Hot on the heels of his brand new single ‘Save You’, Robert O’Connor has reunited with EDM producer Skynem GT for a sizzling ‘90s house inspired remix of the track, out now!
The single has received its fair share of praise from music critics, with Culture Fix saying: “‘Save You’ is a pulse-pounding club gem that feels plucked straight from the late-nineties in the best possible way,” while cult pop blog Retro Pop compared the track with, “early ‘90s Pet Shop Boys.”
Since 2018, Robert has since released nine singles, each strengthening his relationship with radio playlisters and music bloggers, as well as building a supportive following. His EP, ‘Transcendence’, released earlier this year, was declared “A pop masterpiece,” by Reyt Good Magazine.
‘Save You’ has also received great support from the LGBT community, reaching number 2 on the LGBTQ Music Chart, Robert’s sixth Top 5 placing on the chart.
Micah is an Irish singer/songwriter from Holycross, Co. Tipperary. She grew up in a very musical family with her parents having been members of a choir and other musical projects. She was always involved in music from a young age and became hooked ever since she obtained the role of Gretl in her local town’s production of ‘Sound of Music’.
Micah has also got involved in bands of various genres, while she was in university, she sang with a number of wedding bands. However, upon leaving UCC she went to New York where she became part of a girl group which was short-lived due to management issues. Upon her return to Ireland, she became a member of Irish Girl band Rouges who achieved a no.4 in the Irish iTunes charts and supported The Saturdays at the Bord Gais Energy Theatre. Upon disbanding she pursued a solo career with releases such as ‘White Lies’ and many more gained airplays on Irish Radio Stations along with building her fanbase. Micah has cultivated her stagecraft singing with Big Bands such as Route 66 at various theatres and festivals throughout Ireland. She has also performed at the Rose of Tralee in 2017 and 2019. While also being sought after session singer. Her inspirations stem from Sia, Loreen, The 1975, Halsey, PVRIS and Mary Black to name a few.
‘Take Me Away’, out 6t August, is the latest summer release by Irish singer Micah. It is a song about falling in love even if it’s not the right time, place or situation but you still give into this experience utterly. It is a true summer tune with its upbeat melody and powerful vocals.
Riding high on the success of her 2021 spring release ‘Invisible Fire’ which has been streaming over 30k times with airplay on national radio stations such as 2FM, Spin FM, Red FM and many more and with the follow up ‘Hello’ (Remix) spawning a TikTok dance nationwide. Her previous release ‘Forever’ has achieved great success with over 46K streams, rave reviews and features on prestigious platforms such as RTE’s Entertainment site. Her previous releases with Leo Dynamic1 ‘Baby Baby’ and ‘Run and Hide’ have racked up over 250k views on YouTube so far. All tracks have received radio play in the U.S.A, Europe such as KISS FM, Australia and back home in Ireland (2FM track of the week).
‘Invisible Fire’ charted in Dutch Dance Top 40 and charting in the top ten on the Top Hits Europe, Pop Radio Hits 2020, Goldenplec’s fresh Friday, Miami Heat, The Tastemakers, Sexplaylist and PlayIrish to mention but a few.
Micah trained at BIMM Dublin, an accomplished singer-songwriter, who is a seasoned live performer and recording artist. She has been compared to Sia, Robyn and Lady Gaga in terms of vocal ability with production from Sony, Universal, Warner, EMI producer Hadl and Leo Dynamic 1, who is signed to Kobalt\AWAL Music group and now working with Eminem’s prodigy KXNG Crooked.
This new single ‘Take Me Away’, is the start of a new chapter in Micah’s musical career journey so keep your eyes and ears open.
The Academic have shared the video for their new single, ‘Not Your Summer’. The track is lifted from the band’s new ‘Community Spirit’ EP.
The video was directed by Hope Kemp and Ronan Corrigan from Tearjerker Films, who have worked with The Academic on previous singles ‘Kids (Don’t End Up Like Me)’, ‘Acting My Age’, and ‘Anything Could Happen’. It was shot at the derelict Waterworld in Portrush, Northern Ireland.
The EP is streaming now, and is released via Capitol Records.
Just last week The Academic joined forces with BBDO New York and Open The Portal animation studio for a pioneering live animation event using the medium of Google Slides. The video was aired in real-time to 300 lucky Academic fans across three separate art performances.
