Author: Breffni Banks

On a Saturday night in July, David Anthony McGeown played his soon-to-be-released single ‘Limbs’ for the first time, testing it out on the ample crowd gathered in the Main Room at Whelan’s to watch his band BODIES perform as part of the venue’s Summer Watch 2018 showcase festival.

Having broken his wrist two days previously after a collision between his bike and a car, David managed the first two songs, but was feeling restricted as the audience grew. Never one to compromise, David ripped off his wrist brace halfway through the gig so that he could play ‘Limbs’ unrestrained – albeit with a broken wrist.

This ‘all or nothing’ approach is typical of the 27-year-old Dubliner who recorded all of the parts for for his upcoming album himself, laying them down meticulously in the studio, one-by-one, spending time cultivating his signature sound that draws influence from the likes of Radiohead, Muse, Manchester Orchestra & Sigur Ros.

Originally a solo project, BODIES has now expanded to a four-piece, with the addition of Nathan Maher (guitar), Danilo Ward (bass) and Scott Johnson (drums). The band has been busy all summer earning a name for themselves as a raucous live band with energetic performances that juxtapose the starker, more restrained studio sound of the album, ‘Drench’, which will be released later this year. ‘Drench’ is one of the most anticipated studio albums from an Irish artist this year, and features collaborations with members of some of Ireland’s most prominent bands such as Squarehead, Kid Karate, Blooms, Kodaline and Overhead the Albatross.

David Anthony McGeown says: “The lyrics of this song are very personal to me. I wrote it during a difficult time in my life when I was finding it hard to feel anything for anyone, or enjoy anything. It’s about going through the motions of life and hoping that things will change. Fortunately for me, writing music and lyrics has always helped me arrange my thoughts and feelings. Spending time trying to define a feeling as poignantly as possible in a few lines has been really cathartic for me. with ‘Limbs’, going through the writing process helped me remember that nothing stays the same; everything has an end. The song ends on a ‘maybe’ and it’s there to remind me to always have hope.”

This Friday 24th February, at a headline gig at Bello Bar, Portobello, BODIES will officially launch ‘Limbs’, the first single from the upcoming album, ‘Drench’. Support on the night from Participant.

Irish electronic-pop artist and two times RTÉ Choice Music Song of the Year nominee, Soulé premieres her latest single, ‘Don’t Hold Your Breath’ on streaming services August 24th.

The song is a bittersweet story and the realization of being in a toxic relationship which isn’t good for you. A feel-good dance jam with a darker side, the deep melodic track continuously builds with her soulful and infectious vocals and pays homage to classic upbeat UK 2-step garage and House.

Soulé explains, “’Don’t Hold Your Breath’ was very easy and was written and recorded all in one day. I was inspired by relationships around me and toxic relationships I’ve witnessed or been in myself. I wanted to write a song about the back and forth of relationships when things turn sour or when the ‘honeymoon stage’ dies down. I wanted the lyrics to be simple but still deep and meaningful enough for listeners to relate to. I’m so proud of how it turned out.”

Her latest release follows the success of ‘Troublemaker’ and ‘What Do You Know’, both of which have reached over multiple million streams on Spotify and Apple Music and earned massive support on radio and media from BBC 1Xtra, RTE 2FM and Today FM.

‘Don’t Hold Your Breath’, the leading single from her debut EP, is an exciting preview of what’s to come in 2018. Soulé takes another step on her unique journey towards pop stardom – and she’s taking you with her!

http://souleofficial.com/

Original, entertaining and thought provoking, the Rubber Wellies are a unique Basque, Irish and British based collective, a travelling folk outfit like few others.

Having delighted audiences all over Europe and beyond with their hard working, fiercely independent act and their love of feel-good fun they celebrate ten years on the road together in full festival mode with a whistlestop tour of five cities and five nights only.

