Pillow Queens – Be By Your Side
Pillow Queens have this month announced that their second album Leave The Light On will be released on 1 April on Royal Mountain Records, and have shared the first single from the record, ‘Be By Your Side’. The new track starts with a tender chorus and verse supported by heart-beat percussion and weaving hooks on guitar, building in sound and body to a loud and crashing wall of guitar and drums, before winding down and chiming out on the electric guitar resonance. It’s the latest music from the band since the single ‘Rats’ in 2021, and the debut album In Waiting in 2020. ‘This song is about the mechanisms that are used to hide your vulnerabilities and carry on,’ explains singer and bassist Pamela Connolly. ‘But also, the feeling of being about to burst and how cathartic it could be to allow yourself to let your emotions out and feel the world around you. This was one of the first songs we finished on the album as it was the quickest to become fully realized by all of us.’ This spring the band will tour the US – including a performance at SXSW – and later in the year they will perform across Europe, the UK and Ireland. Visit: https://pillowqueens.com/ 

sfiiinx – The Magma Chamber
The Magma Chamber by Síobhra Quinlan AKA sfiiinx – the latest release from the Ergodos label – is a seven-track album of avant-pop. All of the songs are written and performed by vocalist Quinlan accompanied by a diverse ensemble including Nick Roth (saxophone), Dewi Jones (French horn), Dylan Lynch (drums), Kevin Corcoran (piano), Claire O’Donnell (harp), Maria Ryan (violin), Cora Venus Lunny (violin, viola), Lisa Dowdall (viola) and Yseult Cooper Stockdale (cello). Produced by Adrian Hart and Quinlan, and with string arrangements by Aran O’Grady, The Magma Chamber is an adventurous and ambitious work that is released with a 25-minute film directed by Laura Sheeran. Watch the film below and purchase the album from Bandcamp. https://ergodos.bandcamp.com/album/the-magma-chamber

Thumper – Overbite
Pop-rock band THUMPER have today released a new single ‘Overbite’, which will feature on the band’s upcoming debut album, due for release on 18 March. The thick and thrashing track is, in true THUMPER fashion, a wall of distortion and strings, and is one part of a three-track suite that concludes the new record. Commenting on the song, lead singer Oisín Leahy Furlong writes: ‘With lyrics full of nightmarish images alluding to the failure of a relationship, “Overbite” is the first part of a sprawling 20-minute long psych opus that ends our debut album. Releasing one-third of a song as a single is probably a strange career move, but then nothing about the THUMPER process ever seems to go by the book. With “Overbite”, we applied a different method to our songwriting, changing from our usual approach where I bring a musical concept for the band to run with. It’s one of the first purely collaborative efforts, in that Alan wrote the music and I wrote the lyrics.’ Visit: https://www.hellothumper.com/ 

Seamus O’Muineachain – Different Time Zones
Different Time Zones is the fifth album by Irish ambient artist Seamus O’Muineachain, following previous releases such as Sycamore (2021) and Blue Moon Set (2020). From Belmullet in Mayo, O’Muineachain recorded the new album in the Czech Republic and Ireland. The composer describes it as his most minimal album yet and ‘is intended for the moments before sleep’. The eight-track record focuses on piano and synth mainly and has resonances of Eno, Broderick, Arnalds and more. To listen and purchase Different Time Zones, visit https://seamusomuineachain.bandcamp.com/album/different-time-zones

SOAK – Last July
Derry pop singer-songwriter SOAK last week released a new track ‘Last July’, the first to feature on upcoming album If I Never Know You Like This Again, which will be released on Rough Trade on 20 May. The new record will be the artist’s third, following Grim Town in 2019, and RTÉ Choice Music Prize-winning album Before We Forgot How to Dream from 2015. ‘Last July’ is a warm but edgy ballad, bolstered by fuzzy guitar and a 90s indie-rock sound. The song is accompanied by a new video directed by photographer and filmmaker Ellius Grace. SOAK has also announced a tour for this year, visiting venues across the UK and Ireland, including the Oh Yeah Centre in Belfast, Dolan’s in Limerick, and Whelan’s in Dublin. Visit: https://www.soaksoaksoak.com/

Inni-K – Éamonn an Chnoic and An Tiarna Randal
Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Inni-K has recently released two new tracks – ‘Éamonn an Chnoic’ and ‘An Tiarna Randal’ – both of which will feature on her upcoming album Iníon, due for release on 11 February. The new album is based around sean-nós singing and features a number of musical collaborations. Commenting on the new songs and album, Inni K said: ‘I’m delighted to share these two songs…  They are two big songs from the sean-nós tradition that I love to my bones and have been singing for  decades. It was really satisfying and exciting to fall into step with fellow explorers of different musical genres, from jazz to classical; Matthew Berrill, Brian Walsh and Mary Barnecutt (along with Caimin Gilmore on “An Tiarna Randal”); to imagine together and share new iterations of these songs that are traditionally unaccompanied.’ Visit: https://inni-k.bandcamp.com/ 

Junk Drawer – Tears in Costa 
‘Tears in Costa’ is the latest release from Belfast indie-rock quartet Junk Drawer – Stevie Lennox, Jake Lennox, Brian Coney and Rory Dee. The new song will feature on the band’s upcoming EP The Dust Has Come to Stay, which will be released on Art For Blind Records on 11 March. The track, which winds around a recurring riff on electric guitar with melancholic inflection, is the band’s first release since their debut record Ready for the House, released in 2020. The new EP has been produced by Chris Ryan (Just Mustard, NewDad, Robocobra Quartet) and is accompanied by a music video directed by Graham Patterson. For more, visit: https://junkdrawerbelfast.bandcamp.com/album/tears-in-costa

–

To submit your music for inclusion, visit: https://bit.ly/38vquCn