Author: Breffni Banks

Following on from the roaring success of their debut single ‘Bare Feet On Grass’, no. 1 hit on the iTunes Singer-Songwriter Chart, RTE.ie Culture ‘Song of the Week’, with over 1 Million impacts on Irish radio, The Raines are back!

The Raines (Ruth Dillon, Juliana Erkkonen and Yvonne Tiernan) launch their highly anticipated second single ‘Love Is Sublime (Til It Draws Out Its Gun)’ this Friday 11th June. The Galway based trio bring an up-tempo Summer single which once again showcases the beauty of the band’s vocal harmonies, strings and illuminating chemistry.

“This is our version of a folk cowgirl song, that feeling of falling madly in love, a whirlwind of desire with someone, and then that same love falling apart. It’s an original up-tempo song with a summery Americana feel…” say The Raines.

To mark the release of the single, The Raines will perform ‘Love Is Sublime (Til It Draws Out Its Gun)’ during their live-streamed set at Westport Folk & Bluegrass Festival, in partnership with Station Inn, Nashville on June 11th. https://www.stationinntv.com/

‘Love Is Sublime (Til It Draws Out Its Gun)’ was recorded at various locaNons by Ivan O’Shea, Justin Mc Carthy, Cesar Benzoni, Stephen Monaghan and Juliana Erkkonen. Guest appearances from Liam Bradley (Drums), Wil Merrigan (Bass), Cesar Benzoni (Mandolin), Justin McCarthy (Slide Guitar) and the guest male vocal is provided by a mysterious cowboy!

The award winning Producer Brian Masterson famous for his work with The Chieftains, Van Morrison, Willie Nelson and The Bothy band, to name just a few mixed and mastered the track.

‘Love Is Sublime (Til It Draws Out Its Gun)’  is released on Friday 11th June across all of the major digital platforms.

David Keenan releases ‘Bark’, the second taste of his forthcoming new album – ‘WHAT THEN?’ – which will be released on 15^th October.

‘WHAT THEN?’ was recorded at Black Mountain studios, not far from David’s home town of Dundalk. The album was produced by Jonathon Mooney of Portland, OR indie rock band Other Lives. David explains: “‘WHAT THEN?’ details my dealings with the human condition, an imagining and re-imagining of what was, what is and my place in it all. Expect all types of weather on the hopeful road towards clarity.”

The album is preceded by a second new track. ‘Bark’, described by its author as – “an endorsement of irreverence, a wired psyche in flux, wildly howling itself to order” – picks up the story that started with the new album’s lead-off release of ‘Peter O’Toole’s Drinking Stories’. The young Irish singer-storyteller drew on first-hand experiences and lucid creativity of his time spent in Paris and Liverpool, offset by the idiosyncratic traits of growing up in the estates of Dundalk. ‘Peter O’Toole’s Drinking Stories’ was picked up and warmly welcomed by Irish media folk, as well as Clash, Radio X, BBC Radio Scotland, Amazing Radio in the UK and KINK in The Netherlands.

The artwork for ‘Bark’ is designed by Finnish-based, UK-born illustrator Ian Bourgeot, and it continues the creative theme started with ‘Peter O’Toole’s Drinking Stories’; where every song from the album will have artwork specially commissioned by David, working with visual artists from around the world whose work he admires.

‘WHAT THEN?’ will be released by Rubyworks on Friday 15th on limited edition yellow vinyl, CD and cassette. Merch bundles are available to pre-order at davidkeenan.com

IRISH TOUR DATES

13^th October – Limelight 1, Belfast
6^th December – Cyprus Avenue, Cork
8^th December – Dolans, Limerick
9^th December – Roisin Dubh, Galway
10^th December – Spirit Store, Dundalk
12^th December – Olympia Theatre, Dublin

Carlow-based music producer-songwriter Hawk Jupiter and Dublin-based R&B singer-songwriter Zeinab have teamed up to release a captivating new sun-drenched single, ‘Oasis’ which will be released on June 25th 2021.

The summer-inspired collaboration features lush synths, layered vocal textures and a funk-filled bassline that set the scene for a mesmerising vocal performance from Zeinab.

Produced by Hawk Jupiter, the song is a co-write between Eoin “Hawk Jupiter” Mulvihill, GRAMMY-nominated Philadelphia-based songwriter Kristal Oliver and Zeinab.

