Author: Breffni Banks

Hailing from the Viking City of Ireland, Under Starling are breathing fresh air into the Irish music scene with their unique brand of alternative rock.

All flocks start small, but this gritty four-piece are rapidly forming a group of followers through their energetic live shows and popular releases. Latest singles Arrows and Mongrel were praised by Hot Press, RTE 2XM, Indie Buddie, Golden Plec, and all audiences on their national tour. Between crowd-surfing, mosh pits, and the interaction Danny has with the audience, the band has always been connected with their fans. The escapism offered by their music and live shows brings people together like a flock of starling. We are like murmurations.

Beautiful with a bite – Under Starling invoke a feeling of euphoria with their reverb-soaked melodies and dark distorted riffs. Powerful drum beats drive a rocky undertone to their pop styled music. The band draw influence from the likes of Biffy Clyro, Foals, and The Japanese House but their own sound is “difficult to pigeonhole” (Music Republic Magazine).

The band has played support to many famous acts throughout the years such as Walking on Cars, Fangclub, and Bitch Falcon to name a few. Their own tours have seen packed out shows in the likes of Fred Zeppelins, Dolans, Roisín Dubh, and Whelans.

Under Starling are set to release their next body of work, the “Mongrel EP”, on July 15th which was recorded and produced with Graham Byrne & Christian Best.

The band are having a launch party for the EP upstairs in Whelans on July 16^th. More info and tickets can be found through the link below;

https://www.whelanslive.com/event/under-starling-2/

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Corner Boy have just released the video for their new single ‘Kingdom Come and Go’, which is out now across all digital platforms. A knock-out punch of energetic feel-good indie/folk, ‘Kingdom Come and Go’ is the second single from Corner Boy’s debut album which is due for release in October, 2022.

Featuring exploding brass sections, racing fiddle crescendo and an anthemic sing along chorus, the song explores the conversation of connection; highs, lows, certainties and uncertainty through heartfelt melody and poignant lyrics. Produced by Gavin Glass (David Keenan, Lisa Hannigan) with combinations of folk rock, traditional & indie alternative.

For nearly a decade late-night driving, couch surfing and service station dinners fuelled Corner Boy’s ever-evolving foot stomping ramble through the many pubs, clubs, rooms and ruins of every shape and size up and down Ireland and further afield.

As a result a collection of songs quietly willed their way into existence representative of this experience living and learning on the road and crafted by the associated peaks and troughs that come with the transient territory.

Fast forward to March 2020 and with the band’s 2002 Ford Transit van (Sheila) now indisposed a moment finally arrived for Corner Boy to record their debut album. Under the tutelage of producer Gavin Glass the band sought refuge in Orphan Studios and some 18 months later, emerged from the other side with a debut album in hand.

Very much the aural amalgam, the album explores in varying degrees combinations of folk, rock, traditional, bluegrass and alternative. Accompanied by heartfelt lyrics as earnest as they are resonant.

‘Kingdom Come and Go’, the second single from Corner Boy’s upcoming debut album, is out now with their debut album due to be released in October, 2022.

Patrick Stefan is an Irish-Dutch singer and wayfarer; born in Co. Clare now based in Dublin, he’s travelled & lived in different corners of the world from Scandinavia, Brazil to Africa. Inspiration for his songs come from a colourful background of experience: learning tribal songs in Mali, jazz guitar in Boston, folk singing in Helsinki and drumming in north Brazil. His songs have been compared in sound to Paul Simon, Jose Gonzalez, Sufjan Stevens, Nick Drake, James Blake, Milton Nascimento and Peter Broderick.  After much wayfare, Patrick Stefan is releasing his debut album 23^rd September 2022.

Today, Patrick shares the official video for Drinking alone in the moonlight, the second single from his upcoming album.

Patrick says, “The video was made by west Cork based artist Becky Hatchett, whose work I saw online and absolutely loved. I couldn’t come up with a concept for this song, it’s based on a poem and quite ethereal – nothing visual was quite doing it justice – so I contacted Becky to see if she had any ideas.

 In Becky’s words; ‘It’s all monoprint with block ink and paper cut artwork which is then digitised, animated and layered with simple silhouettes … so although it looks very simple it is quite a process compared to producing purely digital artwork’.

 I love that she used her hands and physical materials to make the video, and how it takes you on a journey by looking into the cup – it reminds me of that wide-eyed feeling of seeing something magical on television when you are really young and your brain is putting together the story through symbols in real time.”

