The Last Mixed Tape looks back at the last four weeks to pick out some of the stand-out tracks coming out of Ireland featuring Pillow Queens, Naoise Roo, Fears, Modernlove, Odd Morris, Skinner, Melina Malone, St. Bishop & more.
Pillow Queens – Brothers
Pillow Queens return with the sonically and lyrically moving new offering ‘Brothers’ which takes shape through the strong ebb and flow between the verses and choruses.
Modernlove. – Liquorice
Rhythmically and melodically lush, the ambitious synth-pop of Moderlove’s latest single ‘Liquorice’ is an infectious listen from start to finish.
Melina Malone – Now Or Never
The debut offering from Melina Malone, the slow-burning beat of ‘Now Or Never’ works as the perfect backdrop to Malone’s instantly captivating vocal performance. A very promising start.
Odd Morris – Lilac Leaves
Angular guitars, bone-rattling beats and a precise vocal characterize the post-punk leanings of Odd Morris’ ‘Lilac Leaves’.
Kid Karate – Hate
A to-the-point, no messing around indie-rock banger from Kid Karate, ‘Hate’ is a blistering new track filled with fuzz and frustration.
Elaine Mai – Heartbeat
Elaine Mai makes her return via the sonically suspended sound of ‘Heartbeat’, a song soaked in atmosphere this comeback track is Mai’s most compelling work to date.
Sir Bobby Jukebox – You Only Dance
Sir Bobby Jukebox’s sound is joyously inventive and off-kilter. A deconstructed indie-pop song populated by layer upon layer upon layer of jangled sounds.
Biig Piig – Pingu
Taken from Biig Piig’s new E.P. No Place For Patience Vol. 3, ‘Pingu’ is a song soaked in mood and a slow-motion laid-back beat that sit behind Biig Piig’s serene vocal that draws you closer with each softly woven word.
Villagers – Adora Venera
Awash with texturally and harmonically lush sounds, the backdrop to ‘Adora Venera’ coupled with Conor O’Brien’s hushed vocal is a thing of beauty.
Chanele McGuinness – Such A Good Thing
A subtle ballad dripping with isolated atmosphere, ‘Such A Good Thing’ is a raw offering from Chanele McGuinness that showcases her deft turn of phrase and beguiling vocal.
Columbia Mills – Who Am I Supposed To Talk To Now?
Marrying their driving alt-rock backbone with the group’s atmospherically heavy sound, the expansive push and pull of Columbia Mills’ ‘Who Am I Supposed To Talk To Now?’ is a compelling one.
Nnic – The Place (acoustic version)
Stripped back and filled with emotion, Nnic’s acoustic rendition of ‘The Place’ pushes both the songwriting and the vocal to the front with striking results.
Soda Blonde – Don’t Mind Them
A lush offering from Soda Blonde’s new E.P. Terrible Hands, ‘Don’t Mind Them’ moves with a synth-pop slickness that carries the emotion and meaning behind the music.
Maija Sofia – The Wife Of Michael Cleary
It’s the harrowing ‘The Wife Of Michael Cleary’ that creates the high-water mark in Bath Time. Written about Bridget Cleary who was last ‘witch’ burned in Ireland, this song is haunting, as Sofia embodies the sorrow, the doom and the distress of Cleary’s story with a vocal performance that truly brought me to tears.
Fears – Bones
Set upon a sparse soundscape that pops and clicks with a jolting beat, Fears’ ‘Bones’ takes shape through the atmosphere soaked music and hypnotic vocal, making for an entrancing listen.
Conchúr White – Daises
A soft-spoken song that plays with a strong dynamic backbone. Conchúr White’s ‘Daisies’ is a song that ebbs and flows in intensity. A compelling introduction to Conchúr White.
Midnight Wayne – Stars
A sonically rich offering from Midnight Wayne’s Transcend E.P, ‘Stars’ is a melting pot of laid-back lo-fi pop with hints of indie and psychedelia that add new layers to the over-aching vivid sound.
