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Landless are Lily Power, Méabh Meir, Ruth Clinton and Sinéad Lynch, a vocal quartet coming out of the same Dublin scene as Lankum, Lisa O'Neill and ØXN. They sing centuries old ballads as well as more recently penned folk songs. Lúireach (out now on Glitterbeat) is their second album and as with their acclaimed debut Bleaching Bones (2018), it was produced by John ‘Spud’ Murphy, known for his inspired work with artists such as Lankum and ØXN. Sometimes unaccompanied and at times with subtle instrumentation (including Lankum’s Cormac MacDiarmada on various instruments), their vocally rich music is dark and patient; spellbinding and gorgeous.
On this episode of the TPOE podcast, Méabh and Ruth talk through the 10 tracks that comprise Lúireach, what it was like working with Spud, how they create their harmonies, and lots more.
Buy Lúireach on Bandcamp: landless.bandcamp.com/album/l-ireach
Buy Ruth's book This Fearless Maid 2: marrowbone.ie/shop/this-fearless-maid
Listen to TPOE 105: Landless: open.spotify.com/episode/1oANsP8t…57d8a7b994fb412b -
Bill Shanley is a guitarist from Clonakilty, West Cork, who has played and made music with, among others, Gilbert O'Sullivan, Ray Davies, Mary Black, Eleanor McEvoy, and Paul Brady. He got lessons with Noel Redding of the Jimi Hendrix Experience as a youngster and ever since has had a fascinating career. We talk though as much of that career as we can - spoiler alert: it features the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony - in this interview recorded at Clonakilty International Guitar Festival 2023.
Clonakilty International Guitar Festival returns September 19-22, 2024 around the town. For more, see Clonguitarfest.com
On Garinish Island, West Cork, on September 20-22, Crosstown Drift is taking place. There will be free-to-attend walking tours as well as seated events with writers, poets, musicians and cultural creatives. Cormac Begley and Lisa Hannigan are playing evening concerts on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. I'll be chatting to various writers over the weekend including Toner Quinn from the Journal of Music, about his book, What Ireland Can Teach the World About Music. See https://thegoodroompresents.com/ -
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Eoin French aka Talos passed away on Sunday, August 11. This is a repost of TPOE 56, our interview from 2017, around the release of his debut album Wild Alee.
Team Talos announced Eoin's death on social media with the following message:
It is with great sadness that we let you know that our friend Eoin French, known to many the world over as Talos, has passed away after a short illness.
Eoin passed peacefully in his sleep early on the morning of Sunday August 11 2024 in his native Cork, surrounded by his loved ones.
A beautiful soul, a true artist, a son, a husband, a father, and a friend. We are devastated by his passing.
As was his wish, there will be new music from Talos to share with you all in the future.
Music:
Talos - In Time (Wild Alee)
Talos - All Ours (Dear Chaos)
Outro: Collaboration at Sounds from a Safe Harbour 2023 (https://www.instagram.com/p/C6rQq5ysTXe/)
Picture: Bríd O'Donovan -
Waterford accordion player Seamas Hyland released his debut solo album Maidin Domhnaigh on May 20. A set dancer and traditional singer, Hyland also plays with Acid Granny and John Francis Flynn and has in the past been part of the Mary Wallopers live band. He talks about all these and more on today's episode, as well as where the ideas for the debut album came from, the influence of Waterford and accordion player Bobby Gardiner, and collaborating with RF Chaney.
Seamas says: In this recording, I wanted to stay true to the deep tradition of Irish music, but also to record music that doesn’t fall under the title of traditional music.
Buy Maidin Domhnaigh at https://seamashyland.bandcamp.com/album/maidin-domhnaigh
Outro music: Seamas Hyland - Cooley's Delight -
A Lazarus Soul released their latest album No Flowers Grow in Cement Gardens on July 5 via Bohemia Records. Frontman and lyricist Brian Brannigan talks though all of the 10 tracks that make up the record on this episode of the TPOE podcast.
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A Lazarus Soul tour dates
August 23: Coughlan's, Cork
August 24: Cleere's, Kilkenny
August 25: National Museum, Collins Barracks, Dublin (supporting The The)
October 26: Vicar Street, Dublin
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Press release: No Flowers Grow in Cement Gardens, (named after a line from The Fall’s 'Psykick Dancehall', aptly, as this line-up of A Lazarus Soul came together specifically for a 2011 tribute to that band) is a meditation on wilderness, nature and spirit.
