Author: Breffni Banks

“The Harsh Winds of Rathlin” is the second single to be taken from Axis Of’s new album ‘The Mid Brae Inn’.

This “weather-beaten journey through the Axis Of environment” is accompanied by a video that sees the band return to their roots. The video, produced by Misfits for Media, was filmed at the Attic Bar of Ma Kellys in Ballymoney, which for a long time was a setting for some of the bands most chaotic shows.

“The Harsh Winds Of Rathlin” is accompanied by a live bonus version of “Wetsuit” and is available from 21st January, 2015 on Smalltown America.

The release of ‘The Mid Brae Inn’ follows on 23^rd February 2015.

Tickets for their upcoming tour are available here.

You can BUY the single from Independent Music here.

Meath band, Cult Called Man, have just released their latest single, ‘Wickyr Mice’. The single comes in advance of their second EP, ‘The Mr. Wednesdae EP’, due for release next month.

The concept behind the record centres on a character, Mr. Wednesdae, with lead-singer, Razmo, taking inspiration from the vocal stylings of retro kid’s cartoons in order to give the character his distinct voice. Throughout the record, Mr. Wednesdae relays his spiritual and modern day social commentary.

The band played a string of Irish festivals on the back of their debut EP, ‘Shoot Me (It’s Just TV)’ and were selected for the Guinness Amplify project. Having already taken to the stage at Whelan’s Ones to Watch earlier this month, and with gigs in The Spirit Store and at Guinness Live Stages next month, 2015 look set to be another busy year for Cult Called Man. Check them out on Facebook and Twitter.

The lyricist, Amanda Norton Anderson, is celebrating the first steps in her career with three of her songs being used on two different albums in the USA and Canada.

Michelle Lockey’s (USA) fourth CD, More to Life, released September 2014, features the tracks “Deep is My Soul” and “In The Dark (A Tale of Love)”, both of which use Amanda’s lyrics.

We wrote last week that hit Irish songwriter, Brendan Graham, was getting set for chart success in Korea with the release of his song, “If Came the Hour”, by Grammy Award-winning Korean artist, Sumi Jo, in collaboration with Secret Garden. The song, released in Korea under the title, “Moon Flower”, has since shot to Number 1 in the Korean Classical Charts.

On the back of this success, Universal has now released the digital single of “Always There” (in Korean) by Lim Hyung Joo and Secret Garden. The classical crossover singer, Lim Hyung Joo, has sold over 1 million records in South Korea since the release of his first album at the age of 12.

UPDATE: Still getting much attention in Asia, Brendan Graham’s hit “If Came the Hour” has now appeared at the 2015 World Figure Skating Championships in Shanghai. Pang Qing and Tong Jian (China) used the piece as background to their performance and the took Bronze at the championships. The pair were World Figure Skating Pairs Champions in 2006 and 2010.