Author: Zoé Piater

Following a creatively prolific 2023, punctuated by a UK tour with Irish music behemoths The Mary Wallopers, Nixer continue their artistic journey with their second single of 2024; Saccharine Smile.

Saccharine Smile marks the third single from Nixer’s forthcoming EP ‘I hit the town and the town hit me back’ and further burnishes their reputation as one of the most exciting lyricists emerging from London’s fertile alternative scene. Following on from the successes of ‘The Book’. ‘Second Hand’ ‘Pleasure’ & ‘Irish Dancer’. ‘Saccharine Smile’ offers another insight into the Nixer perspective of modernity, exploring themes of dependency, addiction and loneliness, through the lens of mobile phone use.

Describing the track lyricist Seán Keenan states:

“Saccharine Smile is about mobile phones and our relationship with them. When I started to write the lyrics for this track I literally googled ‘How much does an iPhone weigh?’ and since it was in the 7 ounces ballpark I coined it as ‘7 crucial ounces’ as described in the opening lyric”

The beat was one of the first sent by NYC based Simon Gardner upon beginning to work on the project in late 2022. It has had many iterations prior to growing into what it is today. Recorded, produced and mixed in a bedroom in London, Drogheda, LA, and New York City. Mastered by Rude 66 in California.

For more info on Nixer visit their Instagram
Watch Nixer’s recent RTE Sessions From Oblivion

Sea Sessions yet again are launching Unsigned Sessions and the first heat takes place on April 5th. It’s all about supporting up and coming artists and this year is no different!

Catch the first heats Friday April 5th, the 2nd heat on April 12th and the Grand Final on April 19th. With the help from IMRO and The Chasin’ Bull you never know you next superstar may be in waiting.

Festival Director Ray O’Donoghue says “We’ve always supported upcoming acts and we’re delighted to be part of the Unsigned Sessions again. It’s a chance for these acts to play on our stages with full production and full crew. Some of the acts, for example Riptide Movement, Wolff and the likes, started their careers at Unsigned Sessions.” 

Sea Sessions is a lot more than a music festival, with Surfing, Beach Sports, Skating, BMXing, Beach Yoga or just chilling by the Beach or taking a Sea Swim. It’s all up for grabs! With countless award nominations IMRO festival of the year in 2017 and high praise from all corners Sea Sessions has established itself as one the most important dates on the Irish Festival Circuit.

Over the years the likes of Dermot Kennedy, Kasabian, Clean Bandit, Basement Jaxx, Becky Hill and loads more have graced the Sea Sessions stages. Woking closely with Fáilte Ireland and Donegal County Council the Festival has also become an important kick start to the tourist season in the capital of Irish Surfing, Bundoran.

Tickets are on sale now with Day tickets starting at €69.95 and Full Weekend from €149.95. There’s also the option of Campervan and VIP upgrades. They’ll be available from www.ticketmaster.ie and www.seasessions.com

On 12th APRIL 2024, the Irish singer songwriter is set to release his debut EP, ‘life in its purest form’

Hot on the heels of the widely acclaimed release of singles “OVERDOSE“, “NOT TOO LATE” & “EPIPHANY”, Jaxson, the dynamic Irish singer-songwriter, is set to unleash his highly anticipated debut EP on April 12th.

Following the immense success of his previous three singles, which garnered extensive national radio play, 40,000 Spotify streams and earned praise from Hot Press Magazine, who hailed OVERDOSE as an “Emphatic, Anthemic, Masterpiece”, Jaxson will hope to once again captivate his listeners with his debut EP.

“life in its purest form” is a concept EP that captures the essence of seizing every moment, embracing love, and accepting the inevitable end. Through its tracks, listeners embark on a journey of self-discovery, finding solace in cherishing the present with their loved ones, even as the world approaches its end. It’s a poignant reflection on the beauty of living life authentically and loving fearlessly, encapsulated in one powerful EP.

