deirdre of the Sorrows’ has been given new life & in Nathan’s own words:
“At the very least, if the song does anything, I’d hope it makes people curious about our stories.”
With five more tracks left to be released, & a circus-musical film on the horizon, Nathan Mac has almost no time to lose. With Joni Copeland, Brian Dwyer, Digietal , Chiara Viale, & Heather Kelly by his side, the Pennywish record label is quickly becoming a force in its own right.
If you’d like to support Nathan & the team in their ambitious dream, then head over to Nathan’s Patreon, their ‘Go Fund Me’ campaign, or simply follow, share, & enjoy the music!
‘Deirdre of the Sorrows’ will be available to stream and download from the 4th of October…. PreSave the song here.
Support Nathan & the team at Pennywish on Spotify, Instagram, Patreon and everywhere you can get your hands on him… like his website!
