Nialler9’s New Music Weekly // April 22nd

Jamie xx, Honey Dijon

Baddy On The Floor

Arriving days after Caribou’s UK Garage inspired ‘Honey’, and between his B2B with that artist and Floating Points, ‘Baddy On The Floor’ is Jamie xx’s latest pitch for festival tune of the summer.

A remotely recorded collaboration between Jamie and Honey Dijon, the song’s piano-house and horns bring this track into the summer zone.

Fontaines D.C.

Starburster

Four albums deep, it’s exciting to hear Fontaines D.C explore production and sonics with James Ford at the helm.

It’s hard to know how ‘Starburster’ will stack up in the context of Romance when its released on August 23rd, but it’s clearly a swerve in the rock’n’roll road with nods to nu-metal guitars, and the panic-motioning breaths from Grian Chatten (who sounds more like Liam Gallagher than he ever has previously).

The song’s lyrics are largely rooted not in place (with the exception of “For a GPO and all the hits in it”) but desire, and as the bumpf which accompanied the release suggests a band unmoored from addressing their home country (“Now we look to where and what else there is to be romantic about,” Conor Deegan said of the album title).

‘Starburster’ marks a new chapter for the band, their first without producer Dan Carey, and there’s enough of a widescreen feel to the song, particularly the gentle breakdown – to suggest that Fontaines have new shades to show us.

Niamh Regan

Nice

The latest single from the Galway singer-songwriter’s forthcoming album Come As You Are (May 31st, Faction Records), leans in a different direction for the artist, trading in warm Radiohead-esque basslines, and a plea to get out of your own way.

Nice is song inspired by the idea the only person getting in your way is yourself (most of the time anyway). I really enjoyed how this song came to life in the studio with Tommy McLaughlin in Attica Studios. The bass line gave it so much life and it’s now one of my favourite songs to perform live now.”

Hear also: ‘Belly’ and ‘Madonna’

Yannis & The Yaw

Walk Through Fire

Foals frontman Yannis Philippakis is releasing his collaborative work with the great drummer Tony Allen (who passed in 2020).

The Lagos Paris London EP first single ‘Walk Through Fire’ draws together Afrobeat rhythms and taut funk guitar work under Yannis vocals, and was inspired by the Paris refuse workers’ strike.

The Lagos Paris London EP is released on August 30th via Transgressive Records, and came about when Yannis worked with Allen in 2016 in Paris over two days, alongside Tony’s regular collaborators Vincent Taeger (percussion, marimba), Vincent Taurelle (keys) and Ludovic Bruni (bass, guitar).

“There was an imperative to finish it in a way that I had never felt with another record. There was a deep duty to do it, to finish it as well as possible, and to pay respect to him by getting it out there. Going through some of the drum takes was a moving experience because those recordings were some of the last pieces of music he ever worked on. There’s an eternal quality to these drum tracks, and you feel a continuity of his life and energy through them. He wanted people to hear this, and it’s good to be able to do it for him – but of course it’s slightly bittersweet.”

Yannis

Martina And The Moons

Omnibus Boners

Lovely stuff for the second single from all-female Dublin indie-rock band Martina and the Moons with a song that plays with the belittling male attitude of female-written music, with lines like “I Just write pop” and “I only write songs in my underwear,” playing with expectation of male fantasy.

“I came up with the lyrics after a gig where we were playing alongside an all-male lineup. I won’t kiss and tell, but one of the frontmen came up to me after our set and said he had ‘actually’ enjoyed our set, and that it was ‘actually’ rock. I laughed it off because it caught me by surprise in the moment, but I doubt he used the word ‘actually’ when he was complementing the other bands. We often get ‘actually’ thrown into the sentence and, suddenly, it becomes a backhanded compliment”.

“I read an article on Gay Times where Zara Larsson was talking about how Pop music isn’t taken seriously because it’s “one of the only genres where women have the stage”. It pains me to realise that this is happening at all levels of success. It is hard to imagine a future in the popular music industry, so it makes you want to get lazy and eventually stop writing. That’s what this song is about. It doesn’t matter if what I’m writing is lucid and complex, people are going to disregard it anyway so, why do it?”.

Martina Moon

The band are Martina Moon (vocals, songwriting), Sarah Morgan (guitar), Aisling Stephens McGowan (bass) and Zahira Ellis (drums).

Watch their Lips2Ears session.

Joe Goddard, Barrie

Moments Die

Hot Chip talisman Joe Goddard has returned to solo releases with news of a full length third album Harmonics out on July 12th.

Along with collaborations with for release Jungle’s Tom McFarland, Alabaster DePlume, Fiorious (as heard on ‘New World (Flow)’) Ibibio Sound Machine and Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor and Al Doyle, the album features this soft-centred electronic production ‘Moments Die’ with the singer Barrie on vocals.

Goddard wrote the lyrics and they were inspired by John Berger’s book And Our Faces, My Heart, Brief as Photos.

Kynsy

Money

Dublin indie artist Kynsy has returned with a new song ‘Money’ on the UK indie label Nice Swan (Sprints, Chalk and English Teacher.)

‘Money’ is the first tune from Kynsy since the 2022 EP Something To Do With Love, which featured ‘Love of Your Life’, ‘Point Of You’ and ‘New Year’.

I love the song’s indie throwback brightness.

“‘Money’ is a song about the depths of love, nostalgia, and longing, painting a vivid picture of emotional complexity. Through references to past memories, desires for something more, and a mix of conflicting emotions like love, tears, and uncertainty, I explore the intricate journey of the heart. The repeated mantra of “I’ll be okay” and the juxtaposition of swimming and drowning in money hint at a quest for stability and reassurance amidst the emotional whirlwind. Ultimately, my words reflect a personal narrative of love, longing, and the unwavering belief that clarity will come in due time.”

Debby Friday

To The Dancefloor

I Loved Debby Friday’s alt R&B pop tune ‘So Hard To Tell’ which featured on the Polaris Music Prize-winning album Good Luck, and on ‘To The Dancefloor’ things are toughened up with the same production team of Debby Friday, Holy Fuck’s Graham Walsh and Detroit ghettotech producers HiTech.

There’s a bit of a PC Music vibe to the song’s irreverent dance music style, and it comes with a early 2000s VR games-referencing video directed by Friday with camerawork by Stella Gigliotti.

New Jackson

With The Night At Our Feet

Curtisy, Ahmed With Love, Lonely Chap

Wok To Blackrock

Dublin rapper Curtisy’s latest track arrived ahead of his debut album WHAT WAS THE QUESTION on Friday May 3rd.

‘Wok To Blackrock’ is a woozy rap tune with pals Ahmed, With Love and Lonely Chap in tow.

Curtisy’s album launch shows happen Sunday May 5th at Workman’s Cellar (before our Indie Sleaze party) and then onto Limerick (May 7th), Manchester, London, Cork and Primavera.