Author: Breffni Banks

Elephant in the Room is an electronic/soul/pop duo comprised of Ireland natives Marty Mullally and Keenan Copas.

The group has worked with a number of artists as ghost-writers and producers, most notably Josh Gray, co-writing and producing his track “Come Home”, which has reached over 400,000 streams on Spotify.

After college they moved to New York City, where they have honed and refined the sound we hear in their music today.

Up All Night’ champions Elephant in the Room’s fusion-based experimental production style on an earthy/electronic soundscape. It is a perfect party song and conjures up images of face paint,
luminous wrist bands and a full field of free spirits lost in the transcendence of festival life.

It is the duo’s most danceable song to date and the release is perfectly timed before the much anticipated summer of 2022. Producers can put their producer hats on. Vocalists can get their unique
covers ready. Music lovers, turn up your speakers – this one is coming to every party near you.

Driven Snow’s latest offering, “Sunlight” (released by FIFA Records), continues Kieran and Emily’s musical story with a beautifully ethereal tune of laid-back melody, sublime harmonies and marshmallow beats. It is available today 24 June 2022 from your favourite digital store.

“Sunlight” was the first song that the duo ever performed live – before they even had a name! It is a classic, cautionary tale of how easy it is to lose one’s way in life while reminding that, if you hang on to hope, it’s never too late to rediscover the right path!

Mixing, melding and balancing electronic and acoustic elements “Sunlight” could just be your perfect Summer song!

Driven Snow’s début release, “Trying”, earlier this year brought the band a covered feature in Sunday Times Magazine as well as airplay throughout Ireland (including National playlists on RTE and BBC) as well as plays across the UK and as far afield as USA, Canada, France and Spain.

Tired of forever being sounding boards for each other’s songs, Kieran and Emily have been working away quietly on a collaborative musical venture for a few years.

Little by little Driven Snow began to emerge in the shape of a collection of songs that are at odds with, yet informed by, the duo’s collective musical outings (Kieran as a lynchpin of Delorentos and Emily as a vocalist with Republic of Loose and Stars On Fire). The pair decamped (with children, grandparents and all) to Donegal, taking their musical sketches up to Tommy McLaughlin’s Attica Studios (Villagers, S.O.A.K., Pillow Queens) and encouraging them to grow into simple, gentle tunes with a big heart and a common soul.

Driven Snow is now ready to take a step into the real world… Their opening salvos offer a tantalising hint of the yearning curiosity in their songwriting via a mix of classic harmonies housed in uncluttered acoustic and electronic sounds. Influences include Neil Young, Beach House, Cat Power, Scandinavian TV shows and fireside beers. The realities of life as a musician in modern Ireland have never been more beautifully articulated.

For their new project Kieran and Emily have a simple aim: that Driven Snow will make music that they would listen to – music that means something.

Driven Snow are:

Kieran – guitar, vocals, synthesiser

Emily – vocals, keys

Programming and Additional Instrumentation by Tommy McLaughlin

Produced by Tommy McLaughlin

Mastered by Fergal Davis

All In Your Head” is a song about mankind’s longest running battle, the battle with time.

Wicklow-native Mark Caplice is a multi award-winning songwriter and producer credited to tracks by internationally renowned artists including Jamie Lawson, Don Diablo, and Grigory Leps, and Irish artists including Megan O’Neill, Ryan O’Shaughnessy, and Laura Elizabeth Hughes, as well as Ireland’s Eurovision entry in 2018. Now, after years of writing and producing for others, Mark is thrilled to announce the June 24th release of his own original, ‘All In Your Head’

The song came from my fear of growing up fuelled by the fear of dying. I’ve seen friends, family and loved ones taken soon before their “time” and it always begs the question, Why?

Why do we put ourselves under such great pressures, why do we take the weight of huge mortgages that hang on our shoulders for years when the future you’re planning for might never come.

In my short few years on this earth I’ve had more experience with death than I’d wish for, but when I see someone taken from this life I always take it as a reminder to live. It’s just the way I cope best. Channel the negative energy into something positive and push forward because we’ve got a responsibility to live for those that are gone.

The track features drummer and founding member of “Elbow” Rick Jupp on percussion, members of The “Booka Brass Band” on Horns, Scott Halidae on Bass and all other instruments played by Mark Caplice. The song was produced as a collaborative effort by Mark Caplice, Scott Halidae and Kieran Lane recorded in legendary studios Windmill Lane and Abbey Lane studios.