The video featured the input and knowledge of a team of animators and the band themselves, collaborating behind the scenes to create new slides every second.
Loosely on the song’s lyrics, the animation spoke of the isolation experienced throughout 2020, and the internal conflicts none of us could have predicted. Fans who weren’t able to join the livestream were redirected to YouTube to view the video and band’s interaction live. A link to the Google Slides video will be shared on YouTube imminently.
After a lengthy delay, the band return to the stage later this summer. They’ll follow a spot on the main stage at this year’s Reading & Leeds Festival with a full tour in spring 2022.
The Dublin Quays Festival is delighted to announce its full line up featuring an exciting mix of emerging talent and established names performing live over the month of August in four great venues along the banks of the Liffey. Paddy Hanna’s experimental quartet Autre Monde kick the Festival off in style in The Workmans Club on Wednesday August 4th while the thrilling noise assault of Bitch Falcon close proceedings in the same venue on Sunday August 29th.
In between we have a host of brilliant new acts like Sprints, Keeley, The Bonk, Shakalak, Birds of Olympus, Rack & Ruins and A Ritual Sea rubbing shoulders with legendary acts like The Pale and Sack. Rhymes and rhythms of the street are represented by an uber eclectic Word Up Collective line up in The Sound House on Thursday August 12th while Sin E hosts Leila Jane, Eileen Gogan, Emma Hynes and Ken O’Duffy, four solo artists all promoting new record releases.
Autre Monde – Shakalak – Sprints – Rack & Ruins – Word Up Collective (Sasha Terfous/Silent Ghost/Anna Jordan/Local Boy/Mutton Head/ Daire Patel) – A Ritual Sea – Birds of Olympus – Keeley – The Pale – Leila Jane – Emma Hynes – Eileen Gogan – Ken O’Duffy – The Bonk – Sack – Bitch Falcon.
FB – @DublinQuaysFestival
Twitter: @dublin_quays
Insta: @Dublin Quays
Dublin Quays Festival is funded by the Live Performance Support Scheme.
Massive thanks to Catherine Martin T.D and the Department of tourism-culture-arts-gaeltacht-sport-and-media for making these shows possible and for supporting the Arts in Ireland.
Following the hugely successful first event of the three-part socially distanced series SoFFT Nights, are thrilled to announce the return to Dunderry Park, Co. Meath for their bespoke events this August and September. Featuring across the weekend are wellbeing Incentives, talks, a craft market as well as live music performances.
Taking to the stage across the weekend of 27th & 28th August are headliners Soda Blonde, who released their debut album ‘Small Talk’ earlier this year. The band received a whopping 4-star review in the Irish Times and fantastic reviews with Hot Press, Goldenplec.com, and TheLastMixedTape.com. Join them as they perform for the first time this summer.
Also on the bill on 27th & 28th August are musical talents Maija Sofia and Callistan
Maija’s debut album ‘Bath Time’ brought her to national attention when it was nominated for the Choice Music Prize in 2019. Callistan is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer – previously of queer-pop group ELM.
On the September bill, Pillow Queens will perform tracks from their critically acclaimed debut record ‘In Waiting’ released last September. Their record received exceptional reviews in Irish Times, The Sunday Times. The album gained them the attention to perform on James Corden’s The Late Late Show in the USA.
Roe, Art of Algebra, and Dani Larkin will also perform on 3rd & 4th September. Roe will perform tracks from their upcoming EP ‘Things We Don’t Talk About’. Performing on the same day will be Irish electronic producer Art of Algebra. Dani Larkin’s 2021 debut album ‘Notes From A Maiden Warrior’ is an amazing meld of traditional folk and Irish mythology.
The full music line-up includes:
Soda Blonde, Maija Sofia and Callistan – 27th & 28th August 2021
Pillow Queens, Roe, Art of Algebra and Dani Larkin – 3rd & 4th September 2021
Speaking about the previous July event, Co-founder of SoFFT Productions and festival creator Caroline Duke says: “It was a truly magical experience, we had a captivating and engaging audience throughout the weekend. The holistic programming was a huge hit with punters arriving early to take part and staying until the late hours to enjoy the live music. We got such incredible feedback over the weekend and we couldn’t have asked for a better start to our summer programme!
