Author: Breffni Banks

Inhaler have released the video for their new single These Are The Days, directed by James Slater. One of the breakthrough bands of the past decade, the Dublin quartet return with These Are The Days, a widescreen indie-rock anthem and the group’s first new music since the release of their debut album It Won’t Always Be Like This in July 2021, a record that went to the top of the charts in both the UK and Ireland.

Inhaler have also announced a 7” release of These Are The Days backed with their cover of Billie Eilish’s 2021 single Your Power.

The group are in the middle of a huge summer of shows. Last month they played Glastonbury for the first time followed by the band’s biggest ever headline show to date, performing to 5,000 fans at Dubin’s Fairview Park. Last weekend saw the band perform at Tramlines and Truck Festival ahead of support shows with Arctic Monkeys across Europe next month, the Sheffield group’s first live shows in three years.

Last month Inhaler announced details of a string of dates in October. The band will play three of their biggest UK headline shows to date including a performance at London’s iconic Roundhouse.

Inhaler have now racked up over 140 million combined streams globally and their debut was a certified Brit Breakthrough that sold over 120,000 across the world. These Are The Days is the first track to emerge from sessions for Inhaler’s forthcoming second album. Stay tuned for more information on album two.

Inhaler tour dates:

July

23^rd – Tramlines Festival, Sheffield, England

24^th – Truck Festival, Oxfordshire, England

27^th – Subterranean, Chicago, USA

28^th – Lollapalooza, Chicago, USA

31^st – Osheaga Festival, Montreal, Canada

August

1^st – The Sinclair, Boston, USA

2^nd – The Sinclair, Boston, USA

9^th – Zorlu Centre for Performing Arts, Istanbul, Turkey (Arctic Monkeys Support)

10^th – Zorlu Centre for Performing Arts, Istanbul, Turkey (Arctic Monkeys Support)

12^th – Port o Burgas, Burgas, Bulgaria (Arctic Monkeys Support)

13^th – Summer Well Festival, Buftea, Romania

15^th – Sziget Festival, Hungary

16^th – Pula Arena, Pula, Croatia (Arctic Monkeys Support)

18^th – Vystaviste Praha, Praha, Czech Repuclic (Arctic Monkeys Support)

20^th – Summer Sonic Festival, Osaka, Japan

21^st – Summer Sonic Festival, Tokyo, Japan

25^th – Rock En Seine, Saint Cloud, France

27^th – Victorious Festival, Portsmouth, England

September

1^st – Cala Mujas, Sol, Spain

October

 15^th – Academy 1, Manchester

16^th – O2 Academy, Glasgow

19^th – Roundhouse, London

O Deer is the musical project of Oisín Walsh-Peelo. Inspired by folk idioms, Oisín’s music is mellow and delicate, and draws from his diverse musical language.

Now based in West-Cork, Oisín has travelled extensively with his music. As a session musician (piano, guitars, harp, low-whistles and vocalist) he has played throughout the USA, Europe, Ireland, and the UK. He has toured worldwide with a wide range of artists and bands including Hudson Taylor, Gabrielle Aplin, Hannah-Grace, Villagers, Sun Collective, and I Have a Tribe.

Since the release of his first EP ‘O Deer’, Oisín has played support for Hozier in the USA, Joseph (US), Departure Lounge (UK), among others.

As touring and live music came to a stop in 2020, Oisín used this slower pace to record his debut album, which is set for release September 2022.

This week, he shares the third song, Jet Lag.

Jet Lag is an ambient-style piano piece by O Deer. The track represents another facet of the music of Oisín Walsh-Peelo. Primarily a pianist in his working life as a session-musician, this piece is strongly connected to his roots. It has an improvised and meditative quality and endeavours to capture the breadth and resonance of piano strings – the space between the impact of a struck note and its journey to the next. Oisín hums along with the melody at the end of the track bringing actual breath into the recording. The piece encapsulates stillness and invites the listener to experience some of this calm.

Speaking of the single, Walsh-Peelo says:

“I spend a lot of time improvising on the piano and there’s no better time than at night when it’s dark and quiet. I have done this my whole life. As a teenager I would practise before school – Playing in the wee hours while it was still dark. It is a really comforting and cathartic thing for me. This piece came later on from one of those improvisations after I had landed in from a transatlantic flight and couldn’t sleep. It captured some of the stillness I felt at that time in the dead of night and the music stuck with me. I find myself drawn to the felted-piano sound at times like these as it’s so gentle yet full of resonance – the felt does something amazing to the sound bringing out more harmonics within the instrument, it produces bell-like tones that I find extremely relaxing.”

