Dublin born singer-songwriter Eoin Glackin returns with his new single ‘El Dorado’.The new single builds on the momentum of ‘Before the Rain’, which garnered major radio support across Ireland and the UK from the like of Today FM, Spin 103.8, 98FM as well as TalkRadio and BBC. A relentless tourer with three acclaimed albums under his belt, he has shared the road with legendary acts such as The Darkness, Joan Armatrading and most recently, Irish icons, Aslan.
‘El Dorado’ radiates cosy vibes, warm guitar and a steady beat as Glackin blends rich elements of folk, country and indie to create a heartwarming tune saturated in nostalgia and wholesome songwriting. Soft keys twinkle between the foot tapping beat, lush backing vocals and sweet melodies while Glackin’s soothing vocals coo the dreamy melody. The song is a story of friendship in the face of the greatest adversity and Glackin builds the uplifting and hopeful tones superbly. ‘El Dorado’ is an emotive and beautiful new single from Eoin Glackin.
The genesis for El Dorado, a story of unbreakable friendship, is best explained by the writer himself: “I was hanging out with a friend the evening after I wrote it. We were passing a guitar back and forth, so I played it for him. He looked at me when I was finished and asked, ‘Is that about me?’ I just replied, ‘Now you mention it, I think it is!’ When we were about 10, he became very sick. He had a rough time but thankfully came out on the other end. I wasn’t sure where this story came from in my head, but now I do. This story of unbreakable friendship is for him.”
After the successful debut single release of ‘Trespasser’ in July 2020 Belfast local and ‘dootdootRecords’ artist Quinn has released her follow up single ‘Some Days’. Since linking up with Producer Michael Mormecha and John Dynes from dootdoot Music, Quinn’s guitar and piano based lyrical music has taken a massive leap into experimental, hard hitting pop.Quinn has performed in many venues around the world, including touring in New York,Amsterdam, Dublin, Cambridge, Manchester, Dubai, Dublin and Nashville,with the main purpose of getting her music in front of as many people as possible. She has also appeared at multiple venues and events in Northern Ireland
Quinn fleshes out her emotive alternative sound with new single ‘Some Days’; a shimmering pop track with an 80’s synth sheen. The track travels on an upbeat melody and tightly weaved synths which creates a vibrant and bubbling soundscape for Quinn’s expressive vocals to bounce off. As the jaunty guitars spread a sweet radiance through the warm melody the song reaches its comforting power pop crescendo. Exuding quirky, earnest lyrics ‘Some Days’ is an uplifting and richly crafted gem from Quinn.
The song was written in Amsterdam in January 2020 when Quinn was on tour in Europe. About the song she says…. “I was really struggling with the loneliness of the music industry and not sure what direction to go in. I wrote ‘Some Days’ on an acoustic guitar in 3 or 4 days and used it to help redirect my goals and focus for my career in music.”
Dublin artist James Lonergan is set to release his new single ‘Tip the Can’ on November 27th. Lonergan joined his first band aged 10, since then he has steadily fronted bands – most notably as the vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter of the recently disbanded progressive band, Synk.
‘Tip the Can’ is a wonderful display of Lonergan’s unique and hypnotic musicianship. Lonergan uses his wide sonic range to simmer his instrumentation, carefully creating rich layers of shadowy soundscapes. The track’s electronics haunt through a tapping beat while rumbling distortion and bubbling synths build suspense in the background.The only relief from the muggy wall of sound is Lonergan’s reverb-laced vocals and the soft keys which add glimmers of innocence, while at the same time lightening the thick asphyxiating soundscapes.
This track boasts unique production and the enticing obscurity of Lonergan, as he lures the listener into his mesmerising, musical depths. ‘Tip the Can’ is an enthralling, obscure track from James Lonergan. It is beginning to feel as if there is no genre or style he can not twist and make his own.