The EP was produced by Alex O’Keeffe (Lyra, Bobbi Arlo, Brad Heidi) & MollyMollyMollyMolly (Malaki, Kayleigh Noble).
Mixed by Darren Heelis (Sam Smith, Liam Payne) & Plamen Vasilev (Tori Kelly, Mae Muller).
Mastered by tj lipple (MGMT, Adebisi Shank).
OVERDOSE was co-written with Michelle Leonard (Aurora, Alice Merton, Robin Schulz) & EPIPHANY was co-written with Marty Mullally (Josh Gray, Elephant In The Room).

“life in its purest form” will be available on all major streaming platforms on April 12th.

About Jaxson

Jaxson is a dynamic Irish singer-songwriter celebrated for his emotive storytelling and authentic musicality. His triumphant return to the music scene in 2023 marks a significant chapter in his career, showcasing his resilience, growth, and unwavering dedication to his craft. With a sold out headline show in Dublin, slots on some of Ireland’s biggest festival stages and 140,000+ Spotify streams under his belt, Jaxson is set to make more waves with his debut EP, “life in its purest form.”

Taylor D is taking the alt-pop scene by storm! After a successful year in 2023 with the debut EP “Fan Girl,” Taylor D is reaching new heights of success in 2024 with the hit single “Can’t Say I Love You.” This track has been making waves with over 150k streams on Spotify, being featured as Track of the Week on RTE 2FM, and securing positions on Spotify Editorial playlists. The risk of exploring a more rock-infused sound definitely paid off!

And the excitement doesn’t stop there! Taylor D is set to support the power pop indie band, Picture House, at Opium Live in Dublin on April 12th. It’s going to be an unforgettable night filled with incredible music, fun, laughter, and making memories. Plus, there’s even more to look forward to, as Taylor D gears up for the announcement of a headline show later this summer. 2024 is shaping up to be an incredibly successful year for Taylor D. Stay tuned for more!

TICKETS HERE: PICTUREHOUSE LIVE (FULL BAND) Plus Special Guests Tickets, Fri, Apr 12, 2024 at 6:30 PM | Eventbrite

David Kitt re-releases 2006’s release Not Fade Away on May 24 on vinyl for the first time. Originally released on Rough Trade records, the album has been lovingly remastered and re-sequenced, and features a new version of hit single Say No More and a brand new song Love Someone Else featuring Niamh Regan. Kittser will be returning to his spiritual home, Whelan’s, to perform the album in full as well as some classics from the back catalogue with a full band on Saturday September 21.

A unique and sincere songwriter with an expert ability to meld inspirations, eras and sounds, platinum-selling artist David Kitt’s music glimmers with a sense of timelessness well-earned after over twenty years immersed in music.

A note from David Kitt on Not Fade Away – 18 years in the making…

Not Fade Away was originally released in 2006 on Rough Trade Records. As the record was being made there were rumours going around the music industry that Rough Trade was about to lose its financial backing, and despite reassurances from the label that this wasn’t the case, I had a gnawing feeling that for the third record running something was going to scupper my album getting a proper international release. It felt like my last chance on a big label with proper financial support and international reach, something that ultimately proved to be true.

My personal life was also a complete mess and general confidence was at an all-time low. It was the first time in my life where the sacred space of making music had been invaded by these kinds of fears and outside forces, it was a dark time looking back now and I guess that comes through pretty loud and clear in the lyrics.

In spite of all this I have many treasured memories from the making of the album – Recording with Romeo and Michelle of The Magic Numbers in Woodstock at the famous Big Pink house the day after being to one of Levon Helm’s famous Midnight Ramble parties which featured an all-star cast including Emmylou Harris singing Evangeline with Levon for the first time since The Band’s Last Waltz. We even got to use the piano played on Bob Dylan’s ‘I Shall Be Released’! Working with Cardigans producer Tore Jonhansson in Malmo on Up To You and Sleep had some real moments of magic as did the recordings with my good friends Karl Odlum and Jimmy Eadie and drummer Graham Hopkins at Black Box Studios in France. Chipping away in the attic of my flat on the canal in Dublin on synths and overdubs and recording my old school friend Paul G. Smyth playing piano at The Church studios in London. A lot of credit has to go to Karl for really pulling me through as both a co-producer on the tracks and as friend and confidante at the time. At a time when confidence was so low, he dragged a lot of good work out of me and helped remind me of what I was capable of and his skills and talents as producer/arranger/musician were essential to this record coming together and its best bits working so well. I really couldn’t have done it without him.

