Hailing from Dublin, Don’t Tell Mum are a four-piece Indie / Pop / Rock band comprising of lead singer John McCabe, guitarist Jake McGuinness, bassist Jordan McGovern and drummer Johnny Roberts.
Whilst their sound takes influence from the likes of Catfish & The Bottlemen, Arctic Monkeys and The Wombats, their own style is built upon with driving rhythm and hook-filled melodies.
Having released their debut single ‘Simple Things’ at the beginning of April 2021, Don’t Tell Mum followed this up with their first gig filmed at Camelot Studios. It amassed a whopping 15’000 views in just under 2 weeks and counting.
DTM released their second single ‘Lookin’ so Good’ on the 29th of October. This was shortly followed up by a support slot with legendary Irish Rock band Aslan at a sold out 3Olympia Theatre in Dublin on November 1st.
2022 has a lot in store for the band as they plan to release their debut EP and having recently sold-out a headline show at Dublin’s iconic Whelan’s on May 21st. As well as that, the band have further support slots with Aslan as they travel around Ireland for their 40 year anniversary tour.
Huge praise has since come with a plug on The Chris Moyles Show on Radio X in the UK, which led to an influx in the band’s following and an opportunity to engage with fans across the pond. The first single ‘Who’d Have Known’ released on May 6th.
Wandering Star:
Wandering Star is the fourth and final release from Don’t Tell Mum’s debut EP ‘Running Riot’. The song in its nature is unlike anything the band have produced to date through its ever-changing structure and form. An intro of sparse guitar and soft, delicate, enticing vocals sets the listener up with energetic drums, driving bass and a hooky Rock guitar riff.
Lyrically the song deals with an inferiority complex coupled with resentment. Feeling inferior and patronized in a relationship which ultimately makes you feel worthless and as a result, resent the other person. A lot of people are in relationships where they’re talked down to, condescended and belittled and it creates a toxic environment in which a power struggle forms. This ultimately damages your mental health and it becomes something you then have to learn to get over. This insight into a personal situation that will resonate with a lot of its listeners due to the unfortunate occurrence of a power struggle in a relationship.
A major achievement this week for promising indie up-comers ‘HAWKE THE BAND’ who have just sold out their first Whelans headline show.
If the past is anything to go by, this young Dublin band could be well on their way to a star studded career – with previous acts achieving that same feat including The Artic Monkeys, Mumford and sons & The Academic.
It’s all eyes on Richard Power (vocals/keys), Eoghan Mac Mahon (Vocals/Guitar) & Darragh McCarthy (Drums) who play another major show with industry stalwarts “This Feeling” in London on July 16th.
Following up a hugely successful return to live shows with a nationwide tour in April 2022 Stephanie Rainey is pleased to release summer bop ‘Remember Who Your Friends Are’, out June 17, 2022.
Since releasing new music in 2021 Stephanie watched her songs be embraced by a new generation of fans, and she has been planning the release of a new collection of songs that speak of her transformation from emerging pop star to established artist. ‘Remember Who Your Friends Are’, a 90s influenced pop classic in the making, is the first single from this new collection of songs. Written in Los Angeles, 5 days before the entire world shut down because of Covid – ‘Remember Who Your Friends Are’ is an uptempo, live sounding track with a hook so good you will not be able to get out of your head.
Speaking about the track Stephanie said – “‘Remember Who Your Friends Are’ is one of my favourite songs. I love it because while it feels quite uptempo and happy, the song is also a reminder to remember who your true friends are – who can you count on when the hard times roll around and you need people to help you – real friends and authentic people are there for the good and the bad. It’s important.”
Recent singles from Stephanie – ‘No Cowboy’, ‘Ross & Rachel’ and ‘13’ – dealt with topics such as redemption, the sparks that fly between two people destined for each other and finding your place in the world. Her eagerly awaited new EP is due out later in 2022 and following a sold out tour in April 2022 and supporting Tom Grennan at Live at the Marquee Stephanie is pleased to announce another series of shows in August 2022.
Stephanie’s career is now based on almost all organic growth and it shows no signs of slowing down. Currently ‘No Cowboy’ is about to break 150K streams on Spotify and 125k streams on Soundcloud. ‘Ross & Rachel’ has been streamed almost 110K times on Spotify and 170K times on Soundcloud. All these streams are primarily organic. The end of 2021 saw her cover of ‘Last Christmas’ featured on some of Spotify’s biggest Christmas playlists and it is about to hit 500K streams on the platform. Stephanie’s cover of ‘Simply The Best’ is also about to hit 2 Million streams – having never featured on any playlists.