Sam Wickens is an Indie singer songwriter from Bangor, County Down. The NI Music prize nominee has released his new single ‘Strange.24’ along with a deeply reflective video that encapsulates Sam’s battle with mental illness.
Wickens is a passionate performer and exceptional instrumentalist with a talent for writing poignant and captivating songs. This is a takeover not to be missed.
You can stream Sam Wickens new single ‘Strange.24’ below
Written and produced during lockdown, Spanish artist Rob Nar has released an acoustic version of his 2020 single ‘One From a Distance’. Having a strong influence from British culture and music from his time in the UK, Rob Nar’s music shows personal approaches to blending acoustic and electronic instruments. Now living back in Seville, he released his debut solo single which has been featured on several Spotify playlists, reaching 3K monthly listeners and a total of 15K streams since its release earlier this year.
Rob Nar presents a warm and heartfelt version of ‘One From a Distance’. The song is easy on the ears as emotive, comforting songwriting and an irresistible melody coat the track in bright, mellow tones. It’s an intimate tune with twinkling acoustic guitar, lush harmonies and a rhythmic pulse. Nar has created a well crafted wholesome track brimming with stripped back instrumentation to maximise the songs positive tone.
Rob recorded both versions of the track at his home studio in Seville. He explains:“The song shows a feeling about how we all are one, regardless of the physical place where we are, with the positive mood and the hope that we all can beat this and any future issues together.”
NI Music prize nominee Sam Wickens has released his new single ‘Strange.24’ along with a deeply reflective video that encapsulates Sam’s battle with mental illness. Teaming up with DanDanDann Productions they created a video that portrays the battle that many people go through with mental health. A maze of darkness and despair juxtaposed with an ever shining light, it’s a concept many can relate to.Wickens has also announced his new EP ‘Watson’ due for release on 5th February 2021 along with his first live date in over a year at the Workman’s Club, Dublin – 1st April 2021.
Wickens delves deep with his new single ‘Strange.24’. This genre defying artist expands his sonic wall of sound with a soulful pop melody, country hues and electronic elements while a dark, smothering soundscape broods in the background. ‘Strange.24’ pulses with soft synths and emotive laments on guitar as Wickens delivers a compelling and heartfelt vocal delivery.
Warm rasped vocals discuss the acceptance of recovering from a battle with mental illness. “Feeling strange, it all just went away” Wickens is quite the talent. He is able to capture such pain and loneliness within his music and convey this through rich musicianship and mesmerising soundscapes. Melding elements of hope and personal strength with stains of melancholia and despair, the listener is exposed to a very raw and deeply personal facet of the artists consciousness. Wickens’ lyrics carry the weight of not only personal torment but personal growth as well.
As the track progresses the soundscape becomes more cinematic. It builds for the captivating crescendo where – displayed through deft use of instrumentation – the listener is given a sense of clarity, hope and freedom – it is absolutely wonderful.
Beautifully crafted ‘Strange.24’ is a compelling glimpse into the artistic mind of a talented musician.
About the track Sam Wickens said : “Strange.24 is a song about the acceptance of recovering from a battle with mental illness, The feeling of something changing within my life and trying to accept that it is actually happening. After fighting with mental illnesses for such a long time, the possibility of it leaving was a complete myth to me. Life without deep hopelessness seemed strange to me as I was accustomed to the black hole that was my normality. Just as you would need to get used to living in a new home, I had to get used to living as a person that was no longer mentally ill. This song was a therapeutic way to help me move on with my recovery”
Morning Medicine have released their new single ‘Just The Same’. Hailing from Co. Cork, Morning Medicine is a band that combines indie-folk and alternative-rock influences.Having spent a number of years producing and writing for a wide range of artists, the bands founding members, Sarah O’ Mahony and Brian Casey, spent the early months of 2020 channeling years of late night collaborations into long overdue recordings of their own. With guest appearances from a small cast of friends, Morning Medicine’s debut EP ‘Everything You’ve Been Told You Need’ (OUT Jan 2021) wanders from sparse soundscapes to dense arrangements with layered female and male vocals forming a constant throughout
‘Just The Same’ is a fantastic display of the emotive and ethereal musicianship of Morning Medicine. The track builds sonically as a warm acoustic guitar and soft sparse synths intro blossom into a cinematic soundscape. The band sprawl rich layers of strings over bubbling rhythms and intense, airy synths to create a controlled but wild backdrop. The lulling sweet vocals have an echoed effect which stands up wonderfully against the blustery instrumental with an elegant yet uncompromising strength as the warm guitar intensifies, becoming more like sharp electronic jabs of lighting in the distance of this storm-like backdrop. It’s an organic and emotive track exuding pop elements which glimmer through warm folk tones and indie rock bravado. ‘Just The Same’ is a fine example of the refined, striking and utterly mesmerising sound of Morning Medicine.
