9 new Irish songs from emerging artists you should hear
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 new songs from emerging artists that deserve to be heard by you.
For more extensive Irish, and Northern Irish coverage, follow our Spotify playlist or hit up the Irish section for individual track features.
1.
ELKAE
Signal
Laura Keane comes through with a pop electronic track with hooks inspired by ’70s funk and the slick disco of Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories. The song is lyrically inspired by a friend’s love triangle.
2.
Animal Party
Enchantment
Toronto-based Irish producer Sinéad Bermingham released a full-length record called Enchantment this week and the title track is a bell-sounding textured electronic song with vocals that stands out.
3.
EFÉ
Garden
20-year-old Nigerian-Irish artist EFÉ released her debut EP What Should We Do This Summer?, which I presume is an ironic title. Following on from previous features here, ‘Garden’ is another fine bedroom R&B tune from the artist.
4.
DYVR
Lights Off feat. Cari Q
London-born Belfast-based queer musical artist Adam Cleaver aka DYVR previously featured here in a collaboration with St. Bishop, and here, on ‘Lights Off’, from the Part 2 EP out last week, is a twinkling gentle pop standout.
Sales of his DYVR’s EP goes to LGBTQ+ organisations Outhouse Dublin and Stonewall UK.
5.
Sal Dulu
Alien Boy 96
Producer Sal Dulu‘s ‘Alien Boy 9’ is a wonky electronic production that is frankly hard to describe – somewhere between a beat production and an ambient dance jam. It’s the kind of song that occupies its own space. A debut album is coming in 2021. Hit that Bandcamp.
6.
IN-IS
Dark Light feat. Tom Adams
From film composer Sheridan’s Tongue album of neoclassical contemporary music and collaborations as IN-IS under the release 2068. I previously featured the Ailbhe Reddy tune, and this Tom Adams ones sweeps along at a fine cinematic pace growing in stature as it does so.
The IN-IS album is described as “a hypnotic maelstrom of anxiety, technophobia and dystopian musings”.
7.
Indistinct Chatter
In-Flight Movie
Myles O’Reilly is more known as a thoughtful creative filmmaker these days under the name Arbutus Yarns but he has returned to making music while his regular schedule is on ice with some ambient music under the name Indistinct Chatter, and a release called Cabin Lights Off, with a long-haul flight theme.
“My explorations into creating ambient music began when I started to place drones in my music documentaries to lead the audience in and out of music performances. A drone might begin as a barely audible hum to preempt a song, and trail out after each song ends, resonating behind landscapes and the natural audio in my footage. Once I began to compose even longer pieces to sit under the dialogue of interviews, I realised I was unintentionally creating a collection of ambient songs. The first record (Tall as Houses) is pretty much a selection of works taken from different film projects of mine and elaborated upon but ‘Cabin Lights Off’ is an album created without help from any visual accomplices. I started and finished this new album with my eyes closed.
Inspired by long haul flights, I miss that feeling of tearing through the air, hundreds of miles an hour, thousands of feet above ground, snug behind a few panes of plexiglass, looking out at a sun setting above the clouds, dipping behind this giant space rock, made all the more present with a long and windy drone in my ears. It doesn’t really matter how I travel, there’s no better soundtrack than minimal ambient for staring out a window into the middle distance, when my mind turns it’s focus to the imagination and doesn’t want to be distracted. Eyes and ears not focusing on anything in particular but allowing my mind to investigate inwards.
Hearing not listening. Seeing, not watching. Ultimately, feeling as though I’m flying through the air like that kid in Snowman, and not sitting in a giant gravity-defying sardine can.”
8.
Alicia Raye
Came To See feat. Suli
The Drogheda singer-songwriter featured on Stevie G’s Soul mixtape already today, and her newest track has more a trap pop vibe to it.
9.
Jack Rua
Isolation
On the surface, maybe you don’t need a song called ‘Isolation’ today, but this song is not a morbid dirge, Jack Rua trades in glam-leaning pop music with an experience very relevant to a lot of people right now. Says Jack:
“It was written about how I was separated from my boyfriend for 2 months because of the COVID pandemic. We had only just gotten into a relationship and were enjoying the throws of the infamous honeymoon period, so to be separated from each other for such a period of time for reasons beyond our control was very difficult”
“I was trying to remain positive and remind myself that things were only temporary, but still feeling a sense of hopelessness and a complete lack of control of the situation. I knew what I was doing was right morally in the context of a pandemic, but it felt so incorrect personally and all of these conflicting emotions and ideas were driving me crazy.”
