Author: Breffni Banks

The midlands of Ireland may not be the first place you consider when you think about slick
dancepop music. But Ms Hazel may be about to change all that.

Her debut single “You cannot break my heart” is a shimmering slice of electronic pop complete with soaring synths, jagged club bassline, and an annoyingly catchy melody. Influenced by a broad range of musical styles from R’n’B to 80s electronica, Ms Hazel’s music stands out from the singer-songwriter tracks of her contemporaries.

Unashamedly pop, and with a stylised, futuristic CG video, the single is available for the iTunes store from 24th May.

www.mshazel.com

David Burke is thrilled to be releasing his new 4-track EP ‘Clothes on the Floor’ via iTunes on May 24^th.  The EP follows his No 1 single from November 2012, “Love Hate”.

David has teamed up with some really exciting names for four tracks on the new EP:

– Chris Elliott, Amy Winehouse’s string orchestrator on ‘Back to Black’

– Paddy Casey, his friend & contemporary with whom he worked on the title track

– Fellow Kildare band Miracle Bell (co-producers of track 2 – ‘Without You’)

– Adam Kviman, producer of Eagle Eye Cherry’s ‘Save Tonight’.

To coincide with the release David, joined by his band, is holding a celebratory ‘EP Party’ gig in Dublin’s ‘Grand Social’ on Wednesday, May 29th. Doors 8pm. Tickets €5.

With two hugely successful sell-out shows already under his belt in recent months, the ‘EP Party’ promises to be a cracker!

David has teamed up once more with video producer, Killian O’Sullivan of YOU4REELProductions who directed the video for the No 1 single ‘Love Hate’. The new video will feature Kelly Gough, ‘Kate’ from the popular RTÉ television series RAW. News on the release of the ‘Clothes on the Floor’ video will be posted on www.facebook.com/davidburkelive!

With his ‘Clothes on the Floor’ EP, David hopes to follow on from the success of his debut single ‘Love Hate’ which went straight in at No.1 in the i-Tunes singer/songwriter charts knocking Ed Sheeran off the top spot!

• Based in Co. Kildare, David has travelled from Dublin to New York to LA as a busking musician.
• He has shared the stage with some outstanding artists. These include – Declan O’Rourke, Wallis Bird, Paddy Casey, Alabama 3 & Hothouse Flowers amongst others.
• Happy with the collection of songs he had written, David felt the time was right to set about creating his own album.
• He wanted to record an album that was bursting in colour – one that would do justice to chronicling the madness of his 20’s!
• Working with numerous incredible musicians & taking in recordings from Wales (Rockfield Studios), London, Dublin, Kildare & Sweden, there is an eclectic blend of flavours to be found!
• ‘Clothes on the Floor’ is a 4-song collection taken from his debut album – ‘Where Colours Swim.’  The album is pencilled for release later this year.

– New EP on release 24^th May –

‘Clothes On The Floor’ is now available to pre-order from iTunes, priced €1.99  https://itunes.apple.com/ie/album/clothes-on-the-floor-ep/id637738510

Celebratory ‘Clothes On The Floor’ EP party @ Dublin’s Grand Social Wed 29^th May |Adm: €5

For more info www.davidburkelive.com

UNIT ONE is the debut album by ‘Alien-Pop’ duo NANU NANU, who are are GLITTERFACE (aka Galway siren LAURA SHEERAN) and MIRRORMAN (aka MARC AUBELE). Their unique and diverse ten-track album, which was recorded in Dublin and mixed by ROB KIRWAN (PJ Harvey, Glasvegas, Depeche Mode), will be released on May 31. This innovative electro album is accompanied by a comic book featuring the adventures of Nanu Nanu in various locations and times in Earth’s history. Track five, The Drop, features LA rapper Steve Liriks.

The album launch will take place in Dublin on Thursday May 30 at 6.30pm as part of Tower Records’ Live at Madison. The same evening Nanu Nanu will play live at Whelan’s in Wexford Street.