Alternative indie rock band Plastic Barricades have released their new album ‘Self-Theories’.The album was written and recorded in a backyard shed in North-West London, mixed by Paul Love in London and Paris and mastered by Andy Baldwin at Metropolis Studios in London.
‘Self-Theories’ is a bright melodious collection of tracks as Plastic Barricades showcase their uplifting indie in this unique and engaging album. The band use jaunty guitars and intricate drums to flesh out their rich and bubbling wall of sound while a vibrant percussive rhythm keeps the tracks light and bouncy. There are folky elements within ‘Weightless’ and ‘The Great Unknown’ while ‘Game of Numbers’ takes a more indie rock swaggered approach. The band discuss themes of loneliness and self understanding with moments of joy, sadness and curiosity all displayed through bright energetic musicianship.
There is no shortage of sublime heartfelt melodies throughout the album. In true Plastic Barricades manner, the album spreads dreamy warm melodies over expressive instrumentation to create a satisfying listening experience. ‘Self-Theories is a wonderfully crafted album from Plastic Barricades.
I caught up with Irish singer-songwriter Rory Gallagher aka Rory & The Island to talk about his new single ‘When The Lights Go Down (Valhalla)’, touring and those fun facebook live streams.
Presented through wonderfully rich and warm musicianship ‘When The Lights Go Down (Valhalla)’ is a passionate track which talks about the battle of keeping a sustainable career as an artist in a difficult industry. This theme is relatable for so many artists at the moment, but for Rory the track talks about his feelings after finding an exciting new chapter of his live crushed by the pandemic. The opening of his new music venue ‘The Wildcat’ in Edinburgh never reached its official opening night on the 21st March.
” Yeah, myself and my wife, we moved our family over from Donegal last year, because we got a lease on a music bar in Edinburgh city center. We were going to open up the Wildcat live music bar and we were really excited. We got it painted, got in a PA system, stage lights – we had everything all set, ready to go and right beside the King’s Theatre in city center as well so it was great location.Our opening date was for the middle of March of this year, and we never got to see it because of the pandemic outbreak but we kept paying the rent, it was being frozen held back and everything but we were trying to keep it going as long as possible and it just got to the point, in the summer where we went,this could be a year, a year and a half, at least. So we just handed the keys back. I remember we had to go in and collect a lot of our stuff and some personal things and just that thing of switching off the dimmer lights and looking back at the bar going “Damn it, you know, we were so close”. It’s never easy when the lights go down and it’s like a double meaning as well because it’s when you’re finished a gig in the theater or stage and the stage lights go down, just that feeling, that one second in particular, you know…We’re definitely not giving up yet and that’s the chorus of the song as well, ‘I see Valhalla in the distance’, you know which is like heaven for warriors, but I never actually say I’m going there. It’s in the destination but I’m not giving up.”
Rory takes a laid back 90’s vibe and vintage folk rock stance on the instrumentation which exudes a sense of comfort and warmth. I was intrigued by the slick guitar work on the track.