 ‘Drinking alone in the moonlight’ takes its name from an 8th Century poem by Li Bai, known for his poems about wandering, nature, mindfulness & solitude. The poem longs for friends, but settles with the company of his own shadow and the moon –

“When I sing the moon dances, when I dance my shadow dances too”

Speaking of the song, Patrick says “A fellow wanderer of the world and of the self, the simplicity of the words resonated with the solo experiences that shaped my upcoming album Wayfare. I wrote the song first on a Finnish Kantele – a child’s harp, then brought it to life with a guitar accompaniment & strings that reminded me of Nick Drake in a classic 50’s movie. To a Taoist, Li Bai’s drunkenness would not be seen as a vice: I like to connect the idea of drink & dancing alone with your shadow to Carl Jung’s idea of the ‘shadow self’ – the dance with the part of you that you keep hidden.”

Drinking alone in the moonlight was recorded at Black Mountain studios & mixed by Alex Borwick. String arrangements by Patrick stefan, cello & viola by Gabriele Dikciute & Philip Keegan. It was produced by Alex Borwick (Sam Fender, Niamh Regan, Moxie) & Patrick stefan. Mastered by Darragh Nolan.

Connect with Patrick stefan

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‘Under This Roof’ is the debut single from RESTLESS ROVER , an Irish/American folk duo consisting of Ste Kelly (Dublin) and Melanie Medina (San Diego)

‘Under This Roof’ is accompanied by a fly on the wall music video documenting a day in the life of the band. The song and video were filmed and recorded in the same day, this endeavour dovetails with the sentiment of the lyrics which implore the listener to live in the moment and enjoy the little moments of peaceful euphoria that life can provide.

‘Under This Roof’ will be released via Maybe Vagrant Records on July 15th and will be available on all streaming platforms.

Bio

Imagine the dusk of a summers evening, walking on the beach, spontaneously following the sounds of guitars, tambourines, group vocals, until you find people lost in the shared communion of songwriting, singing songs together in unison and harmony ..

Restless Rover was born in a similar moment on the coastline beaches of Malaga, Spain, a chance encounter between songwriters Melanie Medina and Ste Kelly blossomed into a collection of songs, recorded in a matter of days and defined by their unpretentious production with folky, stripped back delivery using acoustic instruments, harmonies and  stomping percussion. Songs to be sung around the campfire, at house parties or anywhere on the map , the world is Restless Rovers stage.

Melanie Medina is a singer songwriter producer from San Diego, California and performs and releases music under the name MELJII.

Ste Kelly is a vocalist and songwriter from Dublin, Ireland, he is founder of Irish band Raglans and releases solo music through his label www.maybevagrant.com.

The shared determination of two longtime friends to craft original music has brought new Irish act Rosenallis to your airwaves. Their soft-rock style and a multilingual approach to lyrics subtly connects the Latin, Celtic and Anglo cultures.

Rosenallis have debuted with three singles since December: “Fuego”, “If I’ll Come Home” and Memory Factory in April. “Fuego” is a song about someone beautiful, fiery, and unpredictable – and the sweet rollercoaster of trying to understand that person. The language in the lyrics is mixture of Spanish and English. The general intended theme of the 7-track sequence is a story of a return from the wonders of distant lands, home to the treasures of the motherland – most evidently expressed in “If I’ll Come Home”.

“Memory Factory” is a story of good times found during the pandemic, where a unique freedom was found to create memories and love on a secret journey across the mesmerizing landscapes of the Emerald Isle.

Mountain Ash

The high-tempo, fierce and energetic Mountain Ash (named after the native Irish tree) takes a look back through the ages of Irish history, using the Conamara mountains in Galway as a standpoint – this is the roots of where Rosenallis is from, and where the song idea began (on a hiking trip in Cor na Móna, Galway).

Producer Larry Hogan (Dublin Studio Hub) described the lyrical content as “very steeped in Connemara…Deep Galway…reminiscent, evocative of the atmospheres and skylines in Galway”.

The song begins with a deep build-up and moves on a quick tempo. Spirited lyrics refer to pre-famine dwellings no longer inhabited, and going back further, to the now-extinct grey “wolves around our feet”. Reasons for historical turning points are teased out: like the “crystal crown” (not gold) that never reached the mountain tops.

Rosenallis are:

KEVIN (“KEVO”) O’CONNOR:  Songwriter, lead vocals, guitar. Aged 30, is a mechanical engineer in railways who studied at University College London. He is currently living between Galway and Tel Aviv. Fascinated by languages and travelling.

KEVIN CLESHAM: Drums. Kevin (or “Clesh”), thirty, is an orthopedic surgeon from Mayo living in Dublin and is the rock of the duo. Likes pretending to be good at golf.