IMRO Creative Rooms is an online content series that invites artists to share an intimate insight into their creative process, by showing the spaces they create in.
Emerging artist Xona is a musical triple threat who combines a special talent for songwriting and production with a truly beautiful voice to deliver sensual, soulful pop music.
Xona has graduated from New Park College of Music, Ireland with degrees in Jazz and Popular Music before he began working with different producers and songwriters in London, Berlin, and Dublin. His influences emanate from the vast worlds of Jazz, Electronic, House, Rock, and even Classical music.
Xona is currently working on new songs for 2022 with producers such as Grammy-nominated MNEK (Beyoncé, Dua Lipa, Madonna, H.E.R., Jax Jones, Christina Aguilera) and Irish producer Ross Fortune (A$AP Rocky, King Krule, Jarvis Cocker, Ellie Goulding.)
How important is it for you to have a dedicated creative space?
I think personally, I need routine to commence operation, a creative space to me requires creative output. So whenever I’m in said space I know I can’t leave without something to show for it.
What makes this space work for you?
I think familiarity, also something I’ve learnt from collaborating over the course of the year, a space requires artists who are benevolent and uncritical. Within these confines a writer like me can freely bring in early ideas without the fear of judgment and nurture it into its final form I think that’s why it’s worked so well thus far, my prime collaborator Roberto (whose studio this is) has mastered the art of nurturing early ideas.
In what way(s) does this space influence your output?
I think with the list of equipment we’ve consciously acquired it’s the reason for the 80’s influence on my sound, there are a list of synths that definitely always make its way into a song somehow.
What’s your favourite instrument/piece of kit? And why?
The juno synth for sure.
What would make this space better for you?
Right now the space is one part studio one part bedroom, an elevation would be the ability to fully move it to the next level and have it fully identify as a studio. That’ll come in time I’m sure.
The new single from pMad, again self-released & is accompanied by the visual evidence of what the human race is capable of and will end in evitable Horror. ‘Horror’ – The time for hiding behind the sofa as we try to conceal the Horror created by the human race is over. Action is required now before our inevitable self-destruction!!
pMad’s follow up single to ‘Broken’ is ‘Horror’, it is pMad’s take on the world and the future in front of us. Like the future of the planet ‘Horror’ is dark & brooding with the hint of possible hope! And like our planets chances, there are two versions of events! Which path will you take?
Paul Dillon is an Irish solo artist from Portumna, Co. Galway named pMad.
During the pandemic Paul in collaboration with Zedakube Recording (Ireland), Protonaut Studio(Germany) & Elith Mastering Labs (Mexico) & without ever being in the same room together created ‘Broken’ and his album which is due for release later in 2022.
Paul has played with bands such as ‘Starve the Barber’ & ‘The Suicidal Dufflecoats’ & is currently a member of ‘The Greeting’ & pMad.
Now on his 4th single release to date, pMad is now known worldwide and garnered a fantastic reputation in a short space of time.
‘Horror’ the new single from pMad where he has moved from the introspection of his previous releases to now concentrate on the human race and the race to save our planet.
We are moving at ’40 years and hour’ towards our self-destruction – we need to do something now to stop the ‘Horror’ right in front of our eyes!
Loah is Sallay Matu Garnett, an artist of Irish / Sierra Leonean origin who grew up between Maynooth and West Africa. During the pandemic, she returned to her old vocation as a pharmacist to work on the frontline, and yet continued to contribute culturally, most recently co-presenting the primetime RTE show The Heart of Saturday Night with Úna Healy, and starring in Sally Rooney’s TV adaptation of ‘Conversations with Friends’.
Last year Loah released ‘When I Rise Up’, an EP of poetry from the 1920s set to music, created in direct response to our unique global situation, and she now launches a campaign for a limited edition vinyl via Diggers Factory.
Loah says “Our industry is about to change all over again. I feel the wild radical shifts of next stage digital a-coming. I’m here for it, but vinyl is always so special. The feeling and sound of that scratchy needle going on the black wax. Right before the soul waves quietly invade your heart.
I’m printing it with the lovelies at Diggers Factory who make this so easy! When the minimum preorder amount is reached, they will make the vinyl and post it to everyone who has ordered. As it’s a limited edition, get in there and order! I love you, music loving family.”
