Naked Animals’ latest single ‘Money Shot’ is a vibrant and festive song, very much in the style of artists like Prince & Vulfpeck. But behind the upbeat sound is a hard-hitting socio-political message. It tackles the issue of our constant need for stimulation and approval in today’s society.
‘Money Shot’ is the second single from the upcoming E.P ‘Business As Usual’ which is due for release this summer. To celebrate the single the band have released their latest video filmed by Cork artist Jack Ahern. Using a mixture of cream and confetti they successfully managed to both block the entire plumbing system and shoot a sparkly yet saucy video in one day.
Naked Animals have many more things in the pipeline besides cream and confetti though, with the release of their E.P on the horizon they plan on recording their debut album this year along with the imminent announcement of their patreon website.
Following on from their debut releases: ‘Metroma’ (as featured on BBC/Hulu TV Series Normal People), ‘Sentient’, and debut EP: ‘Lumen’, alt electronica project The Sei, made up of Irish / Swedish duo Stace Gill and Maria Nilsson Waller along with producer Ross Dowling (Talos, James Vincent McMorrow) are delighted to announce their next release: a single titled ‘Let It All Go’ on Paragon Records April 8th 2021.
This release aligns with a creative phase which saw the trio building entire worlds together through sound and movement with their multi-disciplinary production house Flora Fauna Project in addition to a multi-media dance duet project in Stockholm and establishing a unique dance project titled The River performed by seventeen women from Dublin’s North East Inner City.
Their previous singles have received widespread support on all of the main streaming platforms across Europe and Asia, in addition to numerous tastemaker outlets internationally and growing international radio support from stations such as NPR KCRW, Irish national 2FM and more. In February 2021 a remix of their single ‘Metroma’ was also released by the renowned Anjunadeep label.
Speaking of her Dance piece ‘Merry Go Round’ and for the release of ‘Let It All Go’ Maria Nilsson Waller says: “I wanted to show the longing for connection, and the minute timing that is required for meetings and shared life experiences to happen, but also how we are all somehow united in our emotions and longings, travelling through space and time, trying to make ourselves at home while spinning around in space.”
In addition, Stace Gill comments: “’Let It All Go’ is my response and my lesson; my longing and listening for how to pass through a lifetime as a soft dreaming human, heartbroken, letting everything go and learning love on a speck of rock firing through space.“
‘Let It All Go’ is the third single and piece of the puzzle in a growing body of work through music, song, story, film and dance created by The Sei. It is released April 8th on Paragon Records.
After the success of their ‘Courage’ series, Other Voices is set to release a trio of songs from Mick Flannery and Susan O’Neill’s mesmerising live performance.
Recorded at the Crawford Art Gallery, Cork in July 2020, the brand new three-track EP will feature two Mick Flannery originals (‘I’ll Be Out Her’e and ‘Must Be More’) as well as a cover of ‘Angel From Montgomery’ by country-folk pioneer John Prine.
Their ‘Courage’ performance was a highlight of 2020 for the pair, who have been working on a full album of duets due out later in 2021. Ahead of the duet album release, this special ‘Courage’ recording will be released on streaming platforms on Friday 9th April.
This will be the first in a series of ‘Courage’ music releases with more EP’s and a compilation album scheduled for later this year.
Last December the pair came together again to perform as part of Other Voices Series 19 which is available to watch now on the RTÉ Player: https://bit.ly/3w4ciLV
Susan O’Neill said:
“Really glad to be a part of this Other Voices E.P with Mick. Good craic was had making it and what a joy it was singing in the Crawford Art Gallery.”
Mick Flannery said:
“Very happy to be included in this EP. I’m very grateful to have had the chance to work with everyone involved.”
Other Voices Founder Philip King, said:
“Mick Flannery and Susan O Neill write wonderful songs of love loss and longing and for Other Voices Courage they performed them with passion in the wonderful Crawford Gallery in the heart of Cork City. On that evening they as a nod of recognition and thanks to the late John Prine sang his great song Angel From Montgomery….It was a precious gift.
Make me an angel that flies from Montgomery
Make me a poster of an old rodeo
Just give me one thing that I can hold on to
To believe in this living is just a hard way to go.”