“Yeah, I just wrote the basic structure of the song – acoustic and vocal. It is very 90s. It has that Neil Finn almost vintage Crowded House warmth to it. I just felt that warmth was needed and there is a bit of Neil Young influence there as well. I thought I’ll just play the drums and bass and I’ll just multi-track to myself in the studio, put it down really basic at first, and then take it from there. There’s no point in getting involved in a big fancy production thing here just make it, as you say, kind of like vintage folk rock, and then it just seemed to suit so well. It’s funny you mention the guitar line because that’s the one thing I was thinking of dropping out of it because I thought it was non experimental. It’s just playing the actual vocal melody on the guitar. You’re always kind of like, ‘oh god has this been done to death’. But I decided it’s actually such a catchy little melody that works, you know. “
“It’s such a natural thing. We were gonna go much deeper into production when simplicity just seemed to be the way to go.”
Rory’s music writing process changes from song to song and he has experimented with his writing techniques to flesh out his style.
” One of the songs I wrote was about a New York/Donegal gangster called Mad Dog Coll ( Vincent ‘Mad Dog’ Coll ). It was based on true events from the 1920s during Prohibition in the USA. So I just sat down and wrote basically a poem about his life. That was one that I would have done the lyrics first but then other ones like this one I think I wrote that when I was tapping my knees. Sometimes it’s just so handy having a phone because you just grab the phone and hit record in the little audio section. I’ve got so many things with just 30 second splices like that. A lot of the time, I’ll come back to that 30 seconds maybe two weeks later and then, add to it and sometimes you get lucky that you get a complete song from it. That’s really the two ways that I would go – it’s either 30 seconds, or one minute, if I get lucky a burst of inspiration straight onto the phone and work on it later, or else I’ll sit and write, try and complete an entire lyric but that’s probably my plan B that’s much more difficult I find.”
Oozing folk and country tones Rory has a unique and diverse voice. However in ‘When The Lights Go Down (Valhalla)’ he exudes a more rock tone. Such confident vocal ability has not gone unnoticed, however he explains vocal confidence is something he built up over time.
” No, I’ve never been confident with my voice and even in the studio I hate hearing it back. I’ve always got a nice response from people and I’ve been doing the Facebook Live thing every Saturday night and it’s got good viewers and people just going ‘oh, I love when you sing this song’ so thank God those people are there because if they weren’t I probably would have stopped singing when I was 19. I just never felt comfortable with my own voice and I probably should have taken lessons but I never did and it’s probably that thing of craft you know when you’ve been doing it so long. I’ve been playing in the pub since I was 15, and for certain bands, you might have to learn a Nirvana song and then you’re playing in a bar and somebody at the bar’s favorite song is by Willie Nelson. That’s where all that would come from and it’s just you constantly learning different styles and hoping that you’ve maintained your own way of singing.I always try to keep my own accent and find my own meaning of the song. So I rarely would ever sing something that I don’t feel, you know. “
Rory has managed to break a world record by becoming the first solo artist to fill the entire eight-hour time slot given by Facebook live.
” Yeah, well speaking of Wi-Fi, I tried it twice and the first time I got six hours into it the Wi-Fi cut out. Can you imagine that. So that was, like ‘operation don’t smash everything in the room’. But then the second time I tried it like two or three weeks later and managed to get through it and that was great. I didn’t actually end up as hoarse as I thought I would. I’d been doing the gigs for maybe 25 weeks in a row at that stage and just wanted to make it interesting and just start getting a little bit of a buzz going and kind of go right Facebook’s got an eight hour slot. I’m going to give it a go. And there’s that intriguing thing from your own point of view – you kind of go, ‘Am I gonna make it? So yeah it was great but the actual world record, the online world record I think is something mental like 24 hours of videos on YouTube and the actual solo gig was done by a French rapper/producer. I think he did it in Paris and that’s 28 hours, so they’re kind of untouchable swans.”