Taking an international approach to this project, Loah chose works by several poets who originate in Ireland, the United States, and Sierra Leone. The 7 track collection features works by poets Langston Hughes [USA], Georgia Douglas Johnson [USA], Gladys Casely-Hayford [Sierra Leone], Eva Gore Booth [Ireland], W.B. Yeats [Ireland], and Katharine Tynan [Ireland], on compositions centred on voice, acoustic guitar and piano, reflecting the continuity of folk storytelling throughout the ages.
The 1920s were, much as we are experiencing now, a time of great challenge and change internationally. In Ireland the Rising had shaken the foundations of our nation, leading to the War of Independence. The Women’s Suffrage Movement was beginning to see its parliamentary goals achieved globally. Stateside, the Harlem renaissance was setting the tone for a century of African American intellectual emancipation and self-expression, with its genesis in the literary arts. This decade truly presented a zenith of post-war hope and aspiration before the Great Depression of the 30s. This is represented powerfully in the writings of the time.
The differences and parallels of where we are a century later set the tone for this song cycle series. The poets chosen were very much writing from the lived experience of these great, existential travails, and much solace can be taken today from their elegant processing of and reflections upon the complexities their people were facing.
“While the poets I’ve chosen worked and published extensively throughout many decades, I chose to centre the series on works specifically published during the 1920s, with two exceptions. Taking the form of the folk song to bring the poems alive connects the past to the present in this most ancient means of storytelling, and certainly brings them alive for me personally.”
Loah shares a new video for one of the songs, ‘Your World’, directed by Bobby Zithelo:
She explains “Your World is a dreamy poem by Georgia Douglas Johnson that I adored writing music to in the middle of lockdown, back when all we could do was dream, feel, sleep, repeat. It gave me this feeling of soaring above the world and it’s been so gorgeous to actually enjoy real life soaring since! Travelling and seeing family and friends and all the stuff that makes our world worth being in.
We wanted to capture that feeling of finding freedom inside yourself and sailing away on the wings of the imagination! I feel like Bobby captured this so well and all the performers are visions of beauty and grace and feminine freedom! It was an unbelievable amount of good craic getting transformed into these fantastical versions of myself (the creative team were just so fab) and living and moving from the dreamworld. Take me back!”
Fresh off the BBC Introducing Stage at Output, FYA FOX is an emerging electro/pop artist from Ireland tipped as “2022 Ones to Watch” by HotPress and is raising the standards, solidifying her place in the Irish music scene!
Taking inspiration from artists like BANKS, Lana Del Rey and London Grammar, it’s easy to hear this influence throughout FOX’s set of stellar releases. A classically trained vocalist allured by the alternative pop scene, FYA has become known for her songwriting abilities with irresistible melodies, soaring vocals and catchy hooks.
FYA has gained major support across national & regional radio stations along with support from UK stations such as BBC Radio 1 & Hattie Pearson (Hits Radio UK), ‘Track of The Week’ features on RTE 2FM, Spin South West and Today FM just to mention a few. FYA’s latest release ‘Hit Me Where It Hurts’ was playlisted on New Pop UK (26K followers). Previous releases were playlisted on ‘New Music Friday’ (Over 3M followers) ‘Fresh Finds’ (Over 1M followers) & Fresh Finds Pop (160K followers), along with being listed on BBC Sounds & BBC Radio Ulster ‘Where Music Matters’ Feb & Sep 2021 playlist.
FYA has currently attracted substantial industry support, with Paul Buck at Paradigm confirmed as FYA’s Live Agent and MCD on board as FYA’s Irish promoter.
Having supported Lola Young (Dublin show on Mar 2022) and supporting FLYNN (Dublin show on June 8th 2022) FYA is gearing up for her Dublin headliner at The Workmans Cellar on the 5th Nov 2022, along with playing her first confirmed festival appearance at Stendhal (BBC Introducing Stage) and SULT (Gweedore) in summer 2022.
Clondalkin ‘Selló is bringing Gaelic Drill to the world. Having been included in the Irish Times 50 Best People to Watch in 2022 in January, the 21 year old is about to unleash is mixtape ‘Sellótape’ this July, releasing on July 15th via Trust It Entertainment, Atlantic Records UK and Warner Music Ireland. (Pre-order HERE)
‘Irish Girls’ is the first of new music to be released from ‘Sellótape’, and is accompanied by a brand new video;
Selló has pioneered ‘Gaelic Drill’ a fusion of traditional Irish culture with the modern drill/ hip hop sound a new era of music that is heavily focused on reviving classic samples and giving them a new lease of life.