Brannigan’s lyrics, written during long walks across the Bog of Allen and along the Royal canal, have never been more masterful, reaching new heights of visceral, unflinching song-writing. Brannigan is at the peak of his powers here, capable of turning from eviscerating fury to unexpected moments of tenderness and heartbreak in a single couplet. Songs of police brutality (Black Maria) sit side by side with loving portraits of Moore Street dealers (The Dealers) and thrilling blow-by-blow accounts of three-day benders, worthy of Flann O’Brien (Wildflowers). There is humanity at the heart of all of these songs, even the vicious teacher, meeting out physical abuse on his pupils finds some kind of understanding in Factory Fada.
Musically, No Flowers Grow in Cement Gardens, is the sound of a band on fire, unleashed after a long period of separation. It is the sound of a band relishing being together once more. Importantly, for a record about wildness, it is a fiercely honest record, made in an old-fashioned way with as little technological interference as possible. Like many of their favourite records, you can hear the mistakes. The approach pays off, especially on GIM, which blossomed from first hearing to the recorded version in just two hours. From the thrilling garage drums and bass of opener, 'Black Maria', to the sparkling electric guitar lines of 'The Flower I Flung Into Her Grave', 'The Dealers’ acoustic guitars and strings, the wild harmonium and bowed guitars of 'Wildflowers', to the dreamy 'Diver Walsh' and the Sonic Youth-meets-Richard Thompson 'Factory Fada', this is surely the band’s most musically ambitious record to date.
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Buy No Flowers Grow in Cement Gardens: https://alazarussoul.bandcamp.com/album/no-flowers-grow-in-cement-gardens-2 -
July 20, 2024, marks 10 years since Cork venue the Pavilion, run by Pat Conway, Stevie G and Joe Kelly, closed its doors. It left an indelible mark on me and so many music lovers. Friendships were formed there, ideas were hatched, bands were watched, and DJs filled the floors. On this episode of the TPOE podcast, a whole host of the people who loved the Pav recall the six years when the recession took hold of Ireland and the Pavilion opened its doors.
The first gig was Evan Dando and the Lemonheads in April 2008. The following year, Kanye West and the xx both graced its stage and the Pav was up and running. Theo Parrish, King Britt, the Pharcyde, Roy Ayers, Floating Points, Franz Ferdinand Eddie Reader, Lee Fields, Candi Staton, NASA, Theesatisfaction, Shabazz Palaces, Sly and Robbie, Lonnie Liston Smith, and Rakim are just some of the big international acts who played the Pav in that time. It also hosted and supported so many Irish acts, from Altered Hours to Hozier, Saint Yorda to Gilla Band. There were club nights like Go Deep, Sunday Times and Floating Joints which called the Pav home over the years. We hear about all of these and more over the course of this episode charting one of the best venues the country has ever seen.
Contributors:
Joe Kelly
Aoife Conway
Stevie G
Caoilian Sherlock
Fish Go Deep (Shane Johnson and Greg Dowling)
Gilbert Steele
Aisling O'Riordan
Bríd O'Donovan
Jack Collins
Brendan Canty
Cathal MacGabhann (Altered Hours)
For more, see https://tpoe.substack.com/ -
Niall Murphy is Oh Boland, from Tuam, Co Galway, and currently based in Dublin. They've released three albums since the band started over 10 years ago - third LP Western Leisure came out May 31. On this episode of the TPOE podcast, Niall talks through all the songs on the album, touring the US, and their journey as a band. Plus going country!
Oh Boland launch Western Leisure at Bello Bar, supported by Stupid Son, on Friday, July 5. Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/oh-boland-stupid-sonwestern-leisure-lp-launchbello-bar-tickets-922903117067
Buy Oh Boland - Western Leisure: https://ohboland.bandcamp.com/album/western-leisure
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Press release: Oh Boland’s sound has been described as having a “rare potency”, one that exists in their live shows and two records, their 2016 debut Spilt Milk which featured in Pitchfork’s “Best Underground Garage Punk Albums” of that year and its equally visceral successor, Cheap Things. Over the course of the Tuam-via-Dublin-based band’s lifespan, Oh Boland has existed in several guises and their forthcoming third record heralds a compelling new phase as the solo project of founding member, Niall Murphy. The self-produced Western Leisure (mixed and mastered by Mikey Young of Eddy Current Suppression Ring and Total Control) signifies an electrifying artistic evolution spurred by Murphy’s unwavering musical curiosity which hears him experiment with wistful Country motifs alongside Oh Boland’s synonymous noise-rock tendencies.
