Belfast noir-pop duo Dark Tropics have released their new single ‘Badlands’ taken from their upcoming debut album, due out later this year.The formation of Dark Tropics was inevitable. Drawn together by a bond that stretched from Ireland to Morocco, musicians Rio and Gerard found common ground in the form of Radiohead, Aretha Franklin and The Velvet Underground.Their creative vision has bore fruit with timeless, cinematic, pop-noir powered by analogue instruments and retro recording techniques.
‘Badlands’ is a melancholic drift of noir pop as Dark Tropics present emotive melodies with twinkling elegant accompaniment and rich moving songwriting. Rio’s clear immaculate vocals lull over a sombre melody as she creates the goosebump-inducing atmosphere that could stop time in an instant. The meandering piano ventures between deep surges to soft crystal twinkles of elegance as the band build and cultivate a mysterious yet moody song with a dreamy dark undertone. With tense strings adding a lamenting and warm nostalgia to the track Dark Tropics have created a moving and utterly mesmerising number that submerges you in a rich delicately swirling soundscape.
Dublin soul-infused pop-funk sextet Toshín have released their debut EP ‘Get Your Life’.The EP was recorded by Rob Kennedy in his studio in Donabate, Co. Dublin. It was co-produced by Zapho (Ele Breslin) and the band themselves. Zapho also co-wrote lyrics for two of the songs, “Eat, Sleep, Sex, Desire” and “Seriously”.
‘Get Your Life’ is a fun richly textured EP as Toshín create wonderful soul smacked tunes with R&B influences and a tasty peppering of Motown. These guys have a tight sound that oozes confidence and sass. They provide jubilant sounds with sublime saxophone blasts, tantalizing bass grooves and superb guitar work. Toshín possess the mesmerising ability to create elegant moments with their music through the use of wonderful strings and vocal harmony.
The funk flavoured licks and buoyant backdrop glitter with swagger and attitude in ‘Seriously’ and ‘Eat, Sleep, Sex, Desire (ft. Zapho)’ as the band layer the tracks with lush textures and grandeur. Jazzy keys and warm brass elements create a sophisticated and wholesome soundscape. The guitars in each track flamboyantly prance with a fluid majesty that maintains contrasting elements of grace and ear-splitting, fret-melting aspects with gritty undertones – all while blending perfectly against the driving bass grooves and elastic beat. The band veer their songs from wiggle worthy sensuality to mosh pit mania seamlessly creating something enjoyable for everyone. Toshín chat through the jam-like ‘Get Your Life (Interlude)’ while ‘Oh Lord’ provides that enthralling glimpse into the bands Motown faction. With its sway-like tempo building tension and creating a smoky atmosphere, the track forms the bands transition into a sound which is darker and more gripping than its predecessors while the outstanding recent single ‘Knock Knock’ is a refreshing strong and moving finale to the EP.
The obvious factor holding all these fantastic and instrumentally deft tracks together is Tosin Bankole’s retro, big-lunged, soulful vocals. She commands attention and controls her powerful voice masterfully bellowing with might before cooing with a sultry sweet rasped tone. She can evoke such emotion, passion and sass with just her voice alone – its mesmerising.
Within each track on ‘Get Your Life’ the band flex their Motown, indie and funk/soul muscles to create a sound that is as lush and vibrant as it is moving and honest. Toshín present an EP brimming with big soul stompers, smooth R&B gems and oodles of swagger. The dynamic soundscapes, crisp production and fizzy rhythms within ‘Get Your Life’ is admirable. Toshín have built a fine body of work doused in professional prowess and slick musicianship.
About the EP Tosin says: “This EP is about getting your life! It’s about feeling good aboutyourself, and being the best you can be. It’s also a mixture ofemotions; “Oh Lord” is about daddy issues, “Seriously” isabout being a queen, and “Eat Sleep” is about trying to get theride. Isn’t that what we all go through?”
Elisabeth Elektra has announced the release of her debut album ‘Mercurial’ release date 8th May along with her new single ‘Crystalline’ released today.”Crystalline” was written by Elisabeth Elektra, co-produced by Elisabeth Elektra and Lewis Gardiner (Ellie Goulding, Prides, Kloe) and features instrumental contributions from Julian Corrie (Franz Ferdinand) and Graeme Ronald (Remember Remember).Under her previous artist name Zyna Hel, Elektra worked with diverse collaborators including Ben Power of Fuck Buttons, Nurse With Wound’s Andrew Liles and This Mortal Coil’s John Fryer.