22-year-old Irish artist-songwriter, Bradley Marshall is set to release his brand new single “Better Left Unsaid” on Friday, 24 June across all digital platforms.

Speaking of the single, Bradley Marshall said: “Better Left Unsaid” is about admitting fault and ultimately, coming to terms with the fact that some relationships are just not meant to be. It’s a real anthemic song that I hope will resonate with people”

Having worked with big industry hitters; Danny O’Donoghue (The Script), Ryan Hennessy & Jimmy Rainsford (Picture This), Jimbo Barry & David Lucius King on the song; Bradley Marshall said “to work with writers & artists of their calibre so early in my career is something I could have only dreamt of a year ago. It’s an amazing opportunity as an independent artist starting out.”

“Better Left Unsaid” the brand new single from Bradley Marshall is out on 24 June across all digital platforms.

For More Information:

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@bradleymarshallmusic

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bradleymarshallmusic/?hl=en

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Brdmrshllmusic

Bonjour Bonsoir is Goldie Bron$on’s latest voyage in music exploration. It’s an energetic and fast paced flowing song perfect for the summer ahead.

This song came after Coco the Maestro of the M5 Soundstudio in Cork City enouraged him to become more flowey with his vocals and to begin singing over more fast paced afrobeats, drill or other hip hop beats. Under Cocos guidance Goldie Bron$on’s sound only grew more versatile and energetic. Though it was tough work for Coco at times in the end it proved fruitful. Goldie is now confident at writing for any genre or style of music as well as collaborations with any artists big or small.

Goldie Wrote Bonjour Bonsoir by accident when his friend cancelled last minute and in 10 minutes in the Bean & Leaf cafe to avoid annoying Coco he pulled up a beat 17 year old UK based producer sent him and began writing as quick as possible to get product done. It looked fairly strange and Goldie still avoids the cafe to this day as their were certainly a large amount of dirty looks from customers and employees who probably thought he was crazy. Which he might well be..

But Bonjour Bonsoir was born and a new side to the Goldie Bron$on project was also with many more hip hop and experimental sounding songs haven been recorded in the 7-8 months since the song was recorded. Goldie finally has confidence in himself after years of not being able to sing publically and even still when he began not being able to feel confident in his work or performances. Through organising his own shows and performing different styles of music he is bound to grow and grow from strength to strength.

This is a new beginning for Goldie Bron$on and opens up new doors for further collaborations with different artists. In the upcoming months he hopes to release his first genre less EP and next week or so the music video for Bonjour Bonsoir will be available directed by Tralees Philip Corkery. But one thing to take from this song and it isn’t to hard to guess if you’ve heard the song but guess what he’s coming for the lot and he believes everyone else can to no matter whether in music or otherwise.

Singer, Songwriter, Artist GALVO of critically acclaimed Irish band ‘a dark horse’ releases the first single ‘Leave The Light On’ from his debut album ‘The HeARTist’ which will be released in Autumn 2022.

Recorded in between the breaks of lockdowns during the pandemic of 2020/21 with drummer/ Producer/Engineer/ Mix Engineer Niall Woods at Porchlight Studios. With Bass tones from Hugh Rodgers and mastered by Dave Collins of The Police, Weezer, Alice In Chains, and Soundgarden fame. Galvo Co-Produced the song with Niall and he also played guitars as well as bouzouki with his haunting vocals atop of the track.

Buy here:

‘Leave the Light On’ is a song written in two epochs, some nine years apart. Looking back like a ghost at the life and love that once was, objectively viewing one’s life from two very different time periods. It’s a haunting, bittersweet tale of sentiment and history, which became the theme for the music video.

In the music video we see a haunting tale of love and loss in a supernatural ghostly setting, capturing the Pink Moon overlooking the coast of Dublin. Directed by Galvo & Conor Beegan of Lejourneyisms, starring Galvo & Anne Maire Kelly, with makeup by Aoife Hendrick.

Watch here:

About Galvo 

Galvo is an artist, shaman, singer-songwriter, film director, musician, and actor. He produced both the song and its music video… Some say he is a bit of a dark horse.

