Featuring Niamh Bury, Long Island Sound, Frank Zing, Poser, Alan McKee, Celaviedmai, Rory Reid, Caitlin Orla Eve, FL Breezy, F3Miii, Essiray, Dreamer, Hugz
A lot of music from Ireland and Northern Ireland comes our way and every week, we listen through it all, sift the list down to a manageable list and share the best new tracks from emerging artists and some more 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.
Niamh Bury
Beehive
After rekindling the Claddagh Records label with the Radie Peat-featuring ØXN, and news of a Rónán Ó Snodaigh and Myles O’Reilly album, ‘Beehive’ is the latest release on the revived label, from new folk singer-songwriter Niamh Bury.
Fans of Niamh Regan and richly spun folk will enjoy the unfurling song ‘Beehive’.
“‘Beehive’ is about the overlapping of myth, folk wisdom and science,” says Niamh. “It was inspired by a passage from a book I was reading about a tribe in the Amazon who say that the human brain is like a beehive – at once chaotic and intricately ordered.”
Bury is one of the organisers behind the singing session The Night Larry Got Stretched which takes place in The Cobblestone.
Cinder Well. Niamh is one of the chief organisers (alongside members of Lankum) of the iconic traditional singing session The Night Before Larry Got Stretched, which takes place in The Cobblestone Pub on the last Sunday of every month.
Niamh Bury
3.
Frank Zing
Like You Said You Would
Chris Wong and Rob De Boer’s Frank Zing project (they both are also in Papa Romeo) is giving off summery electronic pop vibes on ‘Like You Said You Would’ – a tightly produced track with faraway reverbed brass and soul vocals.
The dance video features the movement of Junior Yusuf.
See also: Chris Wong – ‘Been Here For Days’
4.
Alan McKee, Celaviedmai
Not Mine
Alan McKee and Celaviedmai have linked up before on ‘Upset’ and ‘Questions’ on the latter artist’s music. On ‘Not Mine’, Alan McKee takes the lead vocal on a floaty R&B song.
5.
Rory Reid
Baby
This is a gorgeously-spun disco house from regularly featured artist Rory Reid, bringing a bass-heavy kaleidoscope feel to what sounds like an African jazz funk original.
6.
Caitlin Orla Eve
Out Of Time
A debut single from a West Cork artist currently studying Anthropology and Media at Goldsmiths in London. The song was written in a forest in West Cork, and ‘Out Of Time’ is teeming with life and encroached by natural texture in its production underpinning the sweet pop vocal. A fine first outing for Caitlin Orla Eve.
7.
Long Island Sound
Don’t Let Me
Rob Roche and Tim Nolan aka Long Island Sound follow up their Lost Connection LP and remixes last year with a tension-filled spacious house track from forthcoming EP, Don’t Let Me/Air, characterised by its pitched-up vocal and deep bass.
8.
F3Miii
From Your Eyes
Irish singer and producer F3miii’s ‘From Your Eyes’ is a finger-clicking slice of R&B with inspirations drawn from Kaytranada and the concept of sonder – “the realisation that every individual leads their own unique and complex life independently of everyone else”.
9.
Poser
444
Dublin producer Poser released a debut EP, For Those Before, last week, and the four songs feature samples of soul music that were sampled in rap music. throughout with ‘444’ sampling Jay-Z’s song of the same name (which samples Hannah Williams and The Affirmations’ ‘Late Nights & Heartbreak’, a song from 2016 with an old soul to it.
Poser twists it into a low-end banger. The EP also features a Sampha sample (as sampled by Lil Wayne) and a Loleatta Holloway sample (as heard on an Action Bronson record).
POSER SOCIALS
INSTAGRAM – SPOTIFY – TIKTOK – APPLE MUSIC – SOUNDCLOUD – BANDCAMP – YOUTUBE
10.
Hugz
Diamond
Hugz is a new project from Zac Stephenson (Skinner) and his pal Hugo Hollis, who challenged Zac to record and release a song in less than a week, based on Hugo’s freestyle over a Youtube-found beat by Riddiman.
The background vocal on the track is by Local Boy.
11.
Dreamer
Boy Moon (Version 2)
Formerly known as EMR, Dreamer is the project of Eimear O’Sullivan who previously featured here in 2019. This new band project moves away from the more folk-based music of that previous moniker, and Dreamer feels like a suitable title for the dreamy alt-pop heard here.
To contrast the difference you can listen to version 1 of this song.
The song follows the 2023 EP Tales from the Rabbit Hole.
12.
Essiray
Crush
Dublin singer-songwriter Rachel Murphy aka Essiray’s third feature in this column is for the laid-back neo-soul jam ‘Crush’, a song about the first stages of attraction.
“I wanted to capture the essence of that initial stage of having a crush, where it’s all about pure infatuation and a carefree spirit. The core guitar line serves as the heartbeat of the song, and I built the composition around it. ‘Crush’ is designed to uplift your mood and evoke a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. I took a lot of inspiration from some of my favourite Neo Soul artist such as Pip Millet, Amber Mark and Hope Tala.”
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.