Surely enough, shortly after the release of the record it was announced that Rough Trade had lost its financial backing and that incarnation of the label went under, meaning that my record didn’t get a proper release in Europe or America and barely had any support in the U.K. I was pretty devastated. I had spent two years making it and at the time I thought it was a really strong record. I had received a decent publishing advance and I threw most of it into making a ridiculously expensive music video (capturing for eternity a pretty shocking hair day) and promoting the record in Ireland where it did pretty well and was pretty well-received but it marked the end of that phase of my career and that approach to making records – traipsing around the world in fancy studios with a generous budget. Not Fade Away cost close to 80,000 pounds which is crazy to think nowadays. It’s important to express gratitude to Geoff Travis and Rough Trade for giving me back my masters considering the financial debt I owe them. This doesn’t happen with the likes of Warner Brothers!

When I got the rights to the record back 6 or 7 years ago, I starting thinking about how to approach the reissue. There was a lot I loved about the record but I never loved it as a whole. At times my writing was below par or production wise I wise trying too hard or just off the mark and trying to fit too many ideas into one track. Of all my releases it was the only one that I would change, given the chance, and now I had that opportunity.

I was very conscious of what the record meant to other people, so many people over the years have told me how it had helped them get through difficult breakups and tough times in their lives. I wanted to make sure I preserved what was special about it but make it flow better and trim off all the fat. At one point I thought maybe I should just use the album as material to sample and make a brand new thing but that would have been foolish and time-consuming and disappointing for a lot of fans waiting for a faithful re-issue.

There were two tracks in particular that I thought were just plain weak so they were ditched. Say No More has been re-recorded to fit the flow of the record better and features a middle 8 that I wrote on the album tour after the record’s original release.

There’s also a brand new song called Love Someone Else featuring Niamh Regan. The record really needed to empty out more in terms of drums/percussion and it needed something different emotionally. One of the great things about making records for as long as I’ve been making them is that when there’s a problem to solve some part of your mind is always active, whirring away, unconsciously trying to solve the puzzle and Love Someone Else presented itself during peak Covid times when there were many overlaps with the emotional landscape that this record came out of and I knew straight away I had the last piece of the jigsaw. It was exactly what the album needed.

The new version of Say No More was recorded with Graham Hopkins who played most the drums on the original record and features backing vocals from Annie Tierney who sang on the original and her brother Mick of Republic of Loose and Mick Pyro fame. Niamh’s vocals were recorded at Sonic Studios in Stoneybatter using a ribbon microphone that Sinéad O’Connor had used several times. It was shortly after she had passed away, which added some magic to that session.

18 years after its initial release I finally have a version of the record I really love available on vinyl for the first time. Dublin Vinyl were due to release this exclusive vinyl, although sadly they went in to liquidation recently. I am now busy trying to find a solution to keep the vinyl re-issue alive.

I’ve decided to release the tracks exclusively through Bandcamp ahead of the official physical release on May 24 to help raise the necessary funds and do this completely independently. There has been an amazing response from unexpected corners of the music community and it’s looking like we can still make that May 24 vinyl release date. Stay tuned! Digital album is available on Bandcamp: https://davidkitt.bandcamp.com/album/not-fade-away

Kittser, along with a full band, take to the stage at Whelan’s to perform the album in full as well as some classics from the back catalogue with a full band on Saturday September 21. https://www.whelanslive.com/event/david-kitt/

Eimear Crehan, the soulful songstress hailing from Kildare, Ireland, released her latest single, “To Be Loved,” on March 29th. Following the success of her 2023 hit single “I am Woman,” which soared to number 1 on the iTunes charts and helped her pass over 200k total streams on Spotify, Eimear is poised to once again captivate listeners with her powerful vocals and poignant lyrics.