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Photo Credit: Conor Beegan

Irish songwriter, multi instrumentalist and producer Gavin Murray, aka Trick Mist, shares new video for ‘Flagbearer’, June 22nd.

A short documentary style film directed by Bob Gallagher (Lankum, Villagers, Gilla Band and Junior Brother) that follows Vala Kjarval, great granddaughter of famed Icelandic painter Jóhannes Sveinsson Kjarval, on her journey around Iceland on a mission to get to know her great grandfather and one of Iceland’s most well renowned artists.

This is the second installment of a unique music video and podcast series called ‘Tracing Places’ (funded by the Arts Council of Ireland) that involves 4 artists making 4 videos for 4 new songs and an adjoining 4 part podcast series hosted by Trick Mist.

Participating artists are: Katie Ball (member of Just Mustard), Bob Gallagher (directed videos for Lankum, Villagers, Gilla Band, Junior Brother), Donal Dineen (David Gray, Katie Kim, ‘This Ain’t No Disco’ Music Series) and Graham Patterson (The Mary Wallopers, Junk Drawer, Bleeding Heart Pigeons, Post-Punk Podge & The Technohippies).

The new single ‘Flagbearer’ is a song centered around the experience of his grandmother’s wake and the traditional rituals around Irish death.

About the song Murray says “My Nan was ‘waked’ in her home-house which I hadn’t been to in years. The experience was so intense. Going back there and being confronted by my childhood memories of the house mixed with the whirlwind nature of a traditional Irish wake. 

A wake is a great Irish ritual. I think it’s something we do well. The song is an ode to that as well as to her. A wake is a very interesting construct. I was privileged to observe it and its full potential for duality due to the circumstances of my nan’s death. (She was 96, from a rural area and her death would not generally be described as ‘tragic’). A wake can marry sadness with merriment. It also confronts the physical aspect of death in a very tactile way that can be both comforting and shocking. I also found this beautiful contradiction of being in a situation that was a big life event and just chatting absolute small talk to people in that situation. A big moment marked by chatting rubbish. It’s amazingly human, hilarious and somehow fitting. 

Writing the lyrics for the song was a therapeutic process. The words just emerged from my unconscious mind. It offered me the opportunity to explore this unique Irish tradition and to honour my nan’s presence in my life as our close relationship moved into a new phase.”

About the project Trick Mist says…‘I’ve been working with these amazing artists in an unusual way. The artists were given full creative control over their art, making music videos based purely on their reaction to the song. Basically how it worked was I would send the artist the song and the lyrics. That was it. I would offer no directives. I see the video when it’s finished. 

‘When the works are completed I will host a stand alone 4 part podcast series. Each podcast will essentially be a discussion with the artist about the work created, their ideas behind the video, their interpretation of the song and my ideas behind the song.”

His arsenal of original samples and storytelling lyrics combined with gestures towards traditional Irish music and experimental electronics create a captivating, immersive and meditative musical space.

Trick Mist to date has released a full-length album via Pizza Pizza Records, an EP and multiple singles. His music has amassed significant acclaim with coverage from many sources including The Irish Times, The Irish Examiner, Nialler9, The Thin Air, RTE 2FM, RTE RnaG, Piccadilly Records and Amazing Radio.

Live, his shows are an intense, dramatic and ambient affair. Performances at Other Voices, Electric Picnic, Output Belfast and supporting Just Mustard on their sold out UK + IRE tour in 2021 have cemented his reputation as an unusual and compelling live performer.

Trick Mist

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Introducing Irish indie folk artist Geoffrey Harold and his debut single ‘Birdcall’, out 23/06/22.

“The track is a soft, dreamily peppy melody – the type of song you’d want to hear first thing in the morning. Harold uses a clever blend of layered harmonies and carefully placed auto-tune effects to bring the single into the indie-folk genre.” – Hot Press

Having cut his teeth as part of the Dublin 5 piece ‘The Gorgeous Colours’, some time away from the Irish music scene saw a move to Sweden and the creation of an album for this solo artists’ debut offering.

Enlisting fellow Irish musicians and artists Brendan Fennelly (O Emperor, The Bonk) on drums, Anna Mullarkey on backing vocals, Shane Cluskey (Kaynu Tree) on piano, engineered and produced by Alex Borwick (Sam Fender, Niamh Regan, Moxie) and was recorded at Sonic Studios in Stoneybatter.