Written over a handful of years, many of which were spent in solitude, away from familiar recording practices and live performances, the making of this record presented Murphy with opportunities to wholeheartedly engage in musical and personal exploration. Following a shift in Oh Boland’s line-up in 2018 and a period of touring, Murphy worked alone to create demos that would eventually grow into these ten simultaneously invigorating and introspective compositions. Drawing from a number of influences such as Robert Wyatt’s 1974 LP Rock Bottom, Arthur Russell, and Pavement’s sprawling and ambitious Wowee Zowee, Murphy describes how Western Leisure was shaped by a renewed approach and process to songwriting. “I felt unencumbered when I was writing these songs. I suppose, there’s sometimes an insular nature to making music, to have the necessary headspace to write. During that time, I was alone with a lot of records, listening to some different things and found myself naturally drifting outside of the lines a little bit to what I was used to doing.”
Produced by Mark Chester
Recorded at Start Together, Belfast, September 2021
Mixed and Mastered by Mikey Young
Words and Music by Niall Murphy
Niall Murphy- Guitars, Drums, Piano, Organ, Rhodes, Steel Guitar, Vocals
Ross Hamer- Bass, Vocals
Artwork by Joe Casey
Digitised by Aoife Anna Mullan -
John Meagher returns to the show to talk about the latest list he's compiled for the Irish Independent: The best Irish songs of all time — ranked: the definitive top 50.
He talks about the work involved in putting it together, why there are three songs by Sinéad O'Connor in the top five, but no U2 in the top 10, why the Republic of Ireland team are in there with 'Put 'Em Under Pressure' but not Horslips, and why the Undertones' Teenage Kicks was the obvious polltopper, along with some other talking points about the list. John asked 50 people, including myself, to send in our top 10 and he put it all together - there's a lot of work involved, and no matter your anger or thoughts about the list, fair play to John for the work put into it.
Read 'The best Irish songs of all time — ranked: the definitive top 50': https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/music/the-best-irish-songs-of-all-time-ranked-the-definitive-top-50/a1314511932.html -
Dublin singer-songwriter James Vincent McMorrow released his seventh studio album Wide Open, Horses on June 14 and talks through its 13 songs on this track-by-track interview on the TPOE podcast.
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From the press release:
In 2023, he brought Wide Open, Horses to life—on stage. He booked two nights at The National Concert Hall in Dublin, recorded a handful of lo-fi demos, practiced the material for a week, and then hit the stage. Phones weren’t allowed, but James recorded it to “see what worked and what didn’t work.”
“I literally performed the album before it was recorded,” he smiles. “The whole point was to expose the flaws and also highlight the special little moments. It was an odd experiment, but it worked great. The notion is so simple, ‘Write songs and perform them live’. Without cameras, they were the best shows I’ve ever played—which is interesting because no one knew the music! Everyone was just experiencing it though. I had friends in the lobby talking to strangers. Who talks to strangers anymore? It was lovely. It was a heartening experience for everyone involved.”
Galvanized by this energy, he hit the studio and assembled Wide Open, Horses. The opener and single “Never Gone” hinges on finger-picked guitar, soft tambourine, and steady handclaps as he wonders, “Cuz what the fuck are any of us really doing here? Do we even exist at all?”
“It’s the anchor of the record,” he notes. “It sums up the whole album; you’re just trying to fight meaninglessness. I always felt like I’ve been trying to find meaning so I could be remembered. When you don’t find it, it doesn’t feel good. I got to a point where I was like, ‘I fucking love this. I don’t care. If my friends, family, and people who know me as a musician love it, then I’m happy’. I regretted missing so many beautiful moments, because I’d get off stage like, ‘What’s the next opportunity?’ I’ve come to terms with the fact that when I die, I’ll be forgotten, and it’s okay. We all will. It felt ridiculous to fight it. Embracing it was very freeing. ‘Never Gone’ is just about appreciating what’s here for you in the moment.
Fans got to preview the track earlier this week with a live video of McMorrow performing the track in the wilderness.