Download the latest single THE GIFT from http://nanunanu.bandcamp.com/

Forthcoming live shows:

May 22 – LONDON, Camden, Dublin Castle

May 30 –  LAUNCH, DUBLIN, 6.30pm– Tower Records live @ Madison

May 30 –  LAUNCH, DUBLIN, 10pm  Zebra @ Whelans

May 31 –  CORK, Half Moon Theatre.

June 7 –  GALWAY The Factory

www.nanunanu.eu

www.flamingjunerecords.com

Internationally acclaimed Irish songwriter, Brendan Graham, has been selected to write the lyric for a specially composed piece of music in celebration of the new arrival to the British royal family.

Brendan, the songwriter behind “You Raise Me Up”, “Rock and Roll Kids” and “The Voice”, was approached to write a lyric for an existing piece of music composed by Paul Mealor, a composer who had been commissioned to write a piece for the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. It soon emerged that the lyric was in fact for a specially composed lullaby by Mealor as a thank you to the royal couple and to welcome the new arrival into the world.

The song, entitled “Sleep On”, has been recorded by Hayley Westenra and will be included on her new album of lullabies, “Hushabye”, dedicated to the royal couple and their new baby. The song has already received its first airplay on Classic FM in London.

‘Boa Howl’ is the follow-up to Halves’ 2010 Choice Prize-nominated debut album ‘It Goes, It Goes (forever & ever)’, and sees the Irish trio return with a bolder, more experimental second offering.

Boa Howl features a mix of confident upbeat tracks side by side with slow experimental pieces, resulting in a cinematic, surreal journey over eleven songs. Guest vocals appear courtesy of Gemma Hayes, a fan of the band for some time. Canadian musician Elaine Kelly-Canning features on harp and added string performances come courtesy of local Swedish players. ‘Boa Howl’ refers to a summit on a mountain in China dubbed ‘White Boa Howl’, which the band felt captured the surreal nature of the songs. Musically, the album was inspired by a wide range of influences – from The Flamingos and Joe Meek, to Clouddead, to traditional Malian music and the 1950s orchestral arrangements of Gordon Jenkins.

Recorded over two weeks at Svenska Grammofon Studion in Gothenberg, and produced by Halves themselves, Boa Howl was created with the use of a vast collection of instruments, amps and vintage microphones. Eleven songs were recorded live on 2″ reel-to-reel tape by Oskar Lindberg, Gyorgy Barocsai and Halves’ live engineer Ciaran Mangan. The album was recorded using the infamous Neve analog mixing console previously owned by Queen and used by the likes of Johnny Cash and Aretha Franklin.
One of Ireland’s most intriguing acts, Halves is Brian Cash, Elis Czerniak & Tim Czerniak.

The trio blend a vast range of instruments, acoustic and electronic, to create an evocative, cinematic live experience. Their five releases to date have met with universal critical success, as well as earning them ardent fans from Tokyo to Seattle. Their live show is truly captivating; a mix of synched visuals, strings, brass, and electronics, anchored by soaring guitars and dual drummers.

In 2009 Halves made their debut TV performance, topping the viewers’ choice poll on RTE’s ‘Other Voices’ series. More recently the band played twice at the SXSW Music Festival in Austin Texas to great response, and have also played Eurosonic, Canadian Music Week and London Calling. Halves have supported the likes of British Sea Power, Mercury Rev, Low and PVT, and were nominated for the Choice Music Prize for their debut album.

Halves will play several live shows in Ireland over the summer including a record-release live performance at Tower Records in Dublin on July 6th, a headline performance at The Button Factory on July 13th, The Model Arts Centre in Sligo on July 20th, Bourke’s, Limerick on July 25th, Cypress Avenue, Cork on July 26th and a show at the Forbidden Fruit festival.

‘Boa Howl’ will release nationwide on July 5th 2013 through HATEISTHEENEMY Records on CD, deluxe gatefold vinyl (includes free mp3 download), and digital.

Live tour dates announced for July & August!

For more info check out  boahowl.com  | www.ahomeforhalves.com

New single ‘Drumhunter’ streaming at: http://soundcloud.com/halves/drumhunter