Drawing on curious everyday occurrences, folk narratives and global politics, the Rubber Wellies multi-lingual shows are a mix of musical story-telling and good-time sing-alongs that flip between poignant introspection and carefree raucousness. With a genre-bending mash-up of sea shanties, mexican rancheras, bossa nova, reggae, old time and swing, their performances are a joyful exercise in bridge building – a sonic/emotional conversation with plenty of opportunities for thoughtfulness and laughter.

Make sure you don’t miss out! Featuring: Harry Bird (Bilbao) on acoustic guitar & vocals; Christophe Capewell (Dublin) on fiddle, melodica, ukulele and piano; Kate Theodore (Southampton) on fiddle and vocals; Jamie Bird (Lincoln) on banjo, mandolin and vocals; Ian “Dodge” Paterson (Newcastle) on bass and Adam Downey (Galway) on drums.

Oct 3 // The Cumberland Arms, Newcastle (7.30pm, £5/£7)
Oct 4 // The Glad Café, Glasgow (7.30pm, £8/£10)
Oct 5 // The Workman’s Club, Dublin (8pm, 10e/12e)
Oct 6 // Zigfrid von Underbelly, Hoxton Square, London (7.30pm, £10/£12)
Oct 7 // The Greystones, Sheffield (8pm, £8/£10)

Bell X1 will bring a close to the celebrations of their 20^th anniversary year with two shows at the National Concert Hall on the 28^th and 29^th November. The band will be joined by Dowry Strings (Éna Brennan).The shows mark the end of a year of celebrations which saw the band perform five sell-out concerts in a Vicar Street residency in March.

“The Bandiversary shows this year have been a real trip, and have re-kindled our love  for songs we haven’t properly gotten inside in a long time. And we worked with Éna on a show with strings for the charity Aware earlier in the year, and thought how great it would be to go deeper into the catalogue with the three of us and a quartet at the NCH” says Paul.

The pair of concerts in the National Concert Hall will feature a selection of songs from Bell X1’s catalogue.

Since the release of their acclaimed 7th studio album ‘Arms’, the band have spent time touring in America, Australia, the United Kingdom and Europe.  They’ve also released new material with their various side projects.  Paul has been working on his first solo LP with The Gloaming’s Thomas Bartlett, and Dave has been touring and releasing new material with Join Me In the Pines.

Bell X1 are Paul Noonan, Dave Geraghty & Dominic Philips.

Bell X1  – Acoustic-ish with Dowry Strings
Wednesday 28^th and Thursday 29^th November, 8pm
Tickets from €25
Tickets on sale Friday 24^th August, 10am
For tickets call 01 417 00 00 or www.nch.ie 

http://bellx1.com/
http://www.enabrennan.com/dowry/

Mayo singer/songwriter Conor Ward is pleased to announce the release of his brand new single, ‘Hope’. Recently described by Hot Press Magazine as “a rising act to keep an eye on”, Conor returns with his first release since his debut EP, ‘Wanderlust’.

Songs from ‘Wanderlust’ earned him airplay on Today FM, Classic Hits 4FM, KCLR, iRadio, Spin SouthWest, Radio Kerry, Red FM, MidWest Radio, Dublin City FM and 8Radio.

Conor has been busy gigging the length and breadth of Ireland along with being offered support slots for Hermitage Green, The Stunning as well headlining a show of his own in the iconic Whelan’s.

His new single, ‘Hope’, deals with themes of mental health, anxiety and depression. However, the ultimate message of the song is one of finding hope. Recorded and produced by the excellent Dave Skelton, the result is a poignant yet infectiously catchy indie pop song. Speaking about the release Conor remarked the importance of it to him personally saying, “I feel when I’m writing, if I’m passionate about the topic, the material flows naturally. At the core of the song is a hope for open dialogue about mental health and breaking the stigma associated with it. The ultimate message is one of hope“.

A music video will accompany the track which will be shot by award winning Crude Media in conjunction with the fantastic charity, Limerick Suicide Watch.