“To me, the album is about finding relief from the cycle of life’s pressure,” McMorrow continues. “I don’t think the theory ‘modernity equals better’ holds much water these days. The more technology we add, the more unhappy everyone seems to be. I don’t want to move backwards, but I felt a sense of nostalgia and happiness in the album. It would be grandiose of me to think I could offer you some profound release through words and lyrics, but maybe I can…The job is to make a record I love and hopefully offer a respite. Maybe we can all get back to a life where we aren’t so obsessed with trying to seek out meaning from absolutely everything.”
In the end, James Vincent McMorrow simply sounds alive on Wide Open, Horses.
“I’m grateful to be here,” he leaves off. “The whole process was rebuilding myself and my connection to music, who I am, and what I wanted to be when I was starting out at 20-years-old. I struggle like everyone else does, but I’m going to appreciate the fuck out of every moment I get now. When I play shows, I want them to be shows you talk about for years. Going through hardship, I’m back to a point where I can see myself very clearly in the music and I know what I can do.” -
Galway artist Niamh Regan released her second album Come As You Are on May 31. On this episode we talk through all 10 of its tracks, as well as a not-very-secret hidden track, plus some of the fun things that she's experienced since releasing debut album Hemet in 2020.
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From the press release: Since its release, Niamh has embarked on headline tours from Ireland, to UK, Australia, Spain + more. Pairing this with many festivals and a variety of support opportunities with artist such as CMAT, Villagers, John Grant, SOAK, Patrick Watson, Sam Amidon, Cormac Begley, and Sorcha Richardson.
In between her performances, Niamh began to write her second record in Attica Studios with producer Tommy McLaughlin. She says, ‘I arrived in Donegal to meet Tommy for the first time with a bunch of demos, half-baked ideas and feeling not ready, it was scary. But I’m so glad that I did it that way. Trusted the process and came into the studio with the intention of capturing exactly where I was with it all and Tommy helped me build from there.’
And here we are, with the release of that second album, titled ‘Come As You Are’. It’s an album full of acutely observed vulnerabilities and introspection. Its themes are the issues that many of us find loom large in the small hours: questions of self-doubt, uncertainty about your life’s direction, whether relationships are flourishing in the way you’d hoped and determining priorities.
“A lot of it is about being in your late twenties and kind of realising we’re all running out of time,” she ponders. “I’d have bouts of massive self-belief in the studio, and then in the next breath I would be like, ‘This is the worst piece of music I could have even imagined.’ It was a rollercoaster. But through that I found self-acceptance; this is where I’m at and making peace with that. That’s what the album essentially is, just making peace with where I’m at and being realistic with myself.”
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Niamh Regan tour dates:
June 13: Windmill Live Show w/James Vincent McMorrow, Dublin (solo)
June 16: Doolin Folk Festival (full band)
July 16: Galway International Arts Festival (full band)
July 25: Song Room, Wexford (solo)
August 2: All Together Now
August 12: Kilkenny Arts Festival (solo)
August 17: Electric Picnic (solo)
November 14: Cyprus Avenue, Cork (full band)
November 15: Liberty Hall Theatre, Dublin (full band)
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Buy Niamh Regan - Come As You Are: https://niamhregan.bandcamp.com/album/come-as-you-are -
San Francisco-based Irish musician Shane Culloty aka Winter Aid released his second album under the moniker, titled Pull the Sky Inside, on May 17. He talks through all 15 songs on the record on this episode of the TPOE podcast.
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The 15-song collection, produced with Larry Crane (Elliott Smith, The Decemberists) and Chuck Johnson (Daniel Bachman, Claire Rousay), finds Culloty stretching the extremities as to what is sonically expected from a collection of Winter Aid songs, weaving in electronic sonic strands and new percussive elements.
Having uprooted from Dublin to San Francisco with his wife, assimilating to life in a new city and country shortly led into the pandemic and lockdown. The songs that came out of this gestation period finds Culloty fully exploring his new surroundings. It’s an urban pastoral record, full of flickering images, still lifes from once bustling streets, and a world suddenly torn in different directions. Upheaval, inequality, fear and uncertainty, all captured within the beauty of life, love and a fragile environment in need of nurture.
The title track, 'Pull The Sky Inside', was written in the midst of the pandemic, a period of struggle in a new city, far away from family. “I would spend a lot of time watching the sun go down over San Francisco,” notes Culloty. "I was struck by the idea of pulling the sunset sky indoors to preserve it and fall asleep in it. It seemed like a good solution to the darkness I was experiencing and once I finally recorded the line and finished the song, things felt a lot easier.”