With lush mystical wisps on synths ‘Crystalline’ presents Elisabeth Elektra’s wonderfully weaved electronic pop with majestic refinement. With a bubbling rhythm and light twinkling on keys the track flows beautifully creating an oceanic feeling filled with glittering scintillation. The pristine vocals and sparkling melodies flood the track in cool ambiance as the track submerges you deep into the calming soothing and enchanting sounds of Elisabeth Elektra’s musicianship.
Bio : thanks. is Steve Pagano and Mario Borgatta. Combining psychedelic pop, cinematic vibes and electronically influenced beats and melodies, thanks. have succeeded in creating catchy indie pop with an edge. Pagano and Borgatta have seen previous success with numerous TV placements on major networks including MTV, ABC and Netflix, as well as having worked on records from world renown, critically acclaimed artists such as Muse, Death Cab For Cutie, Foster The People, Powers, Mallrat and many more. ‘Busy’ is set for release February 2020.
Track: Busy
Why We Like It: It’s a groovy slick anthem laced in swirling soundscapes and lush sun kissed vibes. With a pulsing funk flexed bass line that wrestles your mind into submission teamed with swagger dipped guitar jangles and a foot tapping catchy beat – this juicy infectious gem is a strut ready glossy delight. The smooth vocals caress the melty melody with panache and sweetness while the indie pop backbone keeps this vibrant number revolving around in your head all day. Utterly chic and oozing confidence ‘Busy’ is one effervescent cool track and swanky display from thanks.
Bio : Pondarosa are a five-piece based between Manchester and Liverpool.In their two years as a band, they have progressed from garden shed to headline act. Working with top promoters including This Feeling, Scruff of the Neck, DHP Family and SJM Concerts, the band have played to sellout crowds at Jimmy’s, The Star and Garter and Night People in support of hotly tipped bands from Manchester and beyond, such as Honeymoan, Shambolics, Cleargreen and Jekyll. Pondarosa’s first two singles, ‘Crystalline’ and ‘Sooner Or Later,’ have received radio play from local stations in the United Kingdom, and been played further afield courtesy of WDVR 89.7FM in New Jersey, USA and Valley FM 89.5 in Canberra, Australia.
Track: Bright Lights
Why We Like It: It’s a sparky indie track that skims buoyantly on a blistering backdrop of chiming jangly guitars, punchy drums and vibrant bass rumbles. The track travels at a blistering tempo as the band wallop out their catchy and instrumentally deft sound. With swirling guitars creating an ethereal bite the track is driven with intense adrenaline as the tight well layered sound makes Pondarosa stand out as ones to watch.
Bio : West Marsh, Grimsby Mint have enjoyed UK radio support from Radio 1 and playlisting on Radio X and have performed at all major UK festivals. In mid 2019 they started to realise their sound, an idiosyncratic fusion of indie melodies set to beefier instrumentation. Recently they have begun work with award-winning production team Sugar House and taken on management.
Track: Goodbye Beautiful
Why We Like It: Mint have created a frenzied assault on the senses.This briary punk slapped track stomps in lean mean and utterly ferocious as the dizzying swirl of guitars shrill and screech with unapologetic flamboyance and brazen valour. With sensual rampant bass lines, pulverising drums and screaming vocals- this groove-strutting, raw track, is utterly thrilling. There is no coyness about this band they storm in and batter your brain with their manic whirlwind sound that is catchy as hell and steaming from every brash note. With hues of glam rock glossing over the powerful punk backbone ‘Goodbye Beautiful’ is one heck of a track.
Bio: Dublin based singer/songwriter Fi has released her new single ‘Pathetic’.Fi has played many venues around the city including Whelans, The Grand Social, the Academy, and at several of Dublin’s classic sessions such as The Ruby Sessions, Nerano Sessions and Zodiac Sessions as well as performed in international venues including the iconic House of Blues in Chicago, Illinois.
Track: Pathetic
Why We Like It: It’s a passionate tune flooded in dark undertones as thick bubbling electronics wisp and boil behind the moving pop hued melody. With Fi’s powerful emotive vocals leading the track to its mighty and striking crescendo the song ferments and coils with a sticky gloopy beat creating a clammy atmosphere between the pulsing soundscapes. The track has an emotive and heartbreaking tone as Fi’s vocals deliver a strong yet moving performance.