Upcoming shows

To celebrate the release of “Hope”, Conor will be playing 3 headline shows with his band and a host of special guests. The proceeds from all three gigs will go towards two wonderful charities, Pieta House and Limerick Suicide Watch. “The idea of doing the three headline shows as fundraisers just felt like the right thing to do. I have massive admiration for the amazing work that the two charities do for the community and I want to contribute to them in any small way I can. With three wonderful venues, the gigs promise to be very special.”

Saturday September 1st – Body & Soul Arena, Electric Picnic 2018
Friday October 5^th – Whelan’s, Dublin
Friday October 12^th – Dolan’s, Limerick
Saturday October 13^th – Garbo’s, Castlebar

Social Media

www.conorwardmusic.com
www.facebook.com/conorwardmusic
www.instagram.com/conorwardmusic
www.twitter.com/conorwardmusic

‘Avenue Road’ is the brand new single release from Monaghan singer songwriter Jim McHugh. This song is about the roving’s of a young man around the border town of Dundalk and adjacent coastal village of Blackrock Co. Louth.

Avenue Road is the road that leads from Dundalk out to Blackrock and is where the love interest in the song lived. Unfortunately, she left for America and lost interest in him. ‘Avenue Road’ evokes his feelings; young love’s heartache echoing in the melancholic arrangements and lyrics.

This is the first single to be taken from Jim’s forthcoming album due for release in early 2019. It was recorded, produced and mastered in Ben Reel’s studio in Armagh and features Jim on Vocals/Mandolin/Electric Guitar, Paul McCabe on Bass, Butch McNeil on Drums and Ben Reel on synthesiser.

‘Avenue Road’ will be available on all digital formats for streaming/download on 28th September.

Jim will be live on the following dates:

• Friday Sep 28th: Brady’s Sessions, Dublin
• Saturday Sep 29th: Horsemans Inn, Castleblayney, Co. Monaghan
• Friday Nov 16th: Workman’s Club, Dublin

Radio Sessions:

• Monday, Oct 1st: Highland Radio Monday Night Sessions, Donegal
• Sunday, Oct 17th: South Dublin FM

Scott Maher releases his latest single ‘In The Madness’ on Friday 24th August.

Scott started his career in a Beatles tribute band called The Classic Beatles (who are still selling out theatres today) boasting such clients as The Queen of England, Sir George Martin among many more, but writing music and singing was always his passion.

He was front man with Beach in the late 90’s who had moderate success reaching top 20 in Ireland and winning The Emergenza Competition in Paris to receive best unsigned band out of 1600 competitors in Europe. Scott then embarked on a solo career which took him across America co-writing in Nashville LA and NYC. He has played most of the instruments on his 3 solo albums, wrote all the melodies for orchestration and vocals and drew the attention of Jimmy Iovine (Interscope) in LA .

He then joined The Shoos with his brother where again they were the principal songwriters. They signed a deal with Universal Ireland, and linked up with Jimmy Iovine again in LA touring with Maroon 5, One Republic, Taylor Hawkins, and most recently last year with ELO in The 3 Arena and The Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham to crowds of over 20,000 people. The Shoos had two number 1’s in Ireland and still receive generous airplay on Irish stations throughout the country.

“I’m excited about my new single as I feel it’s a welcome departure from my previous material and it’s the first time I ever spoke on a record. Hoping to be asked back on to The Late Late Show after my last appearance on their Valentine Show with my single ‘If We Were Lovers’.”

‘The Butterfly Album’ out now.

Dublin duo Apella have just unveiled the hilarious video for their brand new single ‘City Limits’.

Directed by Andrew Holohan and starring the IFTA award nominee Chris Newman and newcomer Esther Woods, the video for ‘City Limits’ tells the story of an average guy trying to find love in an Instagrammer’s world.