Website: www.rosenallismusic.com

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/38nLO1b1NSmFHfCagTKDXt?si=AXwO9jHVQfeDyfF1P3P2rA&nd=1

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/rosenallismusic/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/rosenallisofficial/

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC71AasS5VesCx1zMLdf_wgQ

Join the World’s Favourite Orchestra, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and Jess Kav, Tom Dunne, Shobsy, Jack O’Rourke, Mundy and Wallis Bird as they perform songs of Thin Lizzy this August with conductor Stephen Bell. Expect to hear your favourites from the Thin Lizzy back catalogue from ‘The Boys are Back in Town’, ‘Whiskey in the Jar’ and ‘Old Town’. 

Thin Lizzy are one of the most recognisable names in music worldwide with twelve studio albums and twelve live albums under their belt.  Thin Lizzy paved the way for Irish Rock N Roll music and heavily influenced many modern International artists. Their music reflects a huge amount of genres including blues, soul music and sometimes metal.  

General Manager Joe Csibi said “The RTÉ Concert Orchestra have been dreaming about creating a symphonic version of Phil Lynott and Thin Lizzy’s music for over a decade now and have worked closely with the estate and arranger John Metcalfe (Peter Gabriel and U2) for over a year to make this project happen, it’s a great honour to be involved” 

Eclectic programming has seen the RTÉ CO perform with artists including Pavarotti, Lang Lang, Lalo Schifrin, Marvin Hamlisch and Cleo Laine. Previous performances with Irish artists include Declan O’Rourke, Sinéad O’Connor, Imelda May, Eleanor McEvoy, Wallis Bird, Maura O’Connell, Lisa Hannigan, Mick Flannery, James Vincent McMorrow, Faye O’Rourke, Andrea Corr and Jerry Fish. A hugely successful collaboration with RTÉ 2fm and DJ Jenny Greene won the IMRO Outstanding Achievement Award in 2018, in 2020 A Woman’s Heart Orchestrated (being reprised this Sunday at Bord Gáis Energy Theatre) and a Leonard Cohen tribute made a strong impact both as live events and as TV and radio broadcasts, and acclaimed projects from the pandemic period included the chart-topping ‘N17’ with Tolü Makay and a TV tribute to David Bowie with an international line-up including members of Bowie’s own band.  

Early 2022 saw Stephen Bell’s appointment as Principal Guest Conductor of the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. Prior to this, he was appointed Artistic Director of the City of Oxford Orchestra in 2009 and he took up the post of Associate Conductor of the Hallé in 2013, a position he still holds. 

 RTÉ Concert Orchestra presents Thin Lizzy Orchestrated 

Live at National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks

With special guests Jess Kav, Tom Dunne, Shobsy, Jack O’Rourke, Mundy and Wallis Bird 

Saturday 27 August 2022

Tickets from €55.00 including booking fee from www.ticketmaster.ie or www.singularartists.ie

When Kodaline stepped on stage at Dublin’s cozy, sold-out Olympia Theatre in early March 2022, vocalist/multi-instrumentalist, Steve Garrigan; bassist/vocalist, Jason Boland; guitarist/vocalist, Mark Prendergast; and drummer/vocalist Vinny May felt a deep sense of renewal, of their friendship, their brotherhood, and their musical community.

The beloved Irish quartet also felt a sense of release. Two years of pandemic-related separation, from each other, and the audience they had meticulously built since 2011, had underscored how essential that symbiotic relationship really is.

It’s that sense of release that permeates Our Roots Run Deep, Kodaline’s brand-new, stripped-down, 17-track live album and Fantasy Records debut, due October 14th, 2022.

Pre-Order available HERE.

Produced with pristine clarity by fellow Irish cohort, Phillip Magee, Our Roots Run Deep features a cross-section of the group’s most treasured tunes and three illuminating covers in over 80-minutes of music.

“This album is something we’ve wanted to do for a very long-time, it’s also something entirely new to us,” explain the band. “It’s a stripped-down acoustic show with no click, which basically means, it’s very raw and unfiltered. We wanted to try and capture the energy and atmosphere of the night as best we could. It was an intimate show recorded in one of our favourite venues in the world, in Dublin City at home in Ireland. We hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed playing it.”

Known for the soaring, sing-along pop-rock anthems and lush, yearning ballads that have topped radio and streaming charts around the globe, for these special intimate performances Kodaline utilized largely acoustic instruments including cellist, David Doyle and keyboardist/vocalist, David Prendergast who help give the warm, living room sound added layers of texture and depth.