Bio: Hailing from Kent’s Tunbridge Wells & Maidstone, The Gallerys exploded onto the UK music circuit in 2017 with their unique blend of 60s rock, Britpop and indie sounds which gained them immediate attention from BBC Introducing, Fred Perry Subculture & This Feeling.Having shared the stage with Louis Berry, Madness, The Sherlocks, Scouting For Girls, The Blinders, The King Blues, The Skints, Dr. Feelgood, Space, Alan McGee and embarking on UK tours with both The Rifles and The Bluetones, as well as going on two UK headline tours of their own, they are no stranger to huge crowds and quickly sell out their headline shows.
Track: You’re a Dreamer
Why We Like It: Emotionally tender – this delightful, sweetly melodic, indie pop number boasts The Gallerys vibrant sound at its best. With jangly guitars, buoyant drums and a clamorous yet honeyed wall of sound the band create a tender track that is bitter/sweet yet charming and catchy. Lyrically the song is about feeling helpless about a loved one who is lost in life and finding it difficult to get out of a mental rut of low ambition and self-sabotaging behaviours. The songs narrator can merely sit back and watch the loved one being a ‘dreamer’ for a better life. The band portray this theme through a melancholic soft melody, velvety vocals and punchy instrumentation filled with tones of hope and encouragement. A sublime new track from The Gallerys.
Indie singer/songwriter Mark Hegan has released his new single ‘Love, Wait for Me’. Hegan has garnered industry interest and plays from the likes of BBC Radio 1 (Introducing), BBC Radio 2 and Radio Ulster.
‘Love, Wait for Me’ is a sweet melodic number. Hegan creates a majestic and beautiful backdrop for his tender honest track. With wispy soundscapes of chiming guitars and ethereal twinklings the track builds becoming more dynamic and heart rushing. As the track progresses Hegan holds your heart in his hand allowing the instrumental backdrop blossom, becoming more hopeful and heartwarming. With a honeyed delicate melody caressed by Hegan’s passionate vocals and the earnest pulsing beat -this sincere and utterly emotive track drifts with elevating intensity and warmth.
About the track Hegan says : “ I intended to write ‘Love, Wait for Me’ about losing one’s sense of place in the world, which is a pretty common theme for me. However, as time passed, the song took on a slightly more specific direction I didn’t expect, and ended up being more about approaching adulthood and the challenges that poses to one’s identity. It’s probably the most brutally honest song I’ve ever written (getting older and gaining responsibility scares the shit out of me) and for that alone I’m deeply proud of it. The photo that features on the cover art was taken around the turn of the millennium on the North West coast of Ireland, and the man in the picture is my Dad. The photo made perfect sense to me in relation to the song; here was a man at the head of a large family taking an isolated moment on the beach, one of very few moments he would have for just himself and his thoughts. I’m beyond lucky to have an example such as my father, and I guess this song is one for him and me. When adult life and all its hardship comes knocking, how do you do justice to yourself and those you love? “
Galway alternative rock band Zeros & Ones have released their new single 15 to 1 (feat. Tiny Murder). The release of 15 to 1 will be accompanied with a music video and the band will play a series of live shows to support the launch.The song was recorded, produced, mixed and mastered by Roger Kelly at Galway Rehearsal Studio. Zeros & Ones have played countless shows around Ireland to date, highlights include two EP launches on the main stage of Galway’s famed Róisín Dubh and an appearance at Whelan’s annual Ones to Watch showcase to name a few.
‘15 to 1’ is a breezy shoegaze number as Zeros & Ones layer intricacies within a laid back fuzzy backdrop. With sweet twinklings on guitar and an energetic buoyant beat that becomes almost drowned in mellowed hazy melodies, the band create a wonderful prism of sun kissed indie pop.Zeros & Ones deeply immerse the track in an effortless soundscape as the guitars clang and rattle with a honeyed tonality building the joyously effervescent noise pop layering. The brilliant vocal interplay between David McDonagh and Tiny Murder creates a wonderful and delicate element to the track, as their voices coo against the guitar noise while complementing each other perfectly. ‘15 to 1’ is a sublime return from Zeros & Ones.
Having already played their first show of 2020 at Rockaway Beach Festival earlier this month, London three-piece Indian Queens have returned with their new single ‘Bubblewrap’. The single is taken from their forthcoming debut album ‘God Is A Woman’, due to be released on Cool Thing Records later this year.Consisting of sisters Jennifer (guitar/vocals) and Katherine (bass) O’Neill, along with lifelong friend Matthew Dudan-Bick on Drums, Indian Queens were born and raised in Hackney Wick and have been making music together since their school days. Last year the band were personally invited by Robert Smith to play the prestigious Meltdown festival alongside My Bloody Valentine, Nine Inch Nails and The Libertines.