Sara is a desperate wannabe social media star while her boyfriend Adam is desperate for affection, all of which Sara gives to the real love of her life­­ – her phone. No matter where they go or what they do the objective is to get those followers up! After all, if you didn’t post it, did it even happen? Adam, trapped in a relationship he knows is not good for him, puts up with her shenanigans until an accident puts Sara in a difficult situation. Save his life or take a selfie?

“This video was fun to make, Chris and Esther were brilliant at playing these ridiculous parts. You think anyone is actually in a relationship like this? I hope not!” – Dara Quilty, Apella.

After their debut tour across the UK with Keywest, Apella returned to Ireland to a SOLD OUT crowd at the infamous Ruby Sessions in Dublin last week where they announced and performed their highly anticipated 4^th single ‘City Limits’ for the first time.

Apella burst onto the scene in late 2016 with their debut single ‘We Met At A Party’ to huge support from both national and regional radio stations. ‘We Met At A Party’ went on to be topped by their sophomore release ‘Graceful Dancer’ later that year.

The duo made a serious mark on the live front having packed out their headline show in Whelan’s Main Room, which included some A-list fans in attendance like Ed Sheeran, Saoirse Ronan and Irish football legend Damien Duff! They followed that up with a slew of festivals before decamping to the studio to complete their album.

2018 has already been an eventful one for the band. They have showcased that their sound appeals to such a wide audience having toured the UK with Keywest and opening for UK heavyweights Don Broco.

‘City Limits’ is streaming worldwide now!

Facebook: http://facebook.com/apellamusic
Instagram: http://instagram.com/apella
Twitter: http://twitter.com/apella
YouTube: http://youtube.com/apella
Soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/apella

Today, Villagers are pleased to unveil new single ‘Fool’, taken from the forthcoming fourth album ‘The Art Of Pretending To Swim’, due for release on September 21^st via Domino. Villagers play the Metropolis Festival at the RDS Dublin on October 27th.

‘Fool’ is a romantic battle-cry from the centre of a technological dystopia. The video, directed by Bob Gallagher takes the lyrics as a starting point for the narrative: “So here is my bleeding heart… Will you take the pain away?”

Gallagher explains further: “The video is a surreal take on a marriage proposal, which is the ultimate gambit in love. The scenario pushes how much Conor’s character is willing to overlook his partner’s shortcomings, and convince himself that everything is fine. You could call it foolishness but you could also consider it a kind of optimism, striving to see the best in a situation.”

Following the exquisitely sparse, intimate aura of 2015’s ‘Darling Arithmetic’, Conor O’Brien’s new record reconnects with the multi-faceted approach of Villagers’ 2010 album debut ‘Becoming A Jackal’ and 2013’s ‘{Awayland}’ while adding a new-found soulfulness, rhythmic nous and dazzling panoply of sonic detail, both analogue and digital, creating feverish moods while writing effortlessly accessible tunes. Balanced with subtle aspects and lyrical themes that embrace existential fears and hopes in this desperate, technologically-centred dystopian age, ‘The Art Of Pretending To Swim’ is the most brilliantly realised Villagers album to date.

The album was written, produced, mixed and primarily performed by Conor in his Dublin studio.

Watch the previously shared video for ‘A Trick Of The Light’ here, also directed by Bob Gallagher.

O’Brien has a string of accolades under his belt including two Ivor Novello Awards (the most recent being 2016’s Album Award for ‘Darling Arithmetic’), two Mercury Music Prize nominations and is also a previous winner of Ireland’s Choice Music Prize.

Additionally, Villagers’ music recently featured in the high profile HBO drama ‘Big Little Lies’, Conor has collaborated with the composer Nico Muhly (that track featuring in the forthcoming Paulo Sorrentino Berlusconi biopic ‘Loro 2’) and Villagers’ Spotify session of ‘Nothing Arrived’ has hit over 100 million streams.

