Introducing the sublime soul infused sounds of Dublin based multi-instrumentalist and powerhouse vocalist Nnic. (Pronounced like Nic ).
Nnic is the moniker of Naoise Fitzgerald. Hitting the ground running at high speed with her debut single ‘Pillars’, Nnic’s unique R&B tinted vocal is complimented to perfection by exquisite production from Darragh Nolan (Asta Kalapa Recordings) and Adam O’Regan (Little Green Cars).
“‘Pillars’ was written from a place of admiration and is a homage to faceless women who selflessly uplift and support others”
Dublin native Naoise Nic aka ‘Nnic;, is an upcoming female solo artist with a neo-soul/electronic edge. With over 10 years of classical vocal training under her belt, Nnic’s sound and writing passion brings a mixture of ballad-like melodies, with fresh electronic sampling.
“We’re running in a dream but I keep falling behind you.” – The Burma’s latest single Quicksand certainly conjures up the fabric of a dream. In a world that changes faster than we can hope to adapt, this intensely melodic pop tune figures as a poignant hymn to a life lost in transition. Scintillating in its dynamic use of form yet elegiac in tone, Quicksand has an addictive appeal sure to keep you coming back for more.
The Burma are an indie rock n’roll band based in Cork City. Influenced by the American Indie scene of the early 2000’s and British guitar bands such as The Smiths, The Burma’s jangly guitars and bouncy basslines make for refreshingly melodic songs.
In December 2016 The Burma released ‘Love Fades’, the first single from their debut EP. The Indie floor-filler was met with great acclaim with Hot Press stating “The pop-rockers are as suited to the dancefloor as the dive bar, as bouncy basslines underpin earwig melodies and shimmering guitar lines. Recent releases like ‘Love Fades ‘suggest that they’re ready to graduate to the big time.” ‘Love Fades’ was also made JOE.ie’s Song of the Day. “This is a little cracker of a tune!”
The Burma released their debut EP ‘Her Eyes On Horizons’ in June 2017. The band embarked on a successful Irish tour, headlining venues such as Whelans, Roisin Dubh and Coughlans.
In September 2017 The Burma released the single ‘Sucker For Stars’ and this track was picked up by Hot Press as their Track Of The Day, “The Burma’s ascendancy continues with new single ‘Sucker For Stars’, which features Smiths-styled guitar riffs, a hugely catchy chorus, and a vocal exhibition from lead singer Tony O’Donovan.”
The Burma have supported acts such as The Academic, The Strypes, Delorentos, The Blizzards & Ryan Sheridan.
Quicksand is out on Friday October 5th on all digital platforms. The single will be launched for physical release at special launch parties at various in-store performances around Cork on Saturday October 6th.
Music Zone, Douglas Village Shopping Centre – 1PM
Golden Discs, Patrick Street – 4PM
Live Dates
Pot Duggans, Ennistymon – September 18
The Chasing Bull, Bundoran – November 10
Kennys, Lahinch – November 24
Crane Lane, Cork – November 27
The New Bar UCC, Cork – November 29
The Underground, Dublin – TBC
“We’re always told to take something to feel better and to escape reality. But when you find an actual person that can create that feeling better than any drug or alcohol ever could, that’s the greatest feeling. Finding that is what the message of the song is, and the struggles with it,” explains Rushes.
‘Liquor’, the latest single from West Cork native Sean Walsh aka Rushes, will be released via DFL Records on September 14th.
An alluring blend of electro-RnB, ‘Liquor’ is infused with dreamy vocals and perfectly polished production. The mellow track blends euphoric melodies and inventive beats with an underlying dark undertone. The result is the epitome of sexy and cool; a finished canvas reflecting Rushes’ self-confessed perfectionism and confirming his idiosyncratic talent.
‘Liquor’ is Rushes’ second single of 2018 and follows the success of ‘Wave’, which was included in Spotify’s New Music Friday playlist, slotting in amongst the mainstream heavyweights.
Behind the scenes, the hardworking emerging artist has worked with the likes of Kodaline, Overhead The Albatross and All Tvvins. ‘Liquor’ further cements Rushes as a revered songwriter and artist, whose skills continue to find new avenues for creating music.
With an EP in the works, further collaborations and upcoming shows Rushes’ time has arrived!
All Tvvins enjoyed a phenomenal start to their career. Their debut album ‘IIVV’ shot into the Irish charts at #2, earned a Choice Music Prize nomination for Irish Album of the Year and smashed the 15 million streams landmark. Meanwhile, gigs in the UK and Ireland included a life-affirming sold-out show at Dublin’s historic Olympia Theatre as well as a tour as guests to Metric.