The sound of this track could be compared to the music of Olafur Arnalds, Nils Frahm or Max Richter. It is ambient in nature, more focused on timbre and tonal quality than that of the notes themselves. However, the inclusion of Oisín’s voice give Jet Lag its own, unique quality – The room and piano itself also feature largely in this recording. The creak of the wood and pedals can be heard throughout making the listener feel very close to the instrument and involved in the music.

Follow O Deer on social media:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/odeermusic/

Having released his debut solo album ‘Blink’ in February of this year, Paul Savage (former O Emperor) is set to make his live debut with new solo venture Whozyerman? this Autumn.

Performing in Workman’s Cellar, Dublin 28th September, tickets will go on sale this Friday at 10am from singularartists.ie 

 To mark these shows (and belated album launch), a once-off  limited edition run of 40 Lathe-Cut 12″ vinyl of ‘Blink’ will be on sale exclusively at the two shows. 

About Whozyerman?

As the frontman of acclaimed, RTÉ Choice Music Prize-winning band O Emperor, Paul Savage emerged as one of Ireland’s most distinctive songwriting voices. On ‘Blink’, his debut solo LP as Whozyerman?, he underscores his status as a singular auteur. Whittled down and crafted from over 100 jams recorded after relocating to Wicklow coastal town Bray in late 2018, the album doubles as a Technicolour, genre-warping trip. 

Heavily inspired by the oddness and solace of time and place, Blink is equal parts liminal and luminous. Hitting like a guided tour to strange—and strangely comforting—days, Savage ekes out majesty from the everyday. Across ten tracks blurring the lines between balmy electronica, forward-pushing kosmiche and beyond, the shift and solitude brought about by lockdown pushed Savage’s focus into a space where recording became less about writing songs with an end goal in mind, and more of what he calls “therapeutic meditation”. The end result is nothing short of visionary. 

From the woozy push-and-pull of opener ‘Time And Time Again’, to current single ‘The Year (….)’, songs written as a form of refuge play out as sublime, and occasionally surreal vignettes where place—and spaces in between—assume deeper meaning. Here, something as seemingly throwaway as train travel veers into subtle, transcendent territory. “During lockdown there was the further novelty of the ‘end of days’ to comprehend during my aimless yet strangely content wanderings around the streets and hills of Bray,”says Savage. “And having moved to Bray, many a pleasant journey was spent looking out the window over Dublin bay traveling on the Dart. It’s no surprise that trains, horizons, windows and people watching feature throughout the album’s themes.” 

Largely mixed by O Emperor drummer Brendan Fennessy—who also features on highlights such as ‘A Step Back’—evokes everything from Cluster and Animal Collective, to Sun Araw (‘Why What?’) and Lemon Jelly (‘All The Time To Kill’). In the span of 35 minutes, it strikes a midpoint between prismatic bedroom pop and full-blown psychedelia. A wonderfully widescreen highlight, ‘BlurBlob,’ meanwhile, gets to the crux of a quandary all too familiar to independent Irish artists. “The continuous line of ‘Are you still doing the music?’ started out as whimsically borrowing a phrase many musicians or artists get asked during family gatherings or meeting old acquaintances,” says Savage. “But two years later, with endless restrictions and the continuous shutting down of the arts, its original good natured meaning has sadly ironically changed.” 

While it’s a many-layered thing, navigating inner and outer worlds, the essence of Blink can be seen in its cover artwork. Based on a photo that captures the view from Savage’s bedroom while he recorded the album, its blurred, dusky energy taps into an unrepeatable time and place woven throughout these songs. “It reminds me not only of the comfort the space gave me during strange times, but there’s also a haziness to it that I think captures a mind’s eye memory,” says Savage. “It’s a period that’s currently fresh in my recent past and clearly defined for me through location, restrictions, seismic events etc. and now, on a more personal level, this album. But like everything, time will grow over it and soften it to feel like it happened and passed by in the blink of an eye.” 

Tickets €15.00 are on sale from Friday 22nd July at 10am :  Ticket link

Connect with Whozyerman?

Twitter | Instagram | Spotify | YouTube

Following both a global pandemic and an acclaimed, landmark debut album, inimitable Irish Alt-Folk act Junior Brother returns today with details of his new album The Great Irish Famine, and a new single titled “No Snitch”. The album follows his much lauded 2019 Pull The Right Rope and is out 2^nd September via multidisciplinary Irish label Strange Brew.

