A lot music from Ireland and Northern Ireland comes Nialler9’s way and every week, we listen through it all and select the tracks from emerging artists and some established acts that deserve to be heard by you.
For more extensive Irish and new music coverage, follow our Spotify playlist or hit up the Irish section for individual track features.
1.
Elaine Howley
To The Test
From the gorgeous album The Distance Between Heart and Mouth released last week from Cork-based artist Elaine Howley on Belfast Touch Sensitive Records.
After ‘Silent Talk’, ‘To The Test’ finds a hypnotic pocket of rhythm for Howley to sing over – it’s simultaneously expoerimental folk, and soul, a unique place to arrive.
The Distance Between Heart and Mouth came from an audio diary Howley was keeping on a 4-track cassette machine during 2019 and 2020.
The album is on Bandcamp.
2.
SOUNDSPEED
Honey
Soundspeed is the new Irish indie-pop project from Hazel Doupe and ‘Honey’ is the debut song.
“This song is just an attempt at capturing a long and achy and also lovely feeling, one you know can only last as long as it is less bitter than it is sweet. But for now it is like liquor in your throat, warm spice.
It came from a place of wanting to make that feeling eternal. It was a bit of an experiment between me and one supremely talented friend of mine Mark Allidine (producer and musician) using this little guitar motif I’d come up with on a loop improv session a little while back.”
3.
TraviS
FAITH
Gliders co-founder TraviS follows up the collective’s recent Elzzz single, with ‘Faith’, a track that allows the Dublin rapper to ruminate on the testing of loyalty and friendship as an artist tries to break through.
The beat is by Liam Harris.
4.
Ham Sandwich
All My Blood
The return of the Hammers, with their second single of this year after last year’s ‘Electrowave’.
‘All My Blood’ finds the Kells band in reflective open-hearted mode, and is from the band’s forthcoming album Magnify released on September 30th.
The band say their current run of singles is “our biggest evolution yet.”
5.
Adam Mohamed
Stuck In Traffic
Adam Mohamed is moving deeper into musical territory after his spoken word beginnings with new single ‘Stuck In Traffic’, a vibey R&B single anchored by the Irish-Sudanese’s Ballymun rasp.
The song is inspired by real, normal life, and the video is by
“I was in the car driving along the coast with my girl and son in the back. We got stuck in a long queue of traffic. I took a glance in the rear-view mirror and thought to myself ‘this isn’t too bad’. Once you have the right people around you everything else will be good. The song came to me straight away, naturally. I didn’t have to do too much.”
6.
EDEN
Sci Fi
EDEN is gearing up for the release of his new album ICYMI on September 9th, with ‘Sci-Fi’, a song about disenchantment that demonstrates the adept production and taut songwriting that has made him a worldwide concern.
“Sci-Fi” deftly weaves in and out of genres, actualising at the intersection between an electronic dance beat and an honest confession. I feel like it would be remiss to not mention the intercultural nature of this song, and really all works on the album. I completely fall into rabbit holes at times – from experimental music to club music, hip hop to hyperpop, and more subgenres than I could name.”
EDEN is doing an album playback party with District in Hen’s Teeth next Thursday.
7.
Blind Stitch
Caisleán Óir / The Reason Young People Use Drugs
When not playing with Slow Moving Clouds or guesting with touring musicians like Bon Iver, Lisa Hannigan, Seamus Fogarty, Adrian Crowley and Dave Gahan, cellist, multi-instrumentalist, composer and songwriter from Cork Kevin Murphy works on his own material as Blind Stitch, the latest of which was released called The Emperor’s Lung last month.
Alongside more raucous full-band tracks, ‘Caisleán Óir / The Reason Young People Use Drugs’ is a good example of what exists on the record, a tune built on a bed of cello that allows Murphy’s gentle vocals to float above the expanse it creates.
The album is on Bandcamp.
8
E The Artist, Ahmed, With Love
Punto
At just 67 seconds, the remix from producer E The Artist and Ahmed, With Love sounds like something fizzy that Lone might cook up – except the studio time is running out so they really got to get this one closed off before the clock strikes. Here’s the original.
9.
Siobhán Franks
Until Tears Subside
Dublin singer-songwriter Siobhán Franks second ever single ‘Until Tears Subside’ explores the personal minutiae of daily life – in this case, a night out in college and its aftermath.
“This track is about a memory of a taxi journey home from a messy college night out; I was sitting beside my best friend, we were crying about failed relationships and eating our hearts out with takeaway garlic cheese chips.”
10.
Coachdog
Beautiful State of Mind
Coachdog is the project of a Dubliner called Jay who trades in funk, pop and disco sounds and released an EP called Free Gaff last week. ‘Beautiful State of Mind’ stood out to me for its soft twinkling pop spirit.
11.
Rory Sweeney, EMBY
Two Faces (Pagan remix)
Irish producer Pagan comes through with a remix of Rory Sweeney & EMBY’s ‘Two Faces’ last year, bringing some ravey breakbeat rhythms to the original Dublin/Belfast collab.
12.
milk.
I Might Bore You.
milk. are back with the Dublin indie pop band’s first self-produced song by the band’s Mark McKenna, with The 1975-sounding textures of ‘I Might Bore You’.
“I Might Bore You is about the suddenness of which people can change. It’s about the different speeds we burgeon at and fearing your own personal growth may be the catalyst for losing someone close.”
Mark McKenna
For more extensive Irish and new music coverage, hit up the Irish section for individual track features
For this and more Irish songs, follow the Nialler9 New Irish Spotify playlist.