“To Be Loved” is a stirring piano-driven ballad that delves into the complexities of self-worth and the journey to embracing authenticity in love. Eimear’s emotive delivery and soul-stirring melodies resonate deeply, reminding audiences that true love stems from staying true to oneself.

Eimear Crehan’s musical journey has been nothing short of remarkable. With extensive recording and performing experience under her belt, including currently being on tour with Paul Brady, and supporting other renowned artists like Jack L, Mary Coughlan, and Mike Hanrahan, Eimear has carved out a unique niche for herself in the music industry.

 “To Be Loved” marks the next chapter in Eimear’s illustrious career. With her third album in the works and a national headline tour starting next month, “Grá Mór,” on the horizon, Eimear continues to enchant audiences with her soulful blend of folk and soul.

On the track, she says:

“To Be Loved is about reclaiming that time and giving a message to my younger self, and to people everywhere of all ages, that we are enough as we are and we don’t need to do anything to be worthy of being loved. There is an incredible teen choir on the recording, the SUSO Focus Choir, and it was such a pleasure to record with them”

Eimear’s dedication to music extends beyond the stage, as she actively engages with her community through initiatives like the SpeakUp Sing Out Music School, fostering creativity and personal development through music. “To Be Loved” will be available on all major streaming platforms on March 29th. 

A music video will accompany the release, which was directed by Jamie Crehan and choreographed by Ruaidhri Maguire featuring two contemporary dancers, Chloe Taheny and Emer Lenihan. They represent younger versions of Eimear and the video shows the dance between her older self trying to communicate with younger versions of herself.

‘Sit back and take in the voice and presence that is Eimear’ Jack L

‘I’ve had Eimear support me for the last three years… She is extremely talented. Her musical versatility is matched only by her commitment to bringing music to community’ Mary Coughlan

After years of singing funk and rock, and performing at festivals like Electric Picnic, and Oxegen, Eimear went on to release a solo album ’SCARS’ in Nov 2018, followed by her second album Quiver in March 2022, which was launched to a sold out Sugar Club in Dublin. She is working on her third album and released the first track from this in March 2023 and this went to No. 1 in the Irish Charts. She has a new track out in March 2024 and the rest of the album will follow later this year.

Eimears music is a beautiful mix of songs about love, life and the human condition. Her soulful voice tells these stories so well – her voice carries lots of emotion and takes listeners on a journey. Eimears vocals have been compared to Adele, Alison Moyet, Cyndi Lauper and Mary Coughlan. There is nothing she likes more than to connect with her audience and take listeners with her as she so honestly and beautifully sings these songs about what it means to be alive.

“The Dublin teenager, whose songs effortlessly highlight a maturity beyond her age, displayed a nifty talent at delivering smart acoustic pop songs with decent lyrics on her 2023 debut EP, Passion & Paper”  – Tony Clayton Lea, The Irish Times Ones To Watch for 2024 

“A beautiful and compassionate track dealing with the never-ending Dublin housing crisis, and the people whose lives have been torn up in the wake of it. Featuring impassioned vocals and compelling lyrics, this guitar track is simple yet strong with a belter of a chorus” – HotPress 

‘Sadhbh is absolutely phenomenal’ – Jennifer Zampareli 2FM

LIVE 
Sadhbh Keane was personally invited by Glen Hansard to join the Christmas Busk at the Gaiety Theatre on Christmas Eve
She recently supported Saibh Skelly in The Academy Dublin
She played the Ruby Sessions on Tuesday March 26th

Sadhbh Keane is a 16-year-old singer songwriter and busker from Dublin, Ireland with over 45K streams on Spotify, 36K views on YouTube and multiple live performances to her name, including two sold-out headline shows.