The Great Irish Famine leaps boldly forward into an exciting new chapter, and into a shaken new world – staggeringly profound, brutally beautiful in its epic sweep. The lead single “No Snitch” – which is released digitally today with a 7” release to follow – is an intoxicating first taste of this new material. A track of towering, bruised catharsis, Kealy’s emotive and powerful vocals fluctuate across the tracks temperamental instrumentation which is both at once tumultuous and calming. The single is also accompanied by a dark and surreal new video.

Speaking about the themes across the album Kealy further explains, “I was very conscious to bring each element of the debut into this follow-up, but dramatically dig ten times deeper and stretch ten times further down into each avenue”. “No Snitch” soars amidst darkly comic self-reflection (“This Is My Body”), anxious reflexes on modern living (“No Country For Young Men”), and the painful role the past plays in a nation’s present (“King Jessup’s Nine Trials”).

Both startlingly dynamic and profoundly accomplished, The Great Irish Famine reflects fall-out of trauma both personal and universal, national, and international, minor, and mountainous, historic, and contemporary – all uncompromisingly conveyed through the magnetic, emotionally potent vision of a one-of-a-kind artist at the top of his game.

An idiosyncratic, challenging and richly lyrical singer/ songwriter, Junior Brother is the pseudonym of Co. Kerry, Ireland singer Ronan Kealy. Chosen as The Irish Times’ Best Irish Act of 2019 and nominated for the 2019 Choice Music Prize for Album of the Year, Junior Brother has built a rabid following thanks to unmissable live shows, and music both excitingly forward-looking and anciently evocative. His strange stories unfold with reckless abandon upon a distinctive guitar and foot tambourine accompaniment, influenced as much by the avant-garde as music from the Middle Ages and his home place in rural Ireland.

In addition to earning a Choice Music Prize nomination, Junior Brother’s trailblazing debut album Pull The Right Rope, also saw Kealy garner two nominations at the 2019 RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards, for Best Folk Album and Best Emerging Folk Act. Similarly, vigorous approval from modern-day Irish figureheads such as the Rubberbandits and Cillian Murphy has furthered Junior Brother’s stock, the latter playing Junior Brother several times on his BBC Radio 6 Music Show. Along-side further airplay, his television performances include appearances on RTÉ’s the Tommy Tiernan show, Other Voices and the Choice Music Prize Awards night in Vicar Street.

In addition to his new release, Junior Brother is currently also set to play several shows and festivals across Ireland this year with further dates TBA. Kealy has been steadily building a fanbase around Ireland and beyond for his mesmerising live shows, winning hearts in iconic venues such as Vicar Street (Dublin), The Beacon Theatre (New York), Cork Opera House (Cork), Blackpool Opera House (UK) to name just a few. He has played support for a variety of like-minded acts such as The Proclaimers and Glen Hansard, the latter bringing him on a tour of the US East Coast in July 2019.

Tour Dates

21^st July – Galway International Arts Festival @ 8:00pm, Galway

30^th July – All Together Now Festival 2022 @ 7:00pm, Portlaw

21^st August – Footsbarn Theatre – Ballynabuck @ 7:00pm, Dingle

24^th September – Night & Day Festival 2022 @ 7:00pm, Castlerea

28^th October – The Button Factory @ 7:30pm, Dublin

Tickets are available HERE

The Great Irish Famine is out 2^nd September via Strange Brew – Pre-order HERE

Produced by: Julie MacLarnon and Ronan Kealy

Mixing and Additional Production: John “Spud” Murphy

Recorded onto 2″ Tape at Analogue Catalogue Studios, Rathfriland, Co. Down. Additional recording completed in Guerrilla Sound Studios, North Strand, Dublin and Winton Mews, Rathgar, Dublin.

Follow:

Facebook | Twitter |  SoundCloud |  Bandcamp | YouTube

Critically acclaimed indie-pop artist Jack Dora returns with his highly anticipated debut EP ‘Take What You’ve Been Given’. With the title track having been featured on Spotify’s New Music Friday UK playlist, across English and Irish national radio and Jack being listed on Hotpress magazines Hot for 2022 list, the London-based Irish native has been called “one of the most compelling new forces in Irish music” (Hot Press Magazine).

The 7 track EP moves through all-out 80’s synth-pop, post-punk and classic rock with energy, thoughtfulness and heart, focusing on a journey of self-discovery through the lenses of multiple characters and relationships. The instant classic ‘Johnny & Suzie’ rewires classic rock tropes, taking Dora’s signature 80’s new wave textures into a classic rock realm with a hint of psychedelia. It blends a pounding drumbeat, a hypnotic bass groove and slick atmospheric guitar hooks with catchy yet poignant songwriting focussing on the death of the toxic masculine ideal.