The quieter musical beds pushed the band’s emotionally driven lyrics and intricately woven harmonies to the forefront, deepening their poignant resonance even further. It also left room for the voices of their ecstatic fans, who filled the open spaces every chance they could!

While too plentiful to list in full, the set’s highlights include the highly apropos opener ‘Wherever You Are,’ the lead track from their latest LP, 2020’s One Day At A Time, ‘High Hopes,’ the lead single from the band’s debut album, 2013’s In A Perfect World and ‘Brother,’ a moving cut from the group’s third studio album, Politics of Living, which is now being released as the first track from Our Roots Run Deep.

The band include three interesting and revealing covers here as well: a brooding, dramatic turn on Michael Jackson’s ‘Billie Jean,’ a mostly a cappella performance of Sam Cooke’s soul classic ‘Bring It On Home To Me,’ and a taste of ‘Dirty Old Town,’ the near Irish standard popularized by The Dubliners and The Pogues.

It can be argued that in some ways the international chart-topping hitmakers, and world-wide concert draws, who are massively synched on film and television, have been hiding in plain sight.

Our Roots Run Deep is a spectacular showcase for the purity of their artistry and the profound musical impact they’ve had on a generation. Their next step is around the corner, till then, this is Kodaline—unguarded, simple, essential.

TRACKLIST

1. Wherever You Are
2. Ready
3. Brother
4. Brand New Day
5. Billie Jean
6. The One
7. Moving On
8. The Answer
9. Dirty Old Town
10. Love Like This
11. Sometimes
12. Love Will Set You Free
13. High Hopes
14. Bring It On Home To Me
15. Perfect World
16. Everything Works Out In The End
17. All I Want

Our Roots Run Deep will be released digitally and in an array of physical formats including CD / Standard Cream LP / Limited Indie & HMV Maroon LP / Irish Exclusive Green LP as well as special fan bundles available at kodaline.com including limited signed prints & exclusive double cassette.

Kodaline have announced an extensive Our Roots Run Deep European headline tour running through October and November 2022.  Full dates are listed below, and tickets are on sale now at https://kodaline.com/

OUR ROOTS RUN DEEP TOUR DATES 2022

October

05   Strasbourg – La Laiterie

06   Brussels – Ancienne Belgique

07   Tilburg – 013

08   Cologne – Carlswerk Victoria

10   Hamburg – Fabrik

12   Stockholm – Slaktkyrkan

13   Oslo – Rockefeller

14   Copenhagen – Vega Main Hall

15   Berlin – Astra

17   Poznan – Tama

18   Warsaw – Stodola

19   Vienna – Gasometer

20   Krakow – Studio

22   Budapest – Akvarium Klub

24   Prague – Forum

25   Munich – Tonhalle

26   Frankfurt – Batschkapp

November

11   Madrid – Riviera

13   Milan – Fabrique

14   Bologna – Estragon

15   Rome – Orion

17   Lyon – Le Transbordeur

18   Stuttgart – Longhorn

19   Luxembourg – Den Atelier

20   Zurich – X-Tra

22   Paris – Bataclan

23   Amsterdam – Paradiso

FOLLOW KODALINE:

Website | YouTube | TikTok | Instagram | Twitter |Facebook

Gilla band are pleased to announce their new album Most Normal to be released on Rough Trade Records on October 7^th, 2022. This is the band’s third album; self produced and recorded and mixed by the band’s Daniel Fox at Sonic Studios and their rehearsal place. The album will be available on limited edition blue vinyl and an exclusive alt cover white vinyl, limited to 1,000 copies.

You can preorder the album here  https://gillaband.ffm.to/mostnormal

First single “Eight Fivers” announces itself in that typical Gilla Band way where the lyrics often feel abstracted from the music. Dara’s voice is two opposing forces at once: it’s the melodic cry yearning and dancing over the driving beat. In some ways it’s the album’s most memorable track for how instant it sounds and simple it feels, however, its idiosyncratic enough to create its own peculiar feel. On the track Dara says “Eight Fivers is about 40 quid. It’s about being out of touch with modern circumstances while feeling socially limited. Never fitting in and kind of proud of it. Stuck with what I have and happy for it. Being grateful and not fashionable, self-conscious and too aware of what is lacking. Accepting that jealousy played a big role in my life but trying not to feed into it.”

For their first album as Gilla Band, the foursome has redrawn their own paradigm.

Covid lockdown robbed Gilla Band of any opportunity to try the new material out live, but the pandemic also incinerated any idea of a deadline for the new album. They were free to tinker at leisure, to rewrite and restructure and reinvent tracks they’d cut – to, as drummer Adam Faulkner puts it, “pull things apart and be like, ‘Let’s try this. We could try out every wild idea.”

