A lot of Irish music comes Nialler9’s way and there’s little time to feature everything we think is worthy of a thumbs up or more ears. Every week, we collate the songs that pass our writers that deserve to be heard by you. For more extensive Irish coverage, follow our Spotify playlist or hit up the Irish section.
1.
Gadget & The Cloud
Quiescence
Kelly Doherty continues to be among the nation’s most vibrant creative figures with the release of ‘Quiescence’ under the Gadget & The Cloud moniker. The Cork native’s latest single is almost static, carved out in ambient pads. These are the building blocks the song works upon, gradually giving way to the steady beat and more elaborate arrangements. It’s immersive ambient at its finest. Pensive but never dour.
2.
Comrade Hat
External Relations
Comrade Hat is Neil Burns, a Derry-based musician with an original atmospheric jazz sound. His new song ‘External Relations’ is part of his new EP Tuque. This song really stood out to us for its originality. The track opens with a simple piano piece accompanied by his soothing vocal. It then rapidly builds with a fresh sound of drum beats and piercing harmonies from the jazz musician. It gives us an almost nostalgic feel for late sixties psychedelia or the musings of Ariel Pink.
-Donal
3.
Saint Tomorrow ft. Cloudhighcomeup
Stay The Night
18-year-old Newbridge native Saint Tomorrow comes through with the most striking domestic release of the week with ‘Stay The Night’, which features Leeds artist Cloudhighcomeup. ‘Stay The Night’ features heavy vocoder vocals – a cross between modern trap and the nu-folk sound of artists like Bon Iver. Distorted and skewed, the lyrics almost become secondary to the mood of the voice itself. It’s a relatively simple tune, worked extremely effectively.
4.
Eva Clague
Young Naive Me
Eva Clague, a Clonakilty native returns with a smooth out take on heartbreak. Clague has played Electric Picnic and Body&Soul with the soul group She Said, though her attentions have been recently focused on solo endeavours. The singer-songwriter has influences of jazz and blues in her work and it’s certainly felt in this track ‘Young Naive Me’. The acoustic guitar, taut to the rhythm, is contrasted against the rounded bass melody. Eva’s vocals in this track are gentle but firm, wise with the strength of hindsight.
-Donal
5.
Montauk Hotel
White Billboards
Montauk Hotel’s vocalist Claudia Verdecchia’s howling notes and far-reaching laments are stunning in their new song ‘White Billboards’. Her voice is an elegant force to be reckoned as it almost pays homage to Dolores O’ Riordan. The band describe themselves as ‘indie-shimmer-pop’ and ‘White Billboards’ absolutely lives up to this. The guitar gives this song a shiny summertime feel, motivated by the powerful downbeat of the bass line.
‘White Billboards’ is released just ahead of Montauk Hotel’s gig in Whelan’s on the 18th of May. Details here.
-Donal
6.
Static.
Fog Lights
Working as part of the Moot Tapes collective, producer Static. is set to release a full length LP Flow. A couple of tracks from the project have already been made available for public consumption and we’ve gone with ‘Fog Lights’ to highlight. A hodgepodge of industrial sounds and drone ambient, ‘Fog Lights’ makes for 6 minutes of engaging and immersive music.
7.
Shane O’Toole
Golden Agreement
Greystones man Shane O’Toole’s ‘Golden Agreement’ is another dose of contemporary electronica, placed somewhere between ambient and heavy contemporary classical. There’s significant attention to detail on the production side of things, with a full stereo image cleverly manipulated throughout. We love the whirling synth arpeggios, gradually becoming the dominant sound as the track progresses. There’s a lot going on here, so do dig in.