In Jack’s own words “It’s the focal point of the EP both in a sonic and narrative sense. It’s about the inner struggle you have your whole life trying to escape from the toxic masculine small town mentality you grew up with. It’s about trying to purge the male ego. So I used this story of Johnny and Suzie as a metaphor for that struggle. I thought it would be a good way of exploring the dualities of femininity and masculinity in the frame of an Americana, Springsteen-esque narrative. With the final track, it’s supposed to feel like you’re Suzie and she’s driving with the top down and the sun is rising and she’s beaten something.”

The EP was written, recorded and produced by Jack in his bedroom in Dublin throughout the pandemic. It was mixed by Irish musician Yenkee (Softboy Records) and Jack Roulston and was mastered by Fergal Davis (Muse, Republic of Loose, Sinead O’ Connor). Jack recently played a string of live full band shows in London at The Victoria and The Finsbury and is quickly gaining traction on the London scene. He is planning more London gigs and also a Dublin gig in the near future. Keep an eye on his socials for more details.

Socials: Instagram / Facebook / Twitter / Tik Tok

Photo: Nicholas O’Donnell

Today, Meltybrains? share their first single in over four years ‘Journey To/From The Meltyworld’ is due out on 20th July. To celebrate, the band have announced a special Irish show for The Button Factory, Saturday 17th December 2022. Tickets will go on sale this Thursday 21st July at 10am from www.singularartists.ie

‘Journey To/From The Meltyworld’ is both a return and a departure for Meltybrains? The Irish electronic band’s first release in over four years is a krautrock-influenced, psychedelic trip. 

Speaking about the track the band said: “The track is heavily influenced by contemporary acts such as Tame Impala and King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard and also by classic bands like Can and Kraftwerk. The track navigates a voyage across the microcosmos, on a journey to the centre of the self. A driving drum and bass part attempt to keep the band on course, as they are assaulted by a barrage of caustic synths and self doubt.” 

Join Meltybrains? Live at The Button Factory, 17th December 2022

Connect with Meltybrains?

Facebook | Instagram | Website 

More information see: www.strangebrew.ie 

Dublin Garage Psych band Thee UFO release their new single ‘Transparent Seed’ on Thursday July 21st on the band’s own label, Gelatinous Records. This is the third single to be taken from their upcoming album ‘Ponderous Fug’ set for release on Friday September 16th. The album will also be released on the band’s own label on CD, Cassette and all digital platforms, while Irish Psych label, Fuzzed Up & Astromoon Records handling the vinyl issue with a date yet to be confirmed. All formats are available on the band’s Bandcamp page.

Thee UFO will also be playing live at Electric Avenue, Waterford on Saturday, August 13th, alongside Chrome Yellow, and Sun Mahshene, and an official album launch show at The Thomas House, Dublin on Friday, September 23rd.

This Album was written and recorded by Thee U.F.O at  the Orc’s Lair studio, spring of 2022. Darragh and Beth are joined by Nathan Downey who plays bass on ‘Fraud On The Court’, ‘Transparent Seed’ and ‘Ponderous Fug’. Violcel and Violin were played by guests Clara Webster and Lily Hayes on ‘Ponderous Fug’. The Recording of this album was blended between a Tascam 424 and Logic Pro.
Inspired by the joy of playing live again and fresh air. All songs are based on facts that have been completely fictionalized.

THEE U.F.O are a Psychedelic Garage band, formed in Dublin and fronted by songwriter Darragh Hansard. Inspired by the music of bands like the Oh Sees, King Gizzard, The Doors and The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band and Setting up a small studio at home, Hansard began recording his own songs while playing all the instruments himself during the recording process.
Releasing the results in the form of numerous EP’S and singles, while eventually adding new musicians to the line-up to play these
songs live. which, in 2018 saw them evolve into a noise mongering live act who’s shows consist of long jams and “catchy tunes” reminiscent of a classic 60s sound. Playing shows in popular venues across Dublin city like The Sound House, Thomas House, ANSEO, Whelans and many more throughout 2018 and 2019.

Their debut album was released in May of 2020, ‘The Singles Collection – Vol 1’ which consisted of all their singles up to that point, since then the band have been playing live regularly and have released numerous records including two limited edition 7″ singles on Fuzzed Up & Astromoon Records which sold out on the day of release.