Now the duo – Conor Adams and Lar Kaye – commence the second chapter their career by sharing the new single ‘Hell of a Party’. The track is the first from their second album ‘Just To Exist’ which will be released early next year.
Possessing an ominously seductive atmosphere with funk flavouring and Adams’ most soulful vocals to date, ‘Hell of a Party’ represents an organic evolution in the All Tvvins sound. It offers a taster of what to expect from ‘Just To Exist’, an album that clearly expands upon the variety and quality that they demonstrated with their debut.
“We tried to capture that atmosphere in the song’s lyrics too,” says Adams. “To say it’s a hell of a party is a pretty ballsy thing to say, and very cocksure. But in the context of the song, it means something very different. It’s a hell of a party.”
After releasing ‘IIVV’, All Tvvins built on their momentum by dropping three new tracks in quick succession in the shape of ‘Alone Together’ (featuring James Vincent McMorrow), ‘Anything’ and ‘Crash’. But by the winter of 2017, however, their ideas simply weren’t flowing and their confidence was low. As Kaye recalls, “We were questioning the whole thing. Is it worth exploring more? Or do we not do it anymore?”
Salvation came in the shape of an invite from McMorrow to work on a new track. The trio created ‘Hell of a Party’ over the course of a two-day session and that set them firmly back on track. They spent January and February of this year recording the album, with the work ethic of producer, co-writer and effective third member McMorrow vital to their resurgence. They’d rediscovered the pure joy of making music and were rewarded with their best material yet.
The end result is ‘Just To Exist’, which Adams describes as “a snapshot of where we were, what we were going through and where we hope to go next.” The title, adds Kaye, represents “an acceptance of what we had to go through” to make All Tvvins 2.0 not only exist, but to once again thrive. Adversity, it seems, is a potent inspiration.
From Ireland’s deep south prepare to fall further for the rootsy charms of One Horse Pony as they get set to release their EP ‘Hot One’ on October 11.
Hot on the heels of their stomping debut single ‘Muddy Waters’ Cork band One Horse Pony return with the release of their debut EP, produced by Gavin Glass, and its title track ‘Hot One’. With a string of Irish dates in support of the new single, ‘Hot One’ combines the rough edges of the blues, the attitude of RnB, the harmonies of Gospel music and the instrumentation of Irish Traditional music to create something modern and contemporary.
This melting pot of traditions captures the wisdom of life experience and the bittersweet notes in a tale of overcoming obstacles and self-doubt to reach for the top. ‘Hot One’ smoulders with the heat of betrayal, glistens with the shimmer of a hazy backward glance at the past and reverberates with the steely satisfaction of seizing destiny.
Make sure to catch One Horse Pony play one of their renowned and energetic live performances to support the release of their debut EP ‘Hot One’. Full tour dates are available on onehorsepony.com with highlights including the Guinness Jazz Festival Music Trail, Coughlan’s in Cork City and Whelan’s, Dublin.
Pillow Queens announce an Irish winter tour, including dates in Galway, Belfast and Limerick along with their biggest headline show to date in Whelans on November 24th.
To mark the occasion, they’ve put together a music video for live favourite ‘Puppets’, which is one of four songs from their EP ‘State of the State’ which came out in March.
The video sees a washed up puppet take a trip down memory lane towards a brighter time in her life – a time when she was the fifth member of Pillow Queens – successful through the ages. After being kicked out of the band due to some bad life decisions, Connie the puppet decides to take her future with the band into her own hands, editing herself into a music video.
After performances this summer at Indiependence and Electric Picnic, Pale Rivers announce some tour dates for October and November.
Following on from the atmospheric ‘Montparnasse’ and the more immediate sound of ‘Don’t Worry About Me’, the band released ‘Icefield’ in August, the third track from the forthcoming EP.
Based out of Cork and Tipperary, the band began playing their first shows around the country including slots at Hard Working Class Heroes and Whelans One’s To Watch, as well as some high profile supports for acts such as Teleman, British Sea Power and The Wedding Present.
Oct 6th – Gleesons, Clonmel
Oct 18th – East Side Tavern, Dublin
Nov 3rd – Cyprus Avenue, Cork
Nov 16th – Mike the Pies Listowel (supporting Columbia Mills)
“We are Pale Rivers, a five-sided case study, sound vehicle. To speak of the past is, often times, erroneous at best. But to not share some details of how things came to pass would be wasteful, un-opportunistic and questionable”.
‘Tara’ is the 3rd single from Davie’s album, ‘Easy Come Easy Go’.
