Leagues O’Toole is a music promoter with Foggy Notions based in Dublin.
Maybe it’s because the last 18 months feel so blended, punctuated by lockdowns more so than the usual seasonal changes, I’m slightly blurry as to what music came out when. But I do know a lot of great music came out and it played a big part in keeping me sane. In contrast to the monotonous, lonely rhythms of long looping walks around parks and housing estates, loitering by the sea in the middle of the night or lying in bed staring at the ceiling, I searched for as much colour and contrast as possible in music to help me transcend the constant sense of limitation. These are some of the songs I went back to again and again because they engaged with my various reoccurring moods from deep introspection, palette cleansing noise, and uplifting escapism.
1.
Mega Bog – Station to Station
In a gloomy moment I received a message from my friend Zara that said something like “listen to new Mega Bog immediately.” Erin Birgy’s sixth album feels like a portal to another world full of abstract poetry and wild, trippy 60s tropicalia as personified on this song.
2.
L’Rain – Two Face
To me Taja Cheek is a gift from the gods. It felt like she came out of nowhere (this is actually her second album) with this perfect tapestry of experimental pop, reflective thoughts & evocative real life sound samples. The song ‘Two Face’ I listened to over and over again marvelling at how she brings in so many styles and ideas yet it never feels cluttered. What a bloody genius.
3.
—__–___ (feat More Eaze & Seth Graham) – In Memory of Simon Kingston
For whatever reasons, I was drawn into lots of inner-looking non-pop music over the last while such as this beautiful collaborative album that skirts around the fringes of jazz and electro-acoustic music. This piece, in memoriam of gifted young musician Simon Kingston who died last year, is so beautifully introspective but also playfully littered with a range of pitch-shifted voices from a maudlin murmuring vocoder to sudden evil snarls.
4.
Loraine James – Built To Last
The opening track from the young London producer’s latest album encapsulates that melancholic hinterland between club music and endlessly inventive off-the-beaten-track patterns. David from Foggy Notions brought Loraine’s music to my attention about a year and a half ago and there’s something about her quiet persona and visionary ability to effortlessly melt drill, R&B, grime and whatever else into the mix that is modern yet deeply personal and, obviously, reflective.
5.
HTRK – Real Headfuck
This song is a perfect example of how HTRK music has distilled over the last decade, still steeped in sad synthetic melodies but a marked shift away from electronic music to something more rooted in folk music with physical instruments yet still very minimal. I’ve been trying to bring them to Ireland for a very long time and some day I will.
6.
Cate Le Bon – Moderation
I mean, come on. She’s ridiculous. If you didn’t already recognise Cate as one of the great songwriters and producers of her generation then surely this song confirms her as a stand-alone artist. This song from the forthcoming Pompeii album is like a very lush take on 80s post-punk. I’ve listened to it for days on end, on repeat on my headphones, in the absolute horrors cancelling gigs and reflecting on personal mistakes and every time this song pulls me into its magical world and fills me with possibility again. It’s elevating. She is my hero.
7.
Geoffrey O’Connor – For As Long As I Can Remember (feat Jonnine)
A second appearance from Jonnine HTRK! This is a classic pop duet from this young Australian man, nostalgic, romantic and so smooth. A guy called Shane does A&R for Foggy Notions and this is one of the many gems that appeared in his 3am WhatsApp messages.
8.
The Weather Station – Tried to Tell You
I was going to say Robber but that came out in 2020 before the album and that song got me through the winter months. The whole album sits together beautifully as a piece so it’s hard to pick an isolated song. This song captures that AOR sensibility that trickles right through the album, which is something I really love. Tamara is one the best writers around, intelligent, meaningful and emotional.
9.
Sharon Van Etten & Angel Olsen – Like I Used To
Two great singers come together on an indie power ballad. Although I get a sense this was all recorded remotely during lockdown, which makes it even more special. This came out of nowhere, during a very depressing time, and it just feels like Angel and Sharon are reaching their arms around everyone. I admire both of them, they are so defiantly themselves in an industry still learning how to respect and represent women.
10.
Lael Neale – For No One For Now
Lael is one of my favourite new singers. This album is sparse, mostly drum machine, organ and voice and it moves me every time I hear it. When she sings “It’s a new day, but I’m making toast / In the Kitchen / For no one for now” I am reduced to tears. I don’t know why. It’s her voice I think. I also love Lael’s drawings and paintings.
11.
Horsegirl – Ballroom Dance Scene
12.
John Francis Flynn – Lovely Joan
13.
Claire Rousay – discrete (the market)
14.
Divide & Dissolve – Oblique
15.
Les Filles des Illighadad – Inssegh Inssegh
16.
Arooj Aftab – Baghon Main
17.
Circuit Des Yeux – Dogma
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.