Lahinch-based musician and meditation teacher Susan Quirke has released another new track from her highly-anticipated debut album, which lands on April 23rd. Written in northern California where she spent a few months song writing, ‘Follow Rivers Way’ is a sweet, slow, and delicate song from the Limerick-born artist. It is the most stripped-back song from her forthcoming album, and one that is particularly close to her heart: https://linktr.ee/susanquirke
‘Follow Rivers Way’ is a tribute to the painful, but often necessary, journey of healing trauma and the promise of transformation that lies at the other side. As well as her enchanting vocals on the track, Susan plays guitar alongside veteran musician Colm Quearney.
It’s a particularly soft sound that Susan is keen to share in advance of a rockier single that is coming down the tracks. Susan says: “I know there’s a big focus in the music industry on upbeat ‘radio-friendly’ releases and I enjoy these as much as anybody. I’ve chosen to release this particular softer sounding song as a lot of people are struggling at the moment and I feel our nervous systems need soothing music now more than ever.”
Susan shares her thoughts on ‘Follow Rivers Way’:
“There are times in life when we can abandon parts of ourselves because to sit in the pain of our past can be too overwhelming. However, I’ve learned throughout the years that it takes far more energy to dodge our pain than to actually sit in it, feel it, grieve, and let it move through us. In our society we are often not taught how to navigate and process pain. Too often we numb it, distract ourselves from it or entertain ourselves so we don’t have to feel. I’ve seen this in my own life and in my work as a meditation teacher. But if the past is not dealt with, it can fester and cause pain in so many other ways.
With the right supports, allowing ourselves to feel the pain of the past allows us to heal. You have to feel it to heal it, as the saying goes. I believe healing trauma is the ultimate superpower on earth right now. It breaks cycles of hurt and pain and is a gift to the collective. This is what Follow Rivers Way sings to. My experience is that following this river of healing can help us to realise that we’re far more powerful than we realise. In many ways this has been my experience in finding my voice as a songwriter and in creating this song and my new album. This has been a hugely healing and transformational journey for me.”
Stream/Buy ‘Follow Rivers Way’ (single) by Susan Quirke via Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple etc.: https://linktr.ee/susanquirke
Off the back of her Folk Alliance International live debut this past February, Ireland’s most exciting new alt-folk artist Dani Larkin plans to release her debut album ‘Notes For A Maiden Warrior’ on June 18th 2021. The long-awaited debut album makes its final voyage, containing a collection of 10 tracks including reimagined album versions of popular tracks such as ‘Samson & Goliath’, ‘Bloodthirsty’ and ‘The Mother Within’ and promises to be one of the most exciting contemporary folk albums this year.
Along with the announcement of Dani’s debut album ‘Notes For A Maiden Warrior’, a headline Irish tour is announced. Taking place in Limerick, Galway, Dundalk, West Cork , Cork, Dublin, ending with a secret show in Belfast. Tickets will be available from Friday, 9th April at 10AM.
The album is centred around the concept of lessons on how to be a warrior, how to create change in this world by learning from stories of old and from other realms, and how to navigate life – love, death, suffering, pain, strength and kindness. It is not intended to be instructional; it is as a set of notes in song form.
Recorded in Halfbap Studios, Belfast and co-produced by George Sloan this debut album ‘Notes for A Maiden Warrior’ formally cements Dani Larkin’s arrival onto the folk scene, and establishes herself as a contemporary folk artist to take notice of.
With live dates in the diary for SoFFT Nights 2021, Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival, Clonakilty Guitar Fest, Claremorris Folk Festival and a live album tour for Autumn 2021 promoted by Singular Artists, there is no corner of this island that you won’t be able to catch Dani Larkin live this year celebrating her debut album in full.
This album is being self-released digitally as well as physically on vinyl. Available to pre-order directly from Dani Larkin’s website www.danilarkin.com
FULL IRISH TOUR DATES
Proudly presented by Singular Artists
Fri 19 Nov, Limerick Dolan’s Warehouse – Ticket link
Irish singer-songwriter Rory & The Island has just released the video for his brand new single ‘Miss This’ – out now. ‘Miss This’ explores the basic little joys we all miss during this crazy situation, and has become a firm favourite during Rory & The Island’s successful weekly Facebook Live broadcasts which have built up something of a cult following with an average of 30,000 weekly views over the past year.