” You just make it interesting for yourself and you’re seeing people’s comments coming up on the screen as well so you’re interacting with that and sending stuff back to them and I wrote every song that I know. So, I think I wrote, like 210 songs and just put them all on sheets on the wall – the biggest set-list I ever wrote out. I just went through them all and I think I only repeated about six songs which is amazing.I actually enjoyed a lot of it. “
Rory was previously part of the band The Revs but independently earned himself 8 top 30s, 2 top 10s and a number 1 single in the Irish charts, as well as performing all over the UK and Ireland supporting the likes of Ocean Colour Scene, Feeder and Alabama 3. I wondered was it daunting going solo.
“It’s weird, after The Revs I moved to Lanzarote because I fell in love with a girl over there who is now my wife, that was in 2006, and I had no money. So, I had to go back and just start playing the pubs again. That was daunting you know where I’ve gone from like doing one hour sets in Europe, Australia and UK with The Revs and having to go into a three hour set of like 90% cover songs, and I had this fear that people down there will be shouting up failure and loser and, and it was probably even worse than that because nobody knew who I was. It was just basically starting from scratch again and built up a whole new thing and I always maintained that even from the age of 15 that I always tried to play my own music in the set, to the point where I’m playing 60% original music which is unheard of in Lanzarote, a holiday resort. So I ended up building up a completely new type of following and I went under the name Rory & The Island, so it was easier to Google, because going under the name Rory Gallagher was just a disaster with the blues legend. Florence + the Machine and Noah and the Whale were quite big at that time so I said well Rory & The Island is nice because I always liked the image of the island for escapism which it was for me. I liked the term Island from the book and from Island Records and when that was set up for Bob Marley. I just like the name Island basically. “
” What was probably daunting as well when you start up your Facebook page, you know, this was in 2010, and I had to start up Rory & The Island and it’s at zero. Then at the end of the week, you’ve got 81 followers and that stuff’s quite tough because you go ‘oh my god I had a top five album and I played Slane. How can I have 81 followers?’ – this goes on in your head with your ego, you know. So I just kept at it and every week grew it up and at the moment now it’s I think 27,000 after 10 years and a lot of them are so loyal it’s just brilliant. It’s very real as well because it just grew so natural but yeah there were a lot of daunting moments. I remember, Ocean Colour Scene and just thinking God I wish the two guys were here and we could play electrically, crank it up and really get this crowd going and then you’re just having to walk out with acoustic guitar in the Olympia before Ocean Colour Scene. Little moments like that, they were daunting. We had such a long slow wind down in The Revs like the last two years were just really tough because, we started off flying and we were doing Slane and Oxygen festivals and we got top 30 single in Australia, all in the first two years and then hit a brick wall and just started to decline. So in a way it was nice to break away for a while, to be honest.”
This allowed Rory to learn more about his own style of writing. It also allowed him to build and craft his own sound.
” With The Revs, it was trying to make it as much of a democracy as possible so there was always that one third input from each member. You could arrive with a really good idea and after three hours it just wasn’t working with the other two guys and they would scrap that whereas, with the solo stuff it’s much easier, and probably much trickier in its own way because you’ve got enough rope to hang yourself. You can do whatever you want, you would release some of the stuff and then a month later you go ‘Oh my god ! Can I delete this from YouTube’ “
” Yeah, it’s nice to have yourself completely to blame for everything, if that makes sense. You can build up a lot of resentment, especially when you’re younger and there’s ego. You have enough rope to hang yourself so if you put something out, it’s a disaster, you put your own hands up and that’s it. So, yeah, there’s advantages and disadvantages to both things really. Rory & The Island project has been so much more acoustic based, a lot more percussion, bongos, kind of sunshine influence from Canary Islands, using small Spanish guitars and just trying to make it feel warm. Whereas The Revs was hard indie rock, so total contrast you know. That’s the thing after seven years in The Revs, you know even John (McIntyre) the electric guitar player, he hasn’t really played electric guitar much since. He plays with his wife Zoë Conway and they do brilliant interesting Trad Irish stuff. I think after a decade of really loud music and if you haven’t cracked it in the way Metallica or these guys have, you sometimes don’t really want to hear over-driven electric guitar for a long time. When you’ve heard it five nights a week in loads of different clubs all around the world, it’s just like a ringing. You get this ringing in your ear from electric distorted guitar and cymbals, and it’s just a relief to hear the natural sound of wood, acoustic guitars, things like that again. Then you can go full circle where after a couple of years of just acoustic you go ‘it’s time to plug in again’. “
2019 saw Rory return back to Ireland and extensively tour, filling out rooms around the UK and Ireland with his London show at The Dublin Castle selling out within 48 hours of going on sale. I wondered how he has been coping with this lull in shows.