“When Eoin approached me with the song, what captured my attention was the refreshing exotic melody, combined with lustful lyrics, which gives the sensation of an intense burgeoning romance,” says Zeinab. “It’s intoxicating, mysterious and soulful tone is what hopefully draws listeners’ attention.”

“When I was looking for an artist to collaborate on this song with, I knew Zeinab would be just perfect,” mentioned Eoin. “Her voice has such a pure yet soulful tone, it glides effortlessly from range to range, complementing and enhancing the soundscape of the song. It sounds so at home with the funk-filled bass, and the three-part harmonies bring it to a whole new level.”

The pair have collaborated on a vibrant video inspired by the natural elements of a desert oasis. Recorded, produced and directed by Eoin with a captivating performance by Zeinab, the video was shot in a pop-up studio in Ireland that Eoin custom-built to re-create an oasis environment. For the production, the pair collaborated with Galway based designer Virtue Shine – owner of Emerald and Wax, who’s Ghanaian-print kimonos and striking accessories bring added vibrancy and colour to the video.

Zeinab is a Dublin born, Soul/R&B singer-songwriter who takes inspiration from legends such as Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday. She has recently featured on the Hot Press ‘Young and Emerging’ series. This track follows the release of recent acclaimed single ‘Forever’.

Hawk Jupiter (artist moniker of Eoin Mulvihill) is a music producer-songwriter from Carlow who takes inspiration from a diverse and eclectic range of producers across electronic and R&B including Pharrell, Mark Ronson and Roisin Murphy. ‘Oasis’ is his fourth release as Hawk Jupiter in less than twelve months. His singles have gained airplay on 2FM, 2XM, Today FM, Spin 103 – 108, Beat 102-103, KCLR FM, Flirt FM and more. His most recent release ‘Intoxicating Seas’ has been published to Tourism Ireland’s official YouTube Channel and previous releases have enjoyed increasing amounts of airplay and traction online.

 ‘Oasis’ Pre-Save Page

Hawk Jupiter Social Media Channels:

Facebook
Instagram
Twitter
Soundcloud
Spotify Artist Page

Zeinab Socials:

Instagram
Facebook
Twitter

‘Lift The Ceiling’ is the latest single from Greenshine, out 8th July, and was written by Noel Shine. Ellie takes the lead on this happy, boppy, optimistic summer song that lifts the heart and opens out into a new future full of hope. Every life has ups and downs but with love and courage, we can lighten our load, change our outlook and step forward into the wide blue yonder. On ‘Lift The Ceiling’, you’ll be hearing multiple intertwining Greenshine harmonies, wah wah guitar, electric bouzouki and mandolin, rippling piano and the exquisite drumming of long-time collaborator Martin Leahy.

Greenshine is a Cork based trio consisting of Mary Greene, Noel Shine and their daughter Ellie. Their songs have featured on Irish airwaves for many years and their tracks have travelled far beyond their homeland and into the waiting ears of music lovers worldwide. Noel and Mary have appeared on the recordings of multiple artists including Christy Moore, The Republic of Loose and John Spillane. Upcoming Concerts include The Dock Arts Centre, Carrick-On-Shannon, Bobstock Online Fest, The Clifden Arts Festival, The Cork Folk Festival.

www.facebook.com/greenshinepeople
www.twitter.com/greenshinemusic
www.greenshine.bandcamp.com
http://greenshinemusic.com/

Gaze is Ghost is the recording moniker of Northern Ireland Musician Laura McGarrigle, along with Keith Mannion (Ireland) & Casey Miller (Scotland).

‘Sea Song’ (released on Monday, June 21st) and is the second single from their forthcoming album ‘Lapis Cobalt Indigo Blue’ (released on Monday July 5th).

‘Sea Song ‘is a lament for nature that builds to a battle cry. McGarrigle is once again joined by her bandmates, Mannion and Miller, as well as violin and viol players Brigid McCaffery and Eric Thomas.

https://gazeisghost.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/GazeisGhost
https://www.instagram.com/gazeisghost/?hl=en-gb 
https://soundcloud.com/gazeisghost

An Irishman abroad, living in London for 5 years and running his own successful business, got the fright of his life with a health scare, that brought him home to his native Ireland, and a change of career!

Having worked for years away from home John Lynch returned to Dublin in 2019. He gave up the business life to start his music career. He began writing and performing live, and then two months into 2020… BANG….. a global pandemic arrives!!!