Villagers live dates

Wed 17^th Oct – Rescue Rooms, Nottingham
Thurs 18^th Oct – Art School, Glasgow
Fri 19^th Oct – Gorilla, Manchester
Sun 21^st Oct – Wardrobe, Leeds
Mon 22^nd Oct – O2 Academy 2, Oxford
Tues 23^rd Oct – Hackney Arts Centre, London **SOLD OUT**
Thurs 25^th Oct – Arts Club, Liverpool
Sat 27^th Oct – Metropolis Festival, RDS, Dublin
Tues 30^th Oct – Trinity, Bristol
Wed 31^st Oct – Old Market, Brighton
Thurs 1^st Nov – La Madeleine, Brussels
Sat 3^rd Nov – Zoom, Frankfurt
Mon 5^th Nov – Vega, Copenhagen
Tues 6^th Nov – Gruenspan, Hamburg
Thurs 8^th Nov – Kesselhaus, Berlin
Fri 9^th Nov – Hybrydy, Warsaw
Sat 10^th Nov – Futurum, Prague
Mon 12^th Nov – Doornroosje, Nijmegen
Tues 13^th Nov – Melkweg (Old Hall), Amsterdam
Wed 14^th Nov – Trabendo, Paris
Fri 16^th Nov – Le Boucau, Biarritz
Sun 18^th Nov – Kafe Antzokia, Bilbao
Mon 19^th Nov – Chango, Madrid
Tues 20^th Nov – Razzmatazz 2, Barcelona
Thurs 22^nd Nov – Ridotto Teatro Regio, Parma
Fri 23^rd Nov – Spazio 211, Turin
Sat 24^th Nov – Port-Franc, Sion
Mon 26^th Nov – Papiersaal, Zurich
Tues 27^th Nov – Kulturkirche, Cologne
Wed 28^th Nov – Tivoli Vredenburg, Utrecht

‘The Art Of Pretending To Swim’ is available to pre-order on Domino Mart-exclusive deluxe LP (includes 10” of a 12-minute version of ‘Ada’ and B-side ‘This Is The Art Of Pretending To Swim’ plus signed lyric booklet), Deluxe LP (includes ‘Ada’/’ This Is The Art Of Pretending To Swim’ 10”), Standard LP, CD and Digitally. Pre-order: Dom Mart | Digital

Villagers Online:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Terry Hackett releases his second single, a duet with his daughter Aedín, taken from his forthcoming album ‘Kookoo City’.

Ten years singing with the RTE Philharmonic Choir, along with many more years involved in performance and production, led Terry Hackett to start writing his own material. Performing works wide and varied from Bach to Beethoven to Mahler, typically to a full National Concert Hall, along with his production and musical skills, influenced the writing and recording of his solo albums.

‘Little Darling’, is the second single to be released from his forthcoming album ‘Kookoo City’ coming hot on the heels of ‘The Music Makers’ which received a healthy dose of airplay nationwide, thanks to KCLRFM, RTE2XM, and Galway Bay FM amongst others. The song is a duet with his daughter Aedín and is about the bond between parent and child; part fact, part aspirational and part acknowledgment of not being the perfect parent! Out now on all download and streaming platforms.

With an extensive background in the areas of performance, recording and production, Terry’s original involvement with music was as a drummer, playing and touring with several acts from the late 80’s through to the 00’s. At the same time, he became heavily involved in recording and production, both in studio and on the road. His work either behind the drum-kit or the mixing console has included artists from a wide range of genres including Picturehouse, The Wilde Oscars, Iarla Ó Lionáird, Lunasa, B*witched and Danny O’Donoghue & Mark Sheehan from The Script in their boyband days with Mytown. After ten years singing with the RTE Philharmonic Choir, Terry was inspired to start writing and recording his own material leading to his debut release “One Over Eighty” in 2013, described by MondoTunes as “a record boasting gorgeous unique instrumental and pop compositions alike.”

All of his productions are self-recorded and produced.