Ultimately Pull The Sky Inside captures that sense of displacement: feeling a bit unmoored and out of place, but constantly trying to explore new scenery. It's a record with one foot in Culloty’s home back in Ireland, while very much a reflection of his new surroundings, attempting to make sense of everything going on around him.
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Buy Pull the Sky Inside on Bandcamp: https://winteraid.bandcamp.com/album/pull-the-sky-inside -
Conor O'Brien aka Villagers released their sixth studio album That Golden Time on May 10 via Domino Records and talks through its 10 tracks on this episode of the TPOE podcast.
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From the press release: After the band-centred sessions of its predecessor Fever Dreams, That Golden Time’s solo-centric core was not forced on O’Brien by lockdown. “For me, That Golden Time has an internalised voice, so much so that I almost found it impossible to let anyone else in,” he says. “It’s probably the most vulnerable album I’ve made. I played and recorded everything in my apartment, and finally, towards the end, invited people in.” Aside from Dónal Lunny, the album features American songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Peter Broderick on violin, David Tapley of Dublin band Tandem Felix on pedal steel guitar, and a group of players that O’Brien had first seen performing in a tribute to one of his great loves, Italian composer Ennio Morricone, who added soprano vocal, viola and cello.
The understated poetry within That Golden Time is effortlessly carried by gorgeous melodies and sublime instrumentation. Inspired by philosophers, poets, playwrights and singer-songwriters that had seeped into O’Brien’s consciousness: namechecks this time go to Friedrich Nietzsche (his Beyond Good and Evil: Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future is quoted in the album’s accompanying booklet), Dory Previn, Marcus Aurelius, Fintan O’Toole, Lorraine Hansberry, Chet Baker, Joan Didion, PJ Harvey and post-classical beauties Rachel’s.
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Villagers Irish tour dates:
June 29: Trinity College Dublin
December 3: Cork Opera House
December 4: Dolan's Warehouse, Limerick
December 5: INEC Club, Killarney
December 7: Mandela Hall, Belfast
December 11: Set Theatre, Kilkenny
December 12: Leisureland, Galway
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Passing a Message
Passing a Message contains the lyrics to over 80 songs, with artwork and photographs, along with previously unseen notebook lyric drafts and drawings curated by Conor for his musical project, Villagers. Presented as a full-colour hardback book, with a unique glow-in-the-dark cover, there will also be a limited deluxe edition which comes with a 7" vinyl featuring an exclusive unreleased track 'Pictures of the Floating World' (featuring Rachael Lavelle). Both editions are now available for preorder for release on September 12 on Faber
Links and info: https://linktr.ee/passingamessage
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Villagers Substack: https://villagersofficial.substack.com/ -
Dublin dance duo Robbie G and Bissett aka Belters Only are one of the hottest acts in the country. With tunes like 'Make Me Feel Good' to their name and having co-produced the Ivor Novello-nominated 'Giving Me' with Jazzy, they sold out the 3Arena in Dublin in less than 30 minutes in 2023. Over the June bank holiday weekend, they're putting on their own festival at Punchestown, featuring MK, Dom Dolla, NewEra, Conor Coates, Jen Payne Obskür, Route 94, and of course Jazzy. Belters Only also play Ormeau Park, Belfast, June 14; Virgin Media Park, Cork, June 21; and Galway Airport August 11. On today's show they talk about their journey, making 'Giving Me' with Jazzy, closing hours in Ireland, and what's next.
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Pillow Queens (singer Pamela Connolly, bassist Sarah Corcoran, guitarist Cathy McGuinness, and drummer Rachel Lyons) released their third album Name Your Sorrow on April 19 and talk through all 12 songs on it in this interview.
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From the press release: It finds the group at their most vulnerable and self-assured as they explore themes of queerness, insecurity, desire and heartbreak as well as the positivity and strength that can grow from pain. Produced by Collin Pastore (Lucy Dacus, boygenius) at Analogue Catalogue in Northern Ireland, the collection sees the group chart new territory as they give fans an all new, uninhibited look at both their artistry and humanity
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Pillow Queens play their biggest headline show to date at Iveagh Gardens, Dublin, on Saturday, July 13. Tickets: https://www.pillowqueens.com/live
Buy Pillow Queens - Name Your Sorrow: https://pillowqueens.bandcamp.com/album/name-your-sorrow -
Dublin-born, London-based Constance Keane aka Fears released her second album affinity on Tulle Records in March 2024. She talks through the 10 tracks on the album on this episode of the TPOE podcast. One part of the post-punk band M(h)aol, she also discusses their past year and latest single 'Pursuit', the first on which Keane takes lead vocals.