The album ‘I Was Afraid You Wouldn’t Come Back’ is a stunning debut from Geoffrey Harold.

Artist Bio 

Geoffrey Harold is an Irish artist living in Sweden.

He has been writing and developing his debut album in the short windows between life’s other necessities of family, work, and walking to where we have to go.

At the same time, it draws from a lifetime of living, working, learning, and playing music in Dundalk, Dublin, and Malmö; a patchwork blanket stitched through years of staying afloat through life’s waves and storms.

The red thread that runs through this blanket is various flavours of fear; these songs look directly at the fears of loss and change experienced through lenses of love, growing, travel, identity, ageing, fatherhood, and the search for connection.

The first single is ‘Birdcall’ and it’s out on 23/06/22

This story is about a couple’s realisation that things are coming to an end and some things need to change to get back to the real world. Layered tones of ecstatic pop, driving electronica, and bursts of frenzied guitar punctuate this story of two characters in a break up, who need to let go of each other to return to themselves.

‘I remember as a youth saying why the hell are all the songs on charts about love..bla bla bla and thought I’m never going to do that.

This song was written in the aftermath of a breakup while experiencing those peak chest tightening withdrawal symptoms from someone you are close to.

It’s a document of that heartbreak and period of devastation. Love wha'” GH

I Was Afraid You Wouldn’t Come Back, the debut album by Malmö-based Irish musician and artist Geoffrey Harold, is an album about identity and belonging, solitude, love, change, getting lost, and finding your way back.

The songs are informed by encounters with fear: of losing sanity, friends, family, yourself.

The album draws from a lifetime of learning and musical exploration in Dundalk, Dublin, and Malmo, of finding ways to tell stories and maintain a sense of curiosity through life’s changes.

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Photo: Neil J Smyth

Kevin Neary is a 27 year-old Irish Singer-Songwriter. He has found a following with his unique, soulful voice and sound, celebrating the exploration of an eclectic mix of genres in Neo-Soul, Acoustic, Pop, Folk and Rock. He has been likened to artists such as Dermot Kennedy, Hozier, Matt Corby, Gavin James, Paulo Nutini and Tom Odell.

From humble busking roots, Kevin grew his musicianship on the streets of Galway and Dublin, where he now continues to stop the masses with his performances. A multi-instrumentalist; he has honed his versatility to create a unique live band show and has stormed the live scene in Ireland (The Grand Social, Whelan’s, Workman’s, The Button Factory, The Roisín Dubh) and the UK (Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club (London), The Bedford (London)

Hot off his sold-out debut show in Whelan’s in Nov’ 19, Kevin sold out a further 2 shows in Dublin in 2020, only 2 days after they were simultaneously announced. He most recently played an explosive sold out show in the Grand Social in Nov’ 21, with 300 people in attendance.

Kevin was spotted in Dublin in 2019 by The Greatest Showman’s iconic singer Keala Settle, and a performance of his song “Man of Faith” appeared on her Instagram, where she commended his ability.

Working with producer Michael Heffernan (Dermot Kennedy, The Script, Gavin James, Gavin Friday, Swedish House Mafia, The Coronas) and having released numerous singles to date, Kevin will release his strongest single yet; explosive neo-soul anthem “Man of Faith” on July 7th.

Produced by Michael Heffernan (Dermot Kennedy, The Script, Gavin Friday, Swedish House Mafia, The Coronas), Man of Faith, is the fiercely romantic and explosive new neo-soul anthem from Emerging Galway Singer-Songwriter; Kevin Neary.

Written in 2018, the youthfully-heartfelt song is an unashamed and intensely powerful outlining of the artist’s newly-found captivation, both physical and emotional, as he is enthralled by the ceremonious arrival into his life of a special someone, whom he romantically describes as “the world’s most cataclysmic delight”.

Neary excitedly rushed home from an incredible evening with this enthralling figure to put pen to paper and lay down the intense myriad of emotions that flooded over him in her company and their early relationship, after years of looking for something and finding nothing.

The track opens with soft, delicate and enticing tones before exploding into a beautiful, orchestral soul anthem with Neary’s powerful and distinctive vocals, which have been likened to artists such as Dermot Kennedy, Paolo Nutini and Rag’n’Bone Man.