We are SO excited for our August lineup – We are all massive Soda Blonde fans and this will be their first live gig since the album came out in July, so we’re thrilled to have them with us. To top it off, we have Maija Sofia and Callistan on the bill, so we’re just over the moon they’ll be with us too. It really will be something very special.”
‘Learn To Live’ is the debut solo single from Richie Din Martin. The track will be released on Bandcamp on Friday 30thJuly 2021.
As one half of alternative folk duo Cry Monster Cry, Richie has spent the better part of the last decade touring and performing alongside his brother Jamie. When lockdown hit in March 2020 in the middle of the brothers first sold out Irish tour, everything ground to a very sudden halt.
Richie explains – “It’s been a very difficult time for everybody for lots of different and obvious reasons. The past eighteen months have been a real challenge for us all as individuals and as a society as a whole in lots of different ways. One positive thing I took from lockdown however was the time spent with my family. The time at home allowed me to concentrate on myself and gave me the space to explore new ideas and themes.”
‘Learn To Live’ focuses on the idea of rebirth and new beginnings both as individuals and as a collective community. The track seeks to envelop the listener in its powerful, uplifting message of the importance of living in the moment while finding joy in the wonder of each brand new day.
“I was at a point where I started to look at myself and then began to look around me. If the past eighteen months has taught us anything it’s that our world and lives can change in an instant. When I reflected on the way I had been living my own life pre-Covid I didn’t like what I saw. I began to focus on the idea of a fresh start and a new beginning for us all and that’s where the idea of this track eventually came from. When I began writing this song we were in the middle of what felt like an unprecedented time, I wanted to look into the future and imagine a time when we would all come out of this experience together having learned some very valuable lessons.”
Richie wrote and recorded the song at home in his studio with the help of producer and collaborator Greg Kavna and was mastered in New York by Grammy award winning mastering engineer Steve Fallone. The track features Dec Quinn (Republic of Loose, The Love Tailors) on keys and Ben Castle (Villagers, Gregory Porter, Duke Special) on saxophone.
The track itself is a song of hope and celebration and the message is one of joy and anticipation for what lies ahead for us all. A brand new start and a new beginning. Reach out and grab it and make the most of it.
‘Her Love’, released 30th July, is the brand new single release from Irish singer songwriter Jim McHugh. This song is a poignant recounting of a loved one who passed away and details the hope that ‘Her Love’ will return some day.
This single is from Jim’s album ‘Pretending To Wake Up’ released in May 2021. It was recorded and produced in Black Mountain Studio’s, Jenkinstown and Wynne Wynne Studio, Dundalk by Alex Borwick. ‘Her Love’ features Jim on Vocals/Guitars, Paul McCabe on Bass, James McNeill on Drums, Alex Borwick on Synthesiser.
Single artwork by Oli McHugh.
With 2 albums already under his belt, Jim McHugh has garnered an impressive list of supporters with the RTE 1 Recommends list and being chosen as the ‘LMFM All Out Local Song Choice’ as well as Roddie Cleere’s ‘Song of the Week’.
His third album ‘Pretending to Wake Up’ released on May 28th is sure to cement McHugh as Ireland’s leading folk rock artist as his ability to write a hook of a riff combined with a catchy chorus surpasses all!
From the Farney drumlins of Co. Monaghan, Ireland, multi-instrumentalist Jim McHugh brings a new edge to the folk tradition, blending traditional and indie styles with up-tempo beats. In 2016 he drew upon his past and recent musical experiences to record an album of new songs entitled ‘Noise Machine’, nicely summed up by Pete Whalley as ‘Indie folk-driven rock that has a vibrant beating heart’.
For his third album, McHugh lets us hear how he has progressed his rock sound in an organic way, never wavering from his roots in crunchy guitars and anthemic riffs but always developing as a songwriter and raising his game sonically. Working alongside producer Alex Borwick (Parliament Funkadelic, Catfish & The Bottlemen, Niamh O’Regan, Lankum) and session musicians Paul McCabe (bass) Paul Sherry (Electric Guitar) and Butch McNeill (Drums), McHugh brings a new dynamic and alluring sound to the rock genre.
