Anyone interested in new music in Ireland will have been keeping an eye on Hare Squead.
It was October 2014 at Hard Working Class Heroes when I first saw Tony Konstone, Jessy Rose and E-Knock play live and their R&B-swerved into electronic pop / rap style was something that has not really existed in Ireland to the level that Hare Squead were clearly on their way too.
Last year, the trio signed to Sony/Columbia Records in the UK and when a band who are still figuring out their sound sign to a major there’s always the worry they will be pushed into the tested formula box.
‘If I Ask You’, the band’s first single for the label suggests otherwise. It’s a song that they’ve been playing live for those two years, and in recorded form, it bangs, a confident track that has an eye on a Shazam chart but doesn’t sacrifice anything that the band have built up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpTOnpd2THI
The song is up on download & streaming sites.
See Hare Squead live support De La Soul at the Olympia on June 16th, at Castlepalooza & Longitude.
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, Cara Magazine, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, founder of Lumo Club, club promoter, event curator and producer of gigs, listening parties & events in Dublin.