Undeterred, and inspired by other Irish artists pivoting this unknown world, he kept on track with his new career, writing and recording his debut album, ‘City Stars’, due for release autumn 2021. ‘City Stars’ is a collection of ten original songs about modern life in Ireland and the world today, through the familiar storytelling of folk music.

‘London Bridge’ is the first of three singles before the album release, and describes John’s experience of working away from home in London city. A business owner at that time, he quickly realised the loneliness both mentally and physically of his situation. The song describes the bitter experience of working too hard to serve the ridiculous cycle of the greedy and interests of the elite! Want to know more? Have a listen and discover this new artist that who’s aim is to win the RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Music Award at the end of this year!

https://jplynchmusic.com/

https://www.facebook.com/JPLynchMusic

https://instagram.com/john.lynch.namtimes

Sinead McConville anticipates the future in emotionally honest and vulnerable ballad ‘Break My Heart’.

‘Break My Heart’ is a stripped back, harmony driven piano ballad which was produced and mixed by Sinead McConville. It was inspired by a challenging time in Sinead’s life where she was involved in a mixture of bad experiences and being in an environment where music was a constant competition. Even though she knew certain environments were causing her pain, she didn’t remove herself because the people she loved were also in these environments. Hence, the song anticipates heartbreak and losing yourself before it sadly happens. The purpose of ‘Break My Heart’ is to help people foresee and move away from these situations that aren’t good for them before it’s too late and they get hurt.

“I was bottling up a lot of hard truths and ‘Break My Heart’ gave me the space to express these feelings that I was choosing to keep to myself and not talk about.” – Sinead McConville.

Her first headline show was one of the first live gigs back in Dublin on July 4th 2020 in The Wild Duck in association with Ex Oh Promotions. The gig was a huge success and ended with a standing ovation and  encore. Furthermore, she performs as a session musician with upcoming Irish artists and has performed on The Late Late Show with D. Cullen, Irish Music Week &
The X Collective Showcase with ELKAE and TiLT in The Button Factory with Munky. Radio performances include RTE Radio 1 (Today with Sean O’Rourke and The Ray D’Arcy Show),
BBC Radio Ulster (Gerry Kelly), SPIN 1038 (Plan B with Sarina Bellissimo) and East Coast FM (The Morning Show with Declan Meehan). Her previous single ‘Running From You’ stayed on the RTE Recommends playlist for three weeks.

S

Bell X1 have collaborated with The Theodora Byrne Ensemble to present a reimagined choral version of ‘Bad Skin Day’, a song from their 2008 album ‘Flock’.

Theodora shares a little bit about the process:

“I’ve loved ‘Bad Skin Day’ for years, and the simplicity is what drew me to this particular song. It’s perfectly crafted with everything in the right place, so I looked for the spaces where voices could be complementary to what was already there. I don’t want to detract from the existing beauty of a song I’m working on, I always hope to elevate it in subtle ways. I sent my first demo to Paul, and we threw some ideas back and forth, discussing some suggestions that he had, some of which turned out to be my favourite parts of the arrangement! Every song I arrange in this way goes through various stages, it’s a process with lots of trial and error, but it’s fascinating. I try to choose songs that spark a musical idea in my imagination. For this song, it was the guitar part; because it repeats over and over, I saw an opportunity to slowly interweave the choir into the music, creating a gradual dynamic build-up to the last chorus. Paul, Dave and Dominic have been so wonderful to work with, they were open to ideas and were so trusting and generous with their music”.

Paul from the band adds:

“Having seen what Theo and the choir had done with songs by Maria Kelly & Ciaran Lavery, we were delighted to collaborate on a version of ‘Bad Skin Day’.

It’s been great to breathe new life into the song like this, and a truly welcome way of feeling creatively alive and connecting with other artists and singers in this moment.  It’s a trip, and really moving, to hear a bunch of people sing the “Someday we’ll all wear a crown…!”.”

Theodora Byrne is a Dublin-based session keyboardist and vocalist, choir director, arranger, and music lecturer. Most notably she has toured with James Vincent McMorrow, Saint Sister, The Coronas, and Sorcha Richardson. She is currently musical director for Playlist choir and has facilitated a range of community choirs and music groups both in-person and online since 2018. Theodora lectures in both the vocals and the music theory departments at BIMM Institute Dublin. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Theodora began creating collaborative virtual performances of bespoke choral arrangements of the music of Irish artists under the title of the Theodora Byrne Ensemble. So far, she has collaborated with Saint Sister, Ciaran Lavery, and Maria Kelly in addition to Bell X1.