Jim’s previous single ‘Should Have Lied’ released in 2020 was premiered by Hot Press and received national and international radio play. Jim’s last album release ‘My Nuclear Radio’ was critically received and album single My Mandalay featured on the ‘RTÉ RADIO 1 recommends’ playlist in Nov/Dec 2019 ,and was the ‘LMFM All Out Local Song Choice’ for March 2019. Single Everything’s Cool was Roddie Cleere’s ‘Song of the Week’ on KCLR in August 2018 while Avenue Road and Marjorie were widely played at home and abroad. Pretending To Wake Up was recorded, produced and mixed by Alex Borwick at Black Mountain Studios, Jenkinstown and Wynne Wynne Studio, Dundalk. It was mastered by Fergal Davis (Sinéad O’Connor/Muse).
Eoin Devereux the young musician from Wexford is releasing a new song called ‘Falling Apart’ which is a successor to ‘Going My Own Way’ and ‘Fall And Save’ both written and recorded alone in his bedroom in County Wexford.
‘Falling Apart’ is also a song which he has made alone in his bedroom but this time he wrote a song looking externally to the world rather than looking into himself.
“Looking at the world in the past few years has left us all with a hole in our heart.
For such an intelligent species we are so divided by things like race, gender, skin color etc. With this song and music video I wanted to showcase this division as I feel it is important to be honest and remember that we are the change in this world full of hate.
It starts with ourselves.
I am lucky and privileged to say that I am not affected by these issues but I am responsible to stand with those discriminated against and acknowledge their suffering because they deserve it and also to show those responsible because they too deserve it.
We must come together and find peace, It comes first above all else.”
‘Falling Apart’ is released on August 11th with the music video releasing on the 13th.
Having grown up in the idyllic surroundings of County Clare, in the west of Ireland, Padjo Dolan has written songs tirelessly since he was a teenager and has formed numerous bands throughout school and college where he studied in Galway. A city known for its nurturing of musical talent. Having honed his skillset, he decided he was going to give it everything in 2019 and began writing and recording, readying himself to share his tapestry of carefully crafted music by the means of a debut album.
The timing was not great, but he believes the end result is a testament to perseverance and the essence of this shines through on the album. Citing major influences such as legendary guitar riff bands and artists like U2, Oasis, Bon Jovi, Chris Cornell, Bruce Springsteen and any artist who unapologetically sets out to impact the world by telling their story.
‘Blunder’ is Padjo’s debut offering: “The idea for the song had been in my head for probably 5 / 6 years. It took a while for me to muster up the conviction to record it and get it out into the world. The song pretty much sums a period of time for me as a teenager / young adult where I had no clue what I was doing with my life. Every day was a mystery and every day had the potential for chaos (and a few Blunders of which there was no shortage!). I was living one day at a time and having a ball. I didn’t have a bob to my name and every move I made was closely followed by my auld lad shaking his head in disbelief. I feel like everybody will be able to relate to that in some capacity! It is a feel-good track that brings me back to those carefree summer days which everybody is longing for after a tough year in hibernation.”
It is Padjo’s hope that the track can lift the nation as we progress out of the pandemic. The track is a sign of things to come – High Energy, Rocking tunes – as the balance of Padjo’s debut album is nearing completion.
IMRO songwriters John Broderick, Ger O Donnell and Katie Theasby release their new single on Thursday 29th of July.
Sung by Katie Theasby and accompanied by Ger O Donnell, ‘I Found Strength’ is an original song about the struggle in an abusive relationship and finding the strength to break free. The song has been adopted by Women’s Aid for both fundraising and raising awareness.
Katie Theasby from Kilfenora in county Clare brings a real blues sound to the song and feels that this song is very strong with a powerful message for women everywhere.
Ger O Donnell from Cratloe in County Clare has had recent success in the last year with his last two singles reaching number one in the iTunes chart in Ireland, ‘Talk About The Heroes’ and ‘Turquoise Ink’. Ger recorded and produced the single in his home study. Ger says, “If even one person picks up the phone and makes the call because of this song then it will be worth it.”
John Broderick from County Galway has written songs for Sean Keane, Brendan Quinn, Orlaith Keane, and Celtic Woman and is honoured that Women’s Aid have adopted this song to raise awareness about the subject matter of the song.