Jack Rua – Rise
An instantly infectious new single from Jack Rua, ‘Rise’ is a fully-realised, ambitious track that weaves hooks and beats around a lush production.
10 Major – Say It Like It Is
With a bone-rattling beat as its foundation, ‘Say It Like It Is’ has a relentless urgency to it as 10 Major melds a myriad of sounds around the strong musical backbone.
Sky Atlas – News Today
A widescreen, lush sound comes from Sky Atlas’ debut offering ‘News Today’, as the band paint of vibrant collage of sound throughout a song that with a wide array of genre flourishes.
Shiv – Over
A palpable depth of field runs right through ‘Over’ as Shiv’s breath-taking vocal takes centre stage in a song that is truly compelling to listen to from start to finish.
St. Bishop – Sleep It Off
A giant leap forward in style and sound, ‘Sleep It Off’ finds St. Bishop providing a fully-realized take on his ambitious alt-pop music with a track that’s set to a full-bodied beat the pulls back in the verses and opens up during the ambitious choruses.
Laura Elizabeth Hughes – For You (Home)
There’s a clear depth of field to the music of Laura Elizabeth Hughes, wrapped around alt-pop production and songwriting Hughes latest single ‘For You (Home)’ has ambition and intimacy.
Naoise Roo – Falling Stars
Drenched in mood and a brooding undercurrent, Naoise Roo’s ‘Falling Stars’ has a palpable sense of weight to it as Roo weaves an intricate, slow-burning sound around a patient but pointed vocal.
Milk. – A Little More
Set against a glistening backdrop, Milk’s ‘A Little More’ is a texturally deep alt-pop offering that is soaked in a ambitious far-reaching sound and production.
Skinner – My Brain Is Goo
Played out on top of a tense wash of scratching sounds, Skinner’s ‘My Brain Is Goo’ has a knife-edge sound that has a intensity to it which makes for a compelling track melded with several genre flourishes.
Havvk – Operate
Taken from Havvk’s debut record Cause & Effect, ‘Operate’ the strong backbone and texturally intricate foreground that forms the propellant core of the band’s striking alt-rock music.
Siights – One More
A shimmering alt-pop ballad set to a vivid beat that fills the spectrum with forward-moving pops and clicks beneath vocals that portray the emotional core of the song itself.
Uly – That’s No Way To Fly
A dreamlike track put through the hazey D.I.Y aesthetic of lo-fi grain and grit, the serene sound of Uly’s ‘That’s No Way To Fly’ is a truly enchanting journey to take into a welcoming soundscape.
Zali – That Girl
A vibrant R&B infused beat pulses behind Zali’s latest offering ‘That Girl’ supporting vocal that cuts through the production with clarity and soul.
Murli feat. Farah Elle – Play For Keeps
Taken from Murli’s new studio album The Intangibles, ‘Play For Keeps’ is set upon an ever contorting and evolving beat that flows and melds vivid genre flourishes into one forward moving sound as Murli and Farah Elle step in and out of the spotlight.
Pixie Cut Rhythm Orchestra – Scarlet Letter
Taking influence from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s classic novel of the same name, Pixie Cut Rhythm Orchestra’s ‘Scarlet Letter’ explores the stigma around abortion and bodily anatomy with a track that moves to a slow-burning but unrelenting beat as Sarah Deegan delivers a haunting vocal with a snarl that conveys the meaning of the music.
Lydia Ford – Bad Things
The title-track from Lydia Ford’s brand new E.P, ‘Bad Things’ is a rhythmically turbulent alt-pop track that moves in dynamic shfits behind Ford’s heartfelt vocal.
Niamh Keane – Nightsong
Bathed in slow shimmer atmosphere and an ethereal vocal ‘Nightsong’ is a haunting offering from Niamh Keane with a deep dark sound.
Aoife Carton – Capsule
A deftly woven track, Aoife Carton’s ‘Capsule’ is an intricately written single that finds Carton’s sound evolving with a strong sense of weight and depth to the music and production.
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