Sadhbh played Kaleidoscope in June last year
and has supported Niall McNamee, Emma Langford, and Sadbh Skelly last month in The Academy, Dublin.

Sadhbh was personally invited by, and performed alongside Glen Hansard at the Christmas Busk in December at the Gaiety Theatre.
She can count Dermot Kennedy and Glen Hansard among those giving the young singer songwriter praise.

Her debut EP ‘Passion + Paper’ was released in May 2023. In June this year Sadhbh sang the EP’s lead single Worthwhile live on 2fm.
She’s seen radio support from 2FM, RTE Radio 1 (including the RTE Radio 1 Recommends list), iRadio, FM104, Corks 96FM and more.
Sadhbh was named on the Irish Times Ones To Watch List for 2024 and will make her Ruby Sessions debut this Tuesday March 20th ahead of the release of her stunning new single ‘She Really Loves You’ out Friday 29th March, which she worked on with Brian McGrane (The Brave Collide).

She Really Loves You

Listening to Sadhbh’s music is like listening to a friend detail a memory. Sadhbh’s creative direction in She Really Loves You echoes this, capturing a beautiful sense of intimacy and sincerity. She Really Loves You is about regret, mistakes made and the human frailties that prevent you from seeing what is obvious to others. The story is vivid and raw. The vocals and music are laid bare and emotive.

 ‘and he, the fool’ are a new 7-piece outfit formed around Ireland in 2022. Distilling together thoughts on communication, silence, guilt and hope; filtering it all through an ever-shifting lens of bittersweet rock tinted with wistful folk and neo-soul; all moving with the quirky danciness of new-wave, has given rise to an exciting and diverse yet distinctive sound.

On their single ‘Good Aches’, they state:
“A tight groove, huge saxophone riffs and diversions into psychedelia all come together to paint a rapidly decaying portrait of a relationships’ last breaths in bed in the morning. Good Aches is that moment, looking up at your partner next to you, not knowing if they are ignoring you, or aware you are even there. It’s a breakup song, but it’s still full of love. Love that exists within too much comfort, yearning and wishing for the discomfort, the good aches of the past.”

Their live appearances have gathered a lot of buzz already; showcasing hot-swapping lead vocals, tight rhythmic musicianship and thick layered harmony carrying the show from moody pensive tension to bursts of agony and euphoria. Early attendees have been drawing comparisons to acts ranging from Jeff Buckley to Talking Heads, Hayley Williams to Black Country, New Road.

“modernlove. are making big international movements.”
Notion

“Making heartbreak sound sweet.” 
Wonderland

“modernlove. can soundtrack your daydreams, your visions of the future and your memories of the past.”
The Line of Best Fit

Irish pop-rockers modernlove. are back with a huge new single, Don’t Feel Myself. Last year the band sold out dozens of shows across the UK, Europe and America, and completed their own headline WORLD TOUR, got invited to play for the President, supported The Vamps, and played a number of international festivals including the DORK stage at Live At Leeds, Latitude, Eurosonic (NL), Bumbershoot (US), FingersUp (CZ) amongst many others, all off the back of their first 3 EPs.

Add that to support from the likes of BBC Radio 1, MTV, LineOfBestFit, Wonderland, Notion, millions of streams and over 50 thousand new followers across platforms, and it’s clear modernlove. are establishing themselves as one of the most exciting up and coming bands in the world. With another set of live dates to be announced across the UK and Europe coming later this year, this latest single is an explosive, catchy tune, drawing from their early 00’s indie idols like Bloc Party & Franz Ferdinand. Produced and mixed by long-term collaborator Tom Leach (AntsLive, Tribes), and mastered by Kevin Tuffy (Alfie Templeman, Sundara Karma), Don’t Feel Myself displays a more refined, and ultimately more immediate, side to modernlove.’s signature indie-pop sound.

Artist Quote: 

‘Don’t Feel Myself’ is about going through bouts of disassociation, existential crisis and having a crisis of identity compounded with unhealthy lifestyle choices and coping mechanisms.