The group also fell under the spell of modern hip-hop, “where there’s really heavy-handed production and they’re messing with the track the whole time,” says basses Daniel Fox. “That felt like a fun route to go down, it was a definite influence.”

The common thread holding Most Normal’s ambitious avant-pop shapes together is frontman Dara Kiely. Throughout, he’s an antic, antagonistic presence, barking wild, hilarious, unsettling spiels, babbling about smearing fish with lubricant or dressing up in bin-liners or having to wear hand-me-down boot-cut jeans (“It was a big, shameful thing, growing up, not being able to afford the look I wanted and having to wear all my brother’s old clothes, like bell-bottomed flares that got nowhere near my ankle,” says Kiely

Tour Dates below

16/07/2022         Puch Open Air, Jetzendorf

18/07/2022         Boomtown, Gent

29/07/2022         All Together Now Festival, Waterford

06/08/2022         Absolutely Free Festival, Genk

11/08/2022 –

13/08/2022         Haldern Pop Festival, Haldern

09/09/2022         Misty Fields Festival, Asten Heusden

17/09/2022         Wide Eyed Festival, Leicester

15/10/2022         Future Days Festival, Birmingham

16/10/2022         Trinity, Bristol

18/10/2022         Brudenell Social Club, Leeds

19/10/2022         SWG3, Glasgow

20/10/2022         O2 The Ritz, Manchester

22/10/2022         O2 Forum, London

23/10/2022         CHALK, Brighton

11/11/2022         Sonic City Festival, Kortrijk

12/11/2022         La Cartonnerie Club, Reims

13/11/2022         Le Marche Gare, Lyon

15/11/2022         Bogen F, Zurich

16/11/2022         Biko, Milan

17/11/2022         Strom, Munich

19/11/2022         Lido, Berlin

21/11/2022         Loppen, Copenhagen

22/11/2022         Knust, Hamburg

24/11/2022         Artheater, Cologne

25/11/2022         Maassilio, Rotterdam

26/11/2022         La Gaite Lyrique, Paris

09/12/2022         National Stadium, Dublin

15/12/2022         The Empire, Belfast

Insta – https://www.instagram.com/gillaband/?hl=en

Twitter – https://twitter.com/GillaBand

FB – https://www.facebook.com/girlband

Break Heaven’s Rules is a heart wrenching but ultimately healing story of love and longing told from the perspective of a mourning husband and his wife who has passed away.

A touching duet and collaboration between celebrated Irish pop writer Melissa Jane Carroll and award winning producer and musician Rohan Healy, owner at Beardfire Studios. A moving ballad for everyone who has ever felt the pain of losing someone and who’s looking to find solace in the shared human experience of loving, losing and healing.

Taking influence from the likes of folk and Americana greats Bob Dylan and Neil Young for the overall sound and production, Break Heaven’s Rules invokes the mournful yet hopefully mood of hot summer sunsets and memories of moments shared. Harking back to the days of iconic duets of Johnny Cash and June Carter, Chris Kristofferson and Dolly Parton, George Jones and Tammy Wynette Break, Heaven’s Rules is a modern take on the classic duet.

Melissa Jane Carroll is a master wordsmith and songstress who’s strength of writing knows no genre or style limitation spanning pop, folk, country and from fierce anthems of empowerment to soft introspective pieces. A true artist and prolific writer whos output over the past 2 years has been as impressive in terms of quality as it has been in consistent quantity, with each new track offering something fresh and new! Besides her consistent output which has received significant UK and Irish radio play, as well as being featured in film and TV, she is also a passionate campaigner for issues close to her heart, releasing her single “Don’t Forget Me” as a fund raiser for the Irish Cancer Society.

The track was recorded, mixed and mastered by renouned production team Beardfire Music, a production teams consisting of brothers Rohan and Al Healy, and their father David Virgin. Who’s combined 75 experience on stage and in studio adds up to over two thousand live shows across the globe, including appearances on Irish, French and Australian TV and The Voice UK in England, 5 number 1’s on the Australian indie charts, hundreds of production and session credits and awards including the Founders Choice Award at the International Songwriting Competition 2021 for their work on All The Queen’s Horse’s song The Troubled Tears of Drury Road. They’ve worked in studio on or stage with the likes of Patricia Lalor, Nick Cave, INXS, Leslie Dowdall, Mary Black, Billy Bragg to name a few.

Break Heaven’s Rules is out on all major platforms July 15th 2022.

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