Selló has penned his mixtape over the last year, a love letter to his hometown while also confronting the hardships and rawness of everyday life there. His songs strive for a better life but working as hard as he can to achieve it. Selló speaks directly to and on behalf of a generation, that with every lyric he aims to inspire his audience to do better and work harder. Celebrating Black Irish with his relatable and sharp lyrics, all weaved with Gaeilge and Celtic beats. Known for his thick Dublin accent rapid-fire rhymes, storytelling and infectiously simple choruses – Selló has enough talent and charisma to silence any doubters. Selló is ready to take on the world and to stand shoulder to shoulder with his music heroes such as Stormzy, JHus and Tion Wayne.
He has just finished his degree in Social Studies at Carlow IT and always wanting to inspire, he has just completed a school tour of his local area, taking time to visit three schools- where he spoke to the pupils about his own personal experiences and performing for them.
The Mixtape includes features appearances from Robbie G, Reggie, JRILLA , Offica and Evans Junior and was produced by Max Crowley.
Having signed with local label Trust It Entertainment, fronted by Solomon Adesiyan, they have partnered with Atlantic UK and Warner Music Ireland to release the debut mixtape on a global scale.
Writing the mixtape Selló says ‘I feel this tape is something I’m super proud of and I’m happy I’m being real to myself. I feel like this will change the way Irish music is taken in and also will encourage people to be authentic to themselves and their music. This could be a life changer for me.’
Of working with Sello Trust It Entertainment CEO Solomon Adesiyan ‘ We have made this tape from a place of wanting to create big songs .His story is his unique selling point, coming from the poorer, less privileged side of South Dublin, wanting to bridge the gap between hit songs and songs with cultural impact.. I’m glad I can now also get Atlantic Records and Warner Music Ireland to help execute the rollout to the level it deserves.
Priscilla Kotey SVP Warner Music Ireland says ‘We are delighted to be part of Selló’s journey to the mainstream, he represents a new era of Irish Hip Hop and we are very proud and honoured to be working with him.’
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.
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
Wherever You Are
Ready
Brother
Brand New Day
Billie Jean
The One
Moving On
The Answer
Dirty Old Town
Love Like This
Sometimes
Love Will Set You Free
High Hopes
Bring It On Home To Me
Perfect World
Everything Works Out In The End
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. Ahead of this they will play a number of shows this month with Malahide Castle (June 17th), Sea Sessions in Donegal, Ireland on June 18th and Lytham Festival on June 30th. Full dates are listed below, and tickets are on sale now at https://kodaline.com/
Singer/songwriter, producer and multi-disciplinary artist Lisa Murray launches her highly anticipated third single ‘if i ever see you again’ out Friday, June 17th, following the success of her cheeky pop anthem ‘i unfollowed u’ earlier this year. Her upcoming release is a sassy summer single that deals with the theme of miscommunication and how things get left unsaid when lovers part ways.
Written, produced and mixed by Lisa herself, ‘if i ever see you again’ is full of bold lyrics, catchy melodies and feel-good rhythms that create the perfect sonic backdrop to the summer months. Lisa’s tuneful, synth-heavy and harmony focused sound takes inspiration from renowned pop voices such as Taylor Swift, Sigrid and MARINA.
This sassy song was inspired by a text conversation between Lisa and a friend during the pandemic, when Lisa was pursuing her Masters degree at Berklee College of Music. “During a zoom lecture at the beginning of the pandemic, I was texting a friend from my class. We were making plans for when life got back to normal and in the midst of our conversation I jokingly said ‘if i ever see you again’. It immediately clicked with me as a song title.” says Lisa. “So I turned off my camera and muted my mic and sat down at the piano and wrote the chorus there and then.”
Lisa’s most recent single ‘i unfollowed u’ was a resounding success, being selected as iRadio’s iLoveIrish Track of the Month and as Spin1038’s ‘One to Watch’. With this release, Lisa had over 3 million radio impacts, 19,000 streams on Spotify and found herself in the Irish Radio Breakers Chart and Irish Shazam Chart for the first time in her career, where she remained for over 6 weeks.
Lisa holds a Masters degree in Music Production, Technology and Innovation from the world-renowned Berklee College of Music as well as an undergraduate degree in Music and Irish from Trinity College Dublin. Alongside her musical work, Lisa works as an Audio Engineer at Sony Music Entertainment. She is also passionate about uplifting women and gender minorities in the industry, also devotes a great deal of her time towards closing the gender gap in the music industry by working as the Chapter Director of shesaid.so Dublin.