“Growing up in Navan, we went there as kids, rolling down the hills, kicking a ball around, giving Sparky, our little dog, a run. For me it holds many happy memories but it’s much more than that now. It’s magical, it’s mysterious, it holds Ireland’s history within its fields…the seen and unseen. I hope it brings you peace.
Special thanks to director and artistic genius Marc Corrigan, music producer Martin Quinn in JAM Studios and uileann piper Sinéad O’Shiel Flemming.”
Fureys’ debut album ‘Easy Come Easy Go’ was very well received in audiences across the country having been showcased by RTE, BBC Radio both home and abroad, resulting in a worldwide publishing deal with Universal Music. Nominated three years in a row by The Pure M Awards, for Best Newcomer, Best Male Artist and Best Irish Solo Act. Davie’s knack for telling a story through song and his ability to engage a crowd have resulted in many sold out shows on his previous tours.
Meghan Ali, a songstress from Cork City describes her music as “…a recipe made with a dab of Blues, Folk, Jazz and Pop, hence the flavoured taste.”
Meghan Ali was delighted to work with Billy Farrell (4 times platinum producer for The Corrs/ Ryan Sheridan’s hit ‘Jigsaw’) to produce ‘Men Men Men’. Recorded between Nashville & Dublin,’Men Men Men’ has the perfect blend of both.
The song tells one woman’s frustration at falling for a man who ultimately sees her as just another name in his black book. It explores the notion that women often jokingly confide that sometimes it would be easier to be a lesbian because men make things so difficult. That aside, the song is still true to the sultry, sexy and tempestuous relationship between man and woman. Set in the 1950’s, the music video, directed by Ovie, captures the love, lust, lies and loss centred around the 3 main characters.
The launch of ‘Men Men Men’ music video took place at The Reel Cinema, Blackpool.
From a young age, once guitar was in hand and the first strings were plucked, melodies and concepts came naturally to Meghan Ali. Reluctant to be defined by a specific genre, she instead concentrates on crafting her songs around people, places and life experiences thus allowing the listener to easily identify with her lyrics. Although the penmanship may set the scene, Meghan Ali always begins with the melody, describing it as the “seed from which the plant grows”, hence the mighty respectful nod to both guitar & penmanship in her logo.
As a complete aside: Meghan is an Earth & Environmental Scientist which may explain the organic flavour to her quotes! She hates early mornings, the Irish weather and being cold- loves the ocean, swimming in the sea and generally being outside. Her ideal home would be a luxury tree house in a hot country. Until then she is saving to buy planks of wood for the Oak tree in the back garden…
Meghan Ali, along with fellow ‘MAHOO’ band members Aisling Urwin and Bart Kondrat, won the title of Ireland’s top buskers as voted by judges Aindrais de Staic, Sile Seoige & Fiachna O Braonain (Hothouse Flowers) who described ‘MAHOO’ as “extremely talented with unique and powerful personalities which gave goose bumps during their performance”
Meghan Ali has also supported the likes of John Spillane & Bagatelle.
JaXson is the brainchild of Wexford singer-songwriter Luke Jackson.
After years of gaining experience, Luke released himself as JaXson in January 2017.
During his first gigs, he was on the bill with artists such as Chasing Abbey, WOLFF and Bicurious to name a few.
Some of his highlights of 2017 was playing the Wexford Spiegeltent Festival and playing a showcase for IMRO as part of IMRO First Cuts on the eve of his debut single release.
He released debut single, All I’m Fighting For in October 2017 and featured on Beat 102 103, Classic Hits 4FM, South East Radio, 8Radio & many more.
But 2018 saw JaXson move to new heights.
He played to a packed crowd at Vantastival 2018, played Sofar Sounds in Dublin, supported Little Hours in Waterford and played on the 2FM Play The Picnic Stage at Electric Picnic 2018.
“I can’t help it – if there are weaknesses inside me. I am human – and so is everyone around me.”
His sophomore single, ‘We Were Born’, tackles issues much deeper than one would think at first listen. “I think, in this day and age, it is so easy to forget that everyone has imperfections.” says JaXson.
“Every photo you see is photoshopped or edited, and young people are constantly comparing themselves to the next person they see. Social media has become a battleground for likes and popularity and people are getting more and more self-conscious everyday. It’s dangerous!”
“‘We Were Born’ was created to remind us all that we are who are and nobody else can compare to us. We are all unique. We were not manufactured to be perfect. Nobody is perfect.”
The song was recorded and produced by Darragh Nolan of Asta Kalapa Studios in Gorey, a studio which has seen the likes of Ailbhe Reddy, Daithi & Molly Sterling.
‘We Were Born’ is available on Spotify and all other platforms from the 14th September.
