A collective of musicians from across Ireland with an emphasis on artists from the North have come together to release Occupied Minds, a genre-spanning solidarity compilation in support of Palestine, out May 1st via Rudimentary Records.
The record draws from a genuinely strong cross-section of the island’s underground and alternative scenes. David Holmes contributes under his The Light Brigade guise, alongsideRÓIS, Phil Kieran, Elaine Howley, Huartan, Rory Friers (ASIWYFA) and more – a lineup that spans electronic experimentation, ambient textures, folk minimalism, noise and bass-driven intensity.
The title works on two levels – the lived reality of occupation in Palestine, and the refusal of artists here to remain untouched by what’s happening. These are sounds shaped by grief, anger, empathy and hope, and in a moment when silence can feel complicit, Occupied Minds offers something else.
- Brién – ‘Foráil Seirce’
- Kab Driver – ‘Spare Part’
- Love from Belfast – ‘Solstice’
- Elaine Howley – ‘My Sun, Your Sky’
- Harry Hennessy & Róis – ‘Bread and Roses’
- The Light Brigade – ‘We Are! We Want!’
- Deathbed Convert – ‘Techno Sapienz’
- Huartan – ‘Abhrán na Reabhlóide’
- Cartin – ‘Do It’
- The Cyclist – ‘The Basslines for Palestine’
- Marty Byrne – ‘Serve the Function’
- Autumns – ‘Spit on a DJ for Therapy’
- Timmy Stewart – ‘The Right to Life’
- Boxcutter – ‘Alqem’
- Yoru – ‘Go Leor Dub’
- Phil Kieran – ‘Endless Suspension Part IV’
- Dani Larkin – ‘She Moved Through the Fair’
- Rory Friers – ‘To an End’
All proceeds go directly to Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), a UK-based humanitarian organisation providing emergency medical relief and long-term healthcare support to Palestinian communities.
Occupied Minds is out May 1st and available to purchase on Bandcamp.
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005. He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Cara Magazine, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, co-founder of Lumo Club, event curator, Indie Sleaze club promoter, and producer of gigs and monthly listening parties & events in Dublin.