Speaking about the video for ‘Miss This’ Rory & The Island said: “It was a simple concept of creating a contrast between old images of normal lively scenes of life such as music festivals, gigs, football games and busy cafes etc against the backdrop of being stuck indoors with my family during lockdown just waiting around and trying to pass the time without going insane, I filmed it on my phone and just edited it all together with old footage I had on memory sticks. My two sons Aidan (5) and Shay (2) , played their parts perfectly and deserve an MTV award. Strangely when I watched it back a week later it looked and sounded less like a lockdown video and more like a mid-life crisis! I hope this flaw makes it timeless, haha.”
Rory & The Island has had 12 Top 20 iTunes singles in Ireland in the past decade. His most recent single ‘When The Lights Go Down (Valhalla)’ reached Number 1 in early November 2020 and raised a few eyebrows when it kept Miley Cyrus, Lizzo and Dermot Kennedy off the top spot for the weekend. The single also climbed to Number 8 in the UK iTunes Songwriters chart.
Rory’s journey began as lead singer of indie-rock band The Revs, who alongside being hotly tipped by the likes of U2, found themselves topping the Irish charts with two top 5 albums and a string of successful tours that made waves throughout Ireland, Europe and even reached Australia with a top 30 single – as well as beating Damien Rice, Relish and Six to take both the Meteor IRMA award and the Hot Press Award for Best Newcomer. After the bands split in 2007, Rory moved to a remote island in the Canaries where he opened a live music venue ‘The Island Bar’.
It was there the Donegal songwriter performed weekly residency shows building up a following of people from all over the world that would travel to the island to come and see him perform. It was also here that Rory & The Island was born – with Rory Gallagher beginning his solo project under the name to avoid any confusion with the Ballyshannon/Cork Blues Legend. Two albums later, Rory & The Island independently earned himself 8 top 30s, 2 top 10s and a Number 1 single in the Irish Charts alongside performing all over the UK and Ireland supporting the likes of Ocean Colour Scene, Feeder and Alabama 3. 2019 saw Rory leave the island, return back to Ireland and extensively tour, filling out rooms around the UK and Ireland with his London show at The Dublin Castle selling out within 48 hours of going on sale.
In March 2020, Rory and his wife Cara announced the opening of a new music venue ‘The Wildcat’ in Edinburgh, sadly due to the Coronavirus pandemic it never reached its official opening night on the 21st March. Ever productive, Rory & The Island has spent the past 11 months writing and releasing new music and performing gigs through Zoom and Facebook continuing to build up a strong fanbase.
‘Miss This’ the brand new single from Rory & The Island is out now across all digital platforms.
‘Hold Your Head Up’ is an uplifting, positive, timeless song, full of hope from Francie Conway. It’s the first single from the highly acclaimed album ‘Hidden Gems’, selected not by the artists, but by radio…
“While going through emails looking for music to go on our ‘Locked Down/Still Rocking Out’ slot, I came across ‘Hold Your Head Up’ (the old Argent song – the original of which I love) on Francie Conway’s new album ‘Hidden Gems’. I thought, this is going to be awful or brilliant. It was unusual, but brilliant!
I said to myself, someone is being very clever here, creating a really interesting re-interpretation of a song everyone knows, that everyone will hum along/sing to, and it’s less than three minutes, made for radio!!” Mike Maloney, Music One Ireland.
The seeds for this album ‘Hidden Gems’ were sown when The Zombies were inducted to the Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame in March 2019 in New York City. Due to this achievement widespread interest has grown in the band members individual projects which include ARGENT, Colin Blunstone and The Chris White Experience.
Francie and Chris have a longstanding musical relationship since the 80’s and Francie is featured on three of the albums from The Chris White Experience; these songs are also included on ‘Hidden Gems’.