‘Bubblewrap’ is an intoxicating pool of indie as Indian Queens lure and entice through hypnotic instrumentation and dark undertones. A sticky gooey beat creates a steady viscous foundation for the swirling prismatic electronics to wisp upon.The dark tones creep and crawl through the dreamy melody while soft harmonies and lulling vocals create a trance-like, soothing quality as the track lightens for its crescendo while accompanied by soaring ethereal strings. The band layer the song to create a pounding, yet, equally floaty track, brimming with suffocating claustrophobic electronics and sweet little bursts of relief.
Watch the hauntingly evocative video for ‘Bubblewrap’, directed by Andy Delaney below
Dublin three piece Stolen City are back with their new single ‘The Tower’.The release comes off the back of a whirlwind 2019 that not only saw the band sell out 3 nights at Academy 2, Drop Dead Twice and upstairs in Whelans, but also saw lead singer Sean, at the end of his birthday night out, share the stage with Lewis Capaldi in The Olympia to sing the scot’s hit ‘Bruises’ together. The new single was written as a letter by lead singer Sean to his girlfriend Amy to explain that no matter what she has, or will go through in life, that he will be there to help her through it.
‘The Tower’ is a beautifully crafted emotive pop rock track with heartfelt songwriting and powerful instrumentation. Stolen City build the track superbly creating a gripping and comforting number filled with passion. With ethereal biting guitar melodies venturing between soft laments and strident power chords it’s a strong and potent track. Radio ready and anthemic the band burst into a massive adrenaline inducing chorus that is sure to have a live audience swaying, embracing and fist punching the air to this emotionally mighty track. With punchy drums sturdy bass and dynamic vocals Stolen City present a genuine and tight track filled with oodles of passion and tenderness with their strong sturdy pop rock keeping the energy and kinetic intensity alive.
King Kartel have released their new single ‘Be Mine’.The band have sold out shows across Manchester and Northern Ireland, as well as securing slots at the likes of Isle of Wight, Truck and Y Not Festivals. They have received support from Radio X, BBC Introducing, BBC Radio 1’s Phil Taggart to name a few, and had tracks featured across TV shows including Hollyoaks, Come Dine With Me and World’s Strongest Man,
‘Be Mine’ trades King Kartel’s riotous indie rock for a swaying sugar sweet doo wop ditty, swooned in 50’s charm. With a bluesy swinging rhythm and soft jaunty guitars the band create a hook laden number that builds sublimely. Oh so catchy and sweet the melody is caressed by tender delicate vocals while the buoyant beat keeps that foot tapping tempo.The band maintain their dynamic punch by progressing into a scorching solo and steamy crescendo as the track broods into a vaporous outburst. It’s extremely sweet with a thrilling backdrop that holds the heavier aspects of King Kartel’s sound without becoming overpowering. A magnificent addition to King Kartel’s catalogue marking them as a diverse and well rounded band to watch out for.
Raglans are back with the release of their highly anticipated new single ‘One More Drop’.The track is the first release from Raglans’ upcoming album ‘Heavy Medicine’. More brand new material will follow before the album drops later in 2020, with Raglans also set to bring their phenomenal and high octane live show around the globe once more.The past few years have seen the band blaze a trail to cult status. Highlights include releasing their self titled Top 5 charting debut album – which to date has over 5 million plays on Spotify – their single ‘Who Knows’ being nominated for RTÉ Choice Music Prize ‘Irish Song of the Year’ and a host of European tour appearances with acts including The Fray, The Libertines, Lifehouse as well as performing at festivals including Electric Picnic, Soundwave Australia, British Summer Festival and Rock am Ring Germany.
‘One More Drop‘ is a lively infectious anthem exuding exhilarating guitars, heart pounding drums and the bracing musicianship Raglans do superbly. With it’s instant rush of adrenaline pulsing through every guitar strut and invigorating bass line the track surges with intense,hyper emotion. The explosive chorus is destined for mass sing-alongs while the soaring stings and wails on guitar add a spicy zest and zealous quality. The rhythm pounds and drives with relentless stamina as the drums command the listeners body to dance and jump while the warm vocals coo the sweet infectious melody. With a shredding solo, buoyant bridge and vibrant instrumentation ‘One More Drop’ is a jubilant return by Raglans.
Stream ‘One More Drop’ below
Author : Danu
Indie: (n) an obscure form of rock which you only learn about from someone slightly more hip than yourself.