Bell X1 are Paul Noonan, Dave Geraghty & Dominic Philips.
Formed in 1999, they have released 7 studio albums, 4 of which having been nominated for the Choice Music Prize. Over the past 2 decades they have become somewhat of a national treasure and are recognized as one of Ireland’s most popular live performers. They are known for their versatile musical palette, lyrical dexterity,  and catalogue of popular singles. Their albums vary in sound and style, their range taking in pop, alternative, indie, hard rock, post-punk, acoustic, lo-fi, folk-rock, ballad, synth-pop, new-wave, electronica, and both country and western.

The band will be touring Ireland in the Autumn along with Dowry Strings, all dates via the website.

http://bellx1.com/

Following the announcement of the band’s signing to Akira Records (Henry Green, Zola Blood, Shura, CHINAH), modernlove. are delighted to announce a headline show live at The Workman’s Club Cellar, Friday 5th November 2021. Tickets are available from Friday, 11th June at 9am from Ticketmaster.ie. Proudly brought to you by Singular Artists.

The band released four new tracks on Akira Records yesterday and premiered their music video on their YouTube channel.

Their debut EP ‘monochrome blue’ is due out 1st September on Akira Records.

Barry, Cian, Danny and Graham of Drogheda have already nailed their sound; they deliver polished, indie-pop with a glossy ‘90s sheen and intricate details.

The band says the song, “’lmk (if you wanna see me)’ is about a formative period of your life ending. We wrote it during lockdown which inspired the somber, detached feel of the song.” ‘lmk (if you wanna see me)’ will be the third single on the EP, following on from ‘Liquorice’ and ‘Bop’, both of which received strong playlist support, landing on NMF UK at Spotify, as well as Fresh Finds, Alt-Pop and The Pop List.

Radio has come via 2FM, BBC Ulster, XS Manchester, Across the Line and Radio X.

Fresh off the release of his widely-acclaimed EP ‘Transcendence’, Robert O’Connor presents ‘Save You’, a relentless trance banger that’ll have you ready to party like its 1999 – whether the clubs open or not!

Produced by Gareth Shortland, who was recently recruited to remix hits for Steps and Will Young, the track wears its influences on its sleeve – Chicane and SASH! can be heard in the pure ‘90s production, while the infectious melody is reminiscent of Pet Shop Boys.

In less than three years, O’Connor has released eight singles – from the world-class country ballad ‘No Second Chances’, described by Caesar Live n Loud as “a timeless classic”, right up to the late-night glistening electro track ‘Destination Anywhere’. The Dublin-born artist has proved that while he changes musical lanes often, quality control is his best asset.

“When it comes to songwriting, my best work comes fast and is rarely altered from its original state. If the melody feels weak or the lyric doesn’t resonate, it goes in the bin,” Robert explains.

While his name is under-the-radar in the mainstream, O’Connor has generated a plethora of rave reviews for his work in a short time. Reyt Good Magazine hailed his latest EP “a pop masterpiece”, Culture Fix said they were “bowled over from the cinematic intro”, and That Blogger Music gave the record a 10/10 rating, claiming “Transcendence has everything we have come to expect from Robert – catchy lyrics, upbeat vibes and brilliant vocals.”

Best of all, the praise is organic – O’Connor operates as a one-man-machine, with no management, pluggers or label in sight. “I see it as an expensive, time-consuming hobby,” he explains. “My goal is long-term – to create a body of work I can be proud of, rather than chasing a hit that I will then have to repeatedly re-create to remain relevant – where’s the joy, or the artistry, in that?”

‘Save You’ is released on June 25. Pre-save the single on Spotify now! [https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/robertoconnor/save-you]

Website: http://www.iamrobertoconnor.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/robertoconnor
Instagram: www.instagram.com/iamrobertoconnor
Facebook: www.facebook.com/iamrobertoconnor
Tik Tok: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZSxaeVBb/
YouTube: www.youtube.com/robertoconnormusic
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3cGgPditxbsHzV6v6jRAXC?si=jUuMwo-GQH2R_WzMX-FA4w
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/ie/artist/robert-oconnor/68165886
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/iamrobertoconnor
Bandcamp: https://robertoconnor.bandcamp.com