As the song builds in energy, Neary delights in the new-found excitement and growing chemistry between himself and this majestic figure, whom he idolises and lays down his devotion to as he exclaims:

“I am a Man of Faith, I believe in you. pray now my soul to take with every little thing you do”

Neary’s strongest single and the pinnacle of his song-writing career to date; his man eruptive live performances of Man of Faith throughout Ireland have led to rising recognition from many noteworthy figures, including none other than legendary Broadway actress and

“The Greatest Showman’s” iconic “Bearded Lady”; Singer Keala Settle (Winner of the 2018 Golden Globe for The Greatest Showman’s anthem “This Is Me”) who happened upon Neary playing an intimate acoustic performance of the song at a local songwriter session in Bruxelles Bar in Dublin in 2019, the night after her live performance of The Greatest Showman in the 3Arena.

After approaching him on the night to compliment his performance, a video of his live rendition of “Man of Faith” appeared on her Instagram, where she commended Neary’s singing ability and performance, stating; “Kevin Neary nailed it in Bruxelles tonight!”

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July 1^st marks both the Dublin premiere of SJ McArdle’s show Port at The Sugar Club and the release of the accompanying album, Old Ghosts In The Water, both featuring incredibly diverse casts of well-known artists.

Port, produced by Droichead Arts Centre, is a brand new song cycle, full of timeless, indelible folk songs – work songs, story songs, love songs to the sea. Songs written in anger and written in sorrow. Songs about injustice and change. Songs about people.

The songs were born of a year-long research and writing project around the history and stories of Drogheda’s ancient Port, conducted during SJ’s tenure as Artist in Association at Droichead Arts Centre in 2019.

“An ambitious project undertaken without the benefit of a safety net, Port sees Droichead Arts Centre artist-in-association SJ McArdle compose a song cycle about the vibrant history of (and “imagined stories” connected to) Drogheda Port. For the performance, McArdle will be joined by – for this writer’s pitiful pile of money – one of the best female voices out there, Carol Keogh.” – Tony Clayton-Lea, The Irish Times

Along with critically-acclaimed Dublin vocalist Carol Keogh (Plague Monkeys, Automata, The Wicc) the seven-piece band for Port also includes double-bassist Trevor Hutchinson (Lúnasa, The Waterboys) and keyboard player and arranger Graham Henderson (Moving Hearts, Atlantic Arc Orchestra, Sinéad O’Connor) along with pianist Josh Johnston, vocalist John Ruddy and fiddle player Barry Kieran.

Also launching on the night is SJ’s brand new album Old Ghosts In The Water, which features songs from the show and is produced by Trevor Hutchinson. Along with members of the live band, the album features performances from accordion legend Dermot Byrne (Altan, Declan O’Rourke), Dundalk flute player Nuala Kennedy (The Alt) and uilleann piper Brendan McCreanor.

SJ McArdle is an Irish songwriter and musician, known for his previous work in award-winning Irish folk band Kern and his career as a singer-songwriter in Nashville and Germany, which produced 2014’s critically-acclaimed Blood and Bones album. SJ is also one third of Long Woman’s Grave, featuring Nuala Kennedy and Trevor Hutchinson. SJ’s songs and performances have been featured in radio, film and television and he has toured and recorded extensively in Ireland, Europe and North America, gathering a loyal following and critical accolades along the way.

When SJ was appointed Artist in Association at Droichead Arts Centre it gave him the opportunity to realise an idea he had been turning over in his head and heart for years: a song-cycle based around Drogheda Port.

The Port has been at the epicentre of life in the town of Drogheda for a millennium and more, providing culture and communication and food and escape and employment. It is tied to everything in the town and has played a role in every part of its history. But a port, by its nature, is also a link to other places, and to adventure and peril on the high seas. And of course the land-based stories of the port are just as rich, almost a converse of the stories of life at sea.

A year-long period of research and writing led initially to the conception of the live show. Producer Trevor Hutchinson and SJ then effectively started again from scratch, picking nine songs from the show and stripping them down completely to be reimagined for the album.

Port is produced by Droichead Arts Centre, with funding from the Arts Council and Louth County Council and with sponsorship from Drogheda Port Company.

The Old Ghosts in the Water album was made with the deeply appreciated support of Droichead Arts Centre, Create Louth and the Arts Council Covid-19 Response Award.