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Affinity follows her critically acclaimed 2021 debut album Oíche, that landed in the UK vinyl album charts, was chosen by readers of The Guardian as an album of the year, and received widespread radio support for debut single 'Tonnta''. The 10 tracks that make up affinity draw on human connection, intimacy, and moments of peace in a city; combining reflective electronics, acoustic samples, and stirring vocals with organic visuals, blurring the boundaries between music and visual art. Her minimalist yet striking approach centres on emotive subjects which are all-at-once deeply personal yet remarkably universal. Written and recorded between London, New York, and Dublin, affinity is a melancholy and at times playful exploration of the relationship between Fears’ physical surroundings and the work she creates.
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Fears plays the Sugar Club, Dublin, on June 1. Tickets: https://singularartists.ie/show/fears/
Buy Fears - affinity on Bandcamp: https://fearsrecords.bandcamp.com/album/affinity -
Kieran McFeely aka Simple Kid released two acclaimed albums in the noughties before seeming to disappear around 2008. He sold his guitar and packed away his gear. A decade would pass before he went looking for the boxes in his attic. Simple Kid released third album Simple Kid 3: Health & Safety in 2022, and played a show at Whelan's in April 2023.
Now, Simple Kid plays the Grand Social in Dublin on Saturday, May 4, and Cyprus Avenue, Cork, on Sunday, May 5, presented by Singular Artists. From Cork, it will be his first hometown show in 17 years. Ahead of the shows, he talks on the TPOE podcast about his journey, how he came back to the Simple Kid project after 10 years not thinking about it. We talk about his old band the V Necks/The Young Offenders, and how that led to his solo project in the early 2000s. Acclaim, charting, and an appearance on 'Later with Jools Holland' all followed.
Buy tickets for Simple Kid live at the Grand Social and Cyprus Avenue: https://singularartists.ie/show/simple-kid-2024/
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Press release:
Once upon a time, back in 2003, a young hopeful by the name of Simple Kid emerged with his first solo album, Simple Kid 1: full of optimism and arrogance, he was sure of his place in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. He garnered some awards nominations, some high profile tours, some good times, some bad. Like many before and since, he was ‘the next big thing’ with a UK Top 40, appearances on ‘Later With Jools’, Glastonbury slots and prestigious touring.
In 2008, he followed this up with Simple Kid 2: not so many awards, not so much TV, lots of touring but running out of money, hair receding, girlfriend pregnant.
Then along came ‘life’. And life said that Simple Kid needed to change the chapter in his book, to move on. So Simple Kid became Kieran and started to do things like: get a job, get tired, raise children, have financial struggles. Still some good times, some bad. But secretly in 2018, Kieran bought a guitar, a microphone and some speakers and started recording quietly in his loft. He didn’t tell anyone, not even his family.
He started uploading songs to YouTube and eventually released 13 of these songs as an album called ‘Simple Kid 3: Health & Safety’ in 2022. Kieran has now changed his name back to Simple Kid and decided to come out to play again. He imagines there will be some good times, some bad. -
Anamoe Drive is the solo project of Thumper frontman and guitarist Oisín Leahy Furlong. He released his debut album Breakfast in Bed via Faction Records on March 8 and talks through it track by track on this episode of the TPOE podcast.
Oisin says Breakfast in Bed is a breakup album told in three parts. The non-linear narrative flits between the throes of heartbreak to the bliss of new love, from the depths of loneliness, to the slow dissipating of these feelings in the rearview mirror. The album’s title reflects different meanings depending on which song you view it through - from a kind gesture, to a lonely act, to the masticating of these themes in solitude. It also doubles as the place where most of these songs were written - perched on a bed, the morning after the night before, recapping these events in song. He says influences range from Sparklehorse to The Microphones, Bright Eyes to The Beach Boys, and Big Thief to Real Estate.