It explores these themes through an analogous story of a ‘mad night out’ in which we drunkenly stumble through a number of different shady settings and wrestle with all kinds of troubles/ situations from panic attacks and derealisation to bursts of mania that inevitably end up in us being consumed with existential dread the morning after.

Maybe it’s not so “analogous” if we’re being honest.

The song recognises that these things we do to cope only give us fleeting moments of relief from what afflict us and end up feeding them in the end in a vicious cycle. They’re a temporary bandage on a much more permanent wound.

Much of the music was inspired by early 2000s indie and indie sleaze, bands like Bloc Party, Arctic Monkeys and Franz Ferdinand.”

With larger than life indie-pop anthems born of small town boredom, coming of age, big nights out and young love gone wrong, modernlove. are a new generation’s brightest hope – already racking up streams in their millions and selling out shows, simply by singing about what they know and having a good time doing it. From playing dingey rural pubs to working with super-producer Luca (of Arlo Parks and Lana Del Rey fame), this Irish band of young 20-somethings are about to show the world the true heights of their ambition.

Formed in Drogheda near Dublin in 2016 of childhood friends and mutual pals, the four-piece came together as “the only people in town we knew who liked music”. Their shared influences of the game-changing future-pop of The 1975 and The Japanese House, the new wave sounds of The Cure and New Order, the danceable indie of Bloc Party and Bombay Bicycle Club, the experimental ambience of Jon Hopkins and Aphex Twin ,and a whole lot of day-glo pop-punk took them from jamming covers for the hell of it to carving out a monolithic, genre-shifting sound of their own to lift them out of the doldrums of their sleepy hometown.

Photo credit: Omero Mumba

Dublin newcomer Annie-Dog releases captivating new track ‘Double Cherry’ on Wed  27th March via Dance To The Radio (Ellur, Far Caspian, Low Hummer, Youth Sector), marking her second release of 2024 since teaming with the revered indie label.
The follow-up to hypnotic debut single ‘The Pressures of the Heart’, Annie-Dog’s latest material sees her delve further into the shapeshifting pop landscape, incorporating the influences of Grimes and Pinkpantheress within her own sublime self-production, attracting several early plaudits in the process. Taking her moniker from a Smashing Pumpkins deep cut  (and receiving praise from the band themselves across social media), the indie riser has already won early nods of approval from key tastemakers including Dork Magazine, DIY, So Young Magazine, The Fader and The Line Of Best Fit, in addition to BBC 6 Music (Deb Grant, Tom Ravenscroft, Emily Pilbeam) Radio X(John Kennedy), RTÉ 2fm (Dan Hegarty& Jenny Greene )and SiriusXM airplay etc etc

Speaking ahead of her newest release, which arrives ahead of a slew of shows lined up for the spring, Annie-Dog explained: ‘Double Cherry’ was written by me in my boyfriend’s house. Double Cherry is about so many things-I wouldn’t know where to start. I suppose it’s a song about relationships. My relationship with myself. My relationship with my boyfriend. His relationships with people he knew before me. Mine, before him. It’s always love at the start of things. And everything feels fated.” Detailing the accompanying visuals, the songwriter stated: “I had bought this glass prism in the charity shop around the corner from my house a few days before writing ‘Double Cherry’. It was €2. After the song was finished, I decided to make a video for it. I didn’t have a camera, so I opened up Photo Booth on my laptop. My bedroom-scape looked particularly lame that day, so I picked up my newly acquired prism and started to move it around in front of the camera, catching and distorting different angles. In the same way, when you’re in love, sometimes you have a distorted view of the other person. You only see what you want to see. You miss a lot of what’s really there”. Annie-Dog’s‘ Double Cherry’ is out now via Dance To The Radio and available on all digital platforms.

Live Dates
25th May-Dot To Dot Festival, Bristol
26th May-Dot To Dot Festival, Nottingham
28th May- So Young Club Night – The Social, London