‘Hidden Gems’ is a feelgood rock album with some outstanding performances from many iconic musicians, including:
Tim Renwick (Pink Floyd), Russ Ballard (ARGENT), Russ also wrote many classic songs including ‘God Gave Rock’n’Roll To You’, ‘Since You’ve Been Gone’, plus so many more… John Verity (ARGENT), Jim Rodford (ARGENT/The Kinks), Bob Henrit (ARGENT), Vivienne Boucherat & Chris White (The Zombies), Jan Akkerman (FOCUS), Christy Dignam (Aslan), Finbar Furey (The Fureys), Gerry O’Connor (Joe Bonamassa/The Dublin Legends), Keith Donald & Matt Kelleghan (Moving Hearts) plus many more..
One of the hidden gems is a first recording of a new song written by Paul Williams, Oscar and GRAMMY award winning songwriter, with Keith Donald and arranged by Fiachra Trench.
A hidden gem from the archives, a live recording from a TV show in RTÉ Dublin 1974, when Francie was just a kid!!
Fontaines D.C. are one of the most lauded alternative rock bands to emerge from Ireland in recent years. They released their critically acclaimed debut album ‘Dogrel’ in 2019 which went on to be nominated for the Mercury Prize and the Choice Music Prize. They’ve toured extensively worldwide selling out shows in iconic venues such as the Brixton Academy and playing renowned festivals such as Glastonbury Festival.
They also performed on the hugely popular American talk show, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Their follow up to ‘Dogrel’, ‘A Hero’s Death’ was released on July 31st to rapturous reviews and was nominated for a GRAMMY in the Best Rock Album category and the band have also just picked up a Brit Award nomination for ‘Best International Group’.
Other Voices are delighted to share the band’s electric set from the iconic location of Kilmainham Gaol which was filmed during the Courage series, in its entirety. This one off special episode will contain a never before seen interview and performances that have not been previously broadcast on television. Tune in to RTÉ2 and the RTÉ Player at 11pm on April 8th – it’s not to be missed.
A performance from the Kilmainham set was played as the opening act to U2’s live stream of their iconic 1983 concert at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado. This stream was shown on U2’s official YouTube channel as part of their Virtual Road series. In 2021, Fontaines D.C. have been nominated for a prestigious Libera Award for best Live / Livestream Act for this performance.
Other Voices Series 19, presented by May Kay and Huw Stephens, will run for 10 weeks, and will include compelling and uplifting performances that capture in full flight the brilliant diversity of the most exciting Irish voices creating the soundtrack to our lives right now.
RTÉ2 & RTÉ PLAYER | THURSDAYS | 11.00PM
Other Voices Founder Philip King, said: “On July 14th last year a remarkable gig took place behind the walls of Kilmainham at the height of lockdown as part of the Other Voices Courage series. On that evening Fontaines D.C. played music from their about to be released album ‘A Heroes Death’. Grian Chatten, says the album’s name was inspired by a line from Brendan Bethan’s play the hostage..”If we give ourselves every breath, we are all in the running for a Hero’s Death”. The Jail was the perfect location for this heroic music, echoing its turbulent past with energy and passion. It was a unique and inspiring performance.“
Justin Healy, Executive Producer at RTÉ, said: “RTE is very proud to be involved in this long-running and much loved series. The Irish music scene, despite its particular challenges right now, has arguably never been so rich in new talent and we’re delighted to feature so many of them on Other Voices this season. Viewers can enjoy the show on Thursdays on RTÉ2 or on catch-up at their convenience on RTÉ Player.“
Great art has the power to somehow articulate the abstract, to explain the inexplicable. After a year of turmoil beyond words singer-songwriter Sean Murphy, has channeled this swirling darkness in to a hauntingly beautiful album: ‘The Dark Below & The Isle of Dogs’.
Originally from Cork, Ireland, living in Dublin and having spent the last 12 months in London, Sean Murphy has seen this last disastrous year through the lens of an artist. Working under the moniker All The Queen’s Horses, Murphy has crafted a raw, guttural and emotive response to what he has observed as a darkness bleeding across the land and in to all of our lives. A twisted narrative is weaved in folktronica-rock; a patchwork of poetry, cello, synths and mournful pianos. A kind of warped, contemporary tapestry, the story of 2020 unfolds in low light and fun-house mirrors.
