This is only a selection of new music – dig into more or follow the Spotify playlists.
1.
Solkatt
Nocturne
Leo Pearson and Peter Lawlor debuted their Solkatt project earlier this year after collaborating on the Red Bull Soundome. Their third single ‘Nocturne’ is a shimmering dark-edged synth-lead electronic track with a dynamic pulse.
2.
Lamont / Bailey / Wall
Remembered With Love
Dublin synth pop trio Lamont / Bailey / Wall dropped their debut album BOOM! on Friday, and its songs are all informed by the Irish recession and the boom and bust of creativity and the squeeze that is still being felt. ‘Remembered With Love’ is the highlight for me on the album, a superbly-produced sunny pop song with a rolling bassline and a tropical-leaning melancholia.
3.
Silverbacks
Dunkirk
No-one in Ireland is making slacker indie pop quite like Silverbacks. The Dublin/Kildare band are comprised of brothers Kilian and Daniel O’Kelly, Peadar Kearney, Gary Wickham and Emma Hanlon. For their latest single ‘Dunkirk’, produced by Girl Band’s Daniel Fox, the group channel NYC art-rock and build a song out of tense and shook rhythm matched by Daniel’s exploratory lyrics.
4.
Brame & Hamo
Parade Rain
The Sligo house boys are back with a file-sharing-referencing EP called Limewire which comes with a Tuff City Kids remix of the title track alongside three new tracks. It’s hard to pick a favourite, but I’m digging the tropical bounce of ‘Parade Rain’ today.
5.
Laura Elizabeth Hughes
The Dark
Dublin singer-songwriter Laura Elizabeth Hughes latest release is from her new EP Ceremony which is set to be released on June 8th. ‘The Dark’ is a captivating song that is majestically accompanied by gentle guitar riffs and a voice that speaks out in honesty. The song in her own words ‘A song about being blind to where you are and what’s going on around you..A song about waking up and finding yourself in a place you never intended to be, and not being able to escape it, no matter which way you turn…A song about being lost and realising that sometimes the only way out is through”
6.
Elusion Fields
Got To Know
A new project from twin brothers from Wexford, ‘Got To Know’ is a jaunty slice of restrained dance-funk.
7.
Orchid Collective
Otherside
The Dublin-based four-piece Orchid Collective have been exploring more nuanced textures in the past year. ‘Otherside’ is a continuation of that journey. Where before their music was very much of an anthemic indie nature, there’s more expression and dynamics at play here.
