The 5 best songs of the week

Kelly Lee Owens

Dreamstate

It’s hard to ignore the Daniel Avery comparisons here, so I won’t. The Welsh producer Kelly Lee Owens’ title track of her new record is clearly inspired by her mentor’s acid electronic dancefloor cuts as popularised by the Drone Logic era. No bad thing, mind.

Owens has consistently put tracks on her records to date that have that transportive synth workout that act like meditative propulsive higher state of consciousness reaches, and ‘Dreamstate’ ticks that box on her fourth album, which draws more on dreamy songcraft and pop vocals.

Martin Luke Brown

hello !

Known as a member of FIZZ and a solo artist in his own right, Martin Luke Brown has announced his new album man oh man ! out February 21st via AMK.

‘hello !’ is an understated psych pop song that has echoes of Unknown Mortal Orchestra and Mac Demarco with cosmic jazz undertones.

Silverbacks

Look At All You’ve Done

A weird little country indie rock song from Irish band Silverbacks’ third record, Easy Being A Winner, which is the band’s strongest and most singular collection of music to date.

Easy Being A Winner expands the band’s sound beyond the post-punk alt-rock that was present on the first two records, finding a new slipway of uniqueness to explore.

Houseplants

Swimming Pool

Since the release of their lockdown-made debut, the duo of Bell X1 frontman Paul Noonan and producer Daithí have expanded the Houseplants project by folding in a cast of friends to play live with them.

Half Known Things, their second album of electronic songwriter-lead tracks, folds back in the learnings of roadtesting and playing their songs on stages, and makes for a dynamic and live-sounding record that will certainly sound great when the Irish tour follows in December and January.

‘Swimming Pool’ is a great case in point, a horse powering highlight from the record.

Morgana

I’ll Cry When I’m Dead

‘I’ll Cry When I’m Dead’, the debut single from Morgana MacIntyre amplifies the epic reaches that was often present in the music of Saint Sister, her previous band with Gemma Doherty, across two albums Shape of Silence (2018) and Where I Should End (2021). Morgana has already stated the project’s modus operandi of sorts: “prepared to party, ready to cry”.

The melodic nous in the vocals and declarative chorus is also familiar to fans of Saint Sister, but the Morgana project operates in a different palette of synthesized pop (and treated backing vocals), a bright and gilded song of euphoric intent about keeping the fire burning, through partying, codependency and seeking advice.

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