As a production, ‘The Dark Below & The Isle of Dogs’ has been something of a family affair – fitting for a year in which we have retreated into tight confines and familial bubbles. Murphy’s heavily pregnant wife, Sinead provided backing vocals; Uncle, Kevin Murphy (Slow Moving Clouds, Blindstitch) played cello and long time friend, Darragh Molloy, added further backing vocals. A makeshift community around the record gives it a feeling of collage and layering, something tangible and tactile. The resulting 14 tracks tap in to the national psyche, unlocking an almost freudian out-pouring of grief, darkness and trouble. Most of the record was made overlooking the Isle of Dogs from which it takes its name. Darkness became the overriding theme, a constant pandemic gloom through a rollercoaster of a year with, impossibly, only downs in place fo ups.
Astoundingly this is Murphy’s first full album. Murphy began playing the piano as a child, later exploring synths and guitars and playing in some college bands. The odd inertia of 2020 has provided a space (albeit a dark one) for him to really focus and produce a stunning body of work. There is a winding narrative to navigate here; from a relationship going ‘spectacularly and staggeringly wrong’ in ‘Raised By Wolves’ to a protagonist at war with their own demons in ‘The Dark Below’, the listener is invited into a gloomy theatre of self doubt, implosion and human flaws. With a first single set to drop as spring begins to lift in 2021, others will follow with a planned full album release in early autumn. With live performances lined up, 2021 promises to be a year of a different kind of change for All The Queen’s Horses.
The 14 songs on the album plus the hidden track of ‘The Dark Below and The Isle of Dogs’ were produced by producers David Virgin (SPK, Sekret Sekret), Rohan Healy and Al Quiff at Beardfire Studio in Dublin. The production team, made up of father and sons who have worked with the likes of Nick Cave, INXS, Leslie Dowdall (In Tua Nua), Mary Black, The Cruel Sea, Cat Power, Billy Bragg and Lloyd Cole – on stage or in the studio – during their six decades of musical experience together, to name but a few.
Singer & songwriter Tiz McNamara, who produced the songs (‘The Dark Below’, ‘Close Your Eyes & Think Of England’, ‘A Letter Of Recommendation To The Angels’), has already toured with James Bay and his songs reached over 15 million streams on Spotify.
The album will be released in autumn 2021, with 3 singles and videos upfront, kicking off with the single, ‘Raised By Wolves’ and ‘The Ides Of March’ , as an A/B side which was released on 26 March 2021.
The band All The Queen’s Horses is ready to conquer the stages and will play several European showcase festivals in 21/22.
ELKIN have just released latest single ‘Tuesday’. The duo team up again with Ivor-Novello nominated producer lullahush in this cool-girl banger about an anti-climactic breakup.
“Our last song was kinda deep. This song isn’t deep at all. Who breaks up with someone on a fucking Tuesday? Obviously a messy break-up is emotionally draining, but the drama of it all can be gas as you retell the stories to your girlies. But when the break-up is as boring and predictable as the relationship itself, you’re left thinking – ‘I didn’t even get a good story out of that’.”
Tuesday is Part 2 of ‘ANTHOLOGY’, a collection of singles released Feb-Aug 2021.
Ellen and Carla were writing and singing together from the age of 15 before taking their music to a new level as ELKIN. Drawing inspiration from the likes of Joni Mitchell the duo began writing and performing folk-pop, but it wasn’t until they began working with producer lullahush that ELKIN blended their love of thought-provoking folk lyrics with fierce alt-pop production.
ELKIN made their mark in 2019 with singles Green Eyes, Cut My Tongue and DIY, as well as releasing ‘Fall So Easy’, a collaboration with Cork producer 1000 Beasts. The self-managed duo have received growing support with ELKIN being selected to perform at showcases such as Whelan’s Ones to Watch, Music Cork and Ireland Music Week.
2020 saw O’Mahony and Ryan continuing this momentum with new release ‘Win Win’ alongside performances at OutPut Showcase in Belfast and Other Voices Music Trail, Ballina. With the Covid pandemic putting a halt to their other plans, the duo spent the rest of the year writing and recording a collection of singles, ‘ANTHOLOGY’, which will be released Feb – Aug 2021. This will be followed by an EP release funded by the FMC Recording Stimulus Grant.