“It’s been very weird. I’ve always suffered a little bit from anxiety. So, even though it was the worst in the world that hour before a gig, once I was 10 minutes into the gig, I was probably happier than I would ever be because I felt comfortable on stage and you could let loose. I was doing that five nights a week at minimum in Lanzarote so it was always there. You could have a bad day and you didn’t feel like the oxygen was flowing right in your system or whatever and then you would get that nervous thing at nine o’clock.Then you start at 10 o’clock, and you feel great at quarter past 10 and that carries through until the following afternoon. It’s weird to get into that addicted to applause type thing where you are just living for live music. For that to stop, for me, it was really difficult to be honest, especially losing the live music bar. So from recommendations of people that went ‘Why don’t you try the Facebook live gigs’ I started that and it’s been saving grace really every Saturday – something to look forward to. It’s not the same buzz at all, not the same energy because you just finish your song, and it’s like a musician’s nightmare. You play the final chord and it’s just silence..You just get used to digital interaction. “
There is a lot of pressure on artists now and the music industry can be competitive at times which can be overwhelming but Rory has some words of wisdom for artists looking to pursue a career in the music industry.
” I would say hold on just to see how the vaccine is gonna work first. Let’s just take it from there first. Then after that I would say always try and keep the love of it and always make it fun. It can get very stressy and it can get accidentally competitive if you start competing against other bands in your city. If you’re going to get into music, you’re going to get into it because you’ve obviously built up a love from listening to it. Just keep that initial buzz. I remember, when I was 14 or whatever in your first band and we would complete something by Iron Maiden. We just all looked at each other and tried not to hug you know, just that amazing feeling of ‘that’s what music should do’. Even though most musicians always try and deny it, it’s a big thing – a lot of the time your music is there to lift the soul. If it’s not doing anything for your own soul it’s not going to do anything for anybody else’s so you always have to be wary of that as well. “
Very wise words indeed and very much appreciated.
Rory creates passionate tunes which ooze emotion. His charming, mesmerising persona radiates from each of his tracks through heartfelt songwriting and rich musicianship. If you want to hear more of the antics Rory gets up to on his facebook live streams they are on every Saturday. Rory plans to record more tunes in the New Year. I am very much looking forward to hearing more music from this talented artist
” I’m gonna maintain these Facebook Saturday night gigs to keep myself going anyway and I’ve started writing again and got a buzz from that.I’m recording another single in January and going to put that out, hopefully in February and take it from there.”
Hailing from Tipperary, Kill ‘Em Charlie are a five piece indie rock outfit. Newly re-imagined and taking their sound to blistering new heights, the band have recently released their new EP, ‘I Hope This Works for You (‘Cause it Does for Me)’.
Kill ‘Em Charlie have a tight, melodious sound which radiates slick guitar lines and infectious hooks. Showcasing clever songwriting and deft musicianship the five piece blend sweet melodies with blistering indie superbly to create a sound that is refined and exhilarating. This takeover is sure to be a blast.
You can stream Kill ‘Em Charlie’s new EP ‘I Hope This Works for You (‘Cause it Does for Me)’ below
Author : Danu
Indie: (n) an obscure form of rock which you only learn about from someone slightly more hip than yourself.