Buy Breakfast in Bed: https://anamoedrive.bandcamp.com/
Tracklisting
1. The Same Asylum
2. Goodbye & Goodluck
3. Out Like a Light
4. Bulb
5. The Finder's Keeper
6. Long Time Coming
7. Procrastination
8. NYC
9. Holiday Song
10. Don't Walk the Wrong One Home -
Singer/bassist Julie Hough and guitarist Matthew Harris from Dublin-based pop-punk trio Havvk talk through all the tracks on their third album To Fall Asleep, released on Veta Records.
Julie's battles with insomnia are one of the influences on the album. She says: “I was waking up with an unshakable feeling of urgency, like I was forgetting something and then letting my thoughts spiral for hours. Sleep was something I had always taken for granted, so at first this felt like a huge betrayal from my body. But it wasn’t really. Actually, it was my body trying to tell me something. I had to really listen to it, and examine how honestly I was living my life, and how much energy I was giving to things that I didn’t have the capacity for."
To Fall Asleep tracklisting:
1. Daylight Robbery
2. Expiry
3. Strong Possibility
4. You Say You Won’t (played in intro)
5. White Noise
6. To Fall Asleep
7. Take It From Me
8. Keep It to Myself
9. City Creep
10. Waste of Time
11. Nobody Told You (outro music)
Buy To Fall Asleep on Bandcamp: https://havvk.bandcamp.com/album/to-fall-asleep -
Dublin singer-songwrriter Danny Carroll released his debut solo album I am the Cheese on March 1. He talks through the nine tracks on this TPOE 304.
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Press release: Part of the Dublin music scene for years, Danny Carroll is co-curator of A Litany Of Failures compilation series showcasing independent artists from across Ireland. Having gigged in various projects, he’s opened for kindred spirits such as Jeffrey Lewis and Pavement guitarist Spiral Stairs before the time came to work on his debut solo album. Enlisting the help of Belfast based producer Chris W. Ryan (New Dad, Just Mustard, Robocobra Quartet), the two developed songs with a playful, anything goes approach, with Carroll’s songs likened to softer touchstones of indie rock - Silver Jews, Jonathan Richman, and Lee Hazlewood.
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Danny explains: I Am The Cheese is an album I initially recorded with Chris W. Ryan in a week in June 2021. We did this in a terraced house in East Belfast - visited by Carl Eccles on two occasions to play guitar and sing some backing vocals. In the months that followed, Finn McCarthy emailed me bass parts, and I added various bells and whistles to the songs from a flat on North Circular Road in Dublin 7. Laura Ryder also contributed piano to the song Cheesemonger. The drums were performed and recorded by Chris on one day in January 2022 in Start Together Studios. He then mixed the album, and eventually I got it mastered by the late, great John Davis (Blur, The XX, Careerist) who passed away in September 2023.
I've sat on the album a long time, in part down due to vinyl pressing, in part due to personal reasons. The mental fortitude it takes to independently 'emerge' and 'unleash' is not always forthcoming. At this point the album feels like a distant document. Nevertheless, it's still something I'm happy to have made for myself.
The title is taken from the 1977 Robert Cormier YA novel, which haunted my adolescence. The final lines of the novel refer back to the folk song 'The Farmer In The Dell':
"The cheese stands alone.
The cheese stands alone.
Hi-ho, the derry-o!
The cheese stands alone"
For a number of reasons it felt fitting to lift that title.
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Singer-songwriter Niamh Bury released her debut solo album Yellow Roses on March 29 via Claddagh Records. Produced by Brían Mac Gloinn (Ye Vagabonds), it features Caimin Gilmore and Kate Ellis (Crash Ensemble) and Ryan Hargodan (Rachael Lavelle), but it is Bury's amazing voice that stands out as she weaves tales about travel, mysticism, and domesticity, with a theme of female empowerment coming through, particularly when she sings of her mother on one song and her grandmother on the title track. Comprising nine original tracks and one interpretation of an older song ('Lovely Adam'), Niamh Bury talks through Yellow Roses on this episode of the TPOE podcast.
Niamh Bury tour dates:
April 12: American Bar, Belfast
April 21: Róisín Dubh, Galway
April 24: Upstairs at Dolan's, Limerick
April 25: Cleere's, Kilkenny
April 26: Winthrop Avenue, Cork
April 28: Whelan's, Dublin
Buy Yellow Roses: https://www.niamhbury.com/ - Se mer
