Nialler9's New Irish Music: Cian Nugent, Owensie, Gavin James and more

SONGS OF THE WEEK

Cian Nugent - Things Don't Change That Fast

Cian Nugent has already proved himself as a prodigious talent in the realm of guitar with his John Fahey-esque alternative blues instrumental style that has lead to releases on small but respected North American independent labels both with a band and solo. For his third album

Night Fiction

to be released on Woodsist in January, The Nuge has added his own vocals to his compositions and brought both sides of his discography to one release.

Things Don't Change That Fast

embodies that change by coming across on the same wavelength as Kurt Vile or Mac Demarco, revealing a tender vocal style that's a most welcome development.

This Side Up feat. Joni - Relevant

Sligo hip-hop group This Side Up have release a laid-back spacious head-nodding single from their

3075

EP. Wicklow singer Joni provides the hook for the soulful track.

Extra Fox - Palm of Gold

While his brother and fellow The Cast Of Cheers member Conor Adams has developed a stadium synth-rock act All Tvvins, Neil Adams has set his musical vision on electronic productions with giddy guitar riffs, square-wave synths and squalling funk.

Richard Egan – Never Seen You

It's a testament to the talent of Richard Egan that his cast-offs are very much worth a listen, as we discovered when he

[ released eight demos onto Bandcamp ]

this week entitled

.wav goodbye

, saying he was doing so in order to move on from the songs. Well one man's trash is another's gold, as evidenced by

Never Seen You

, which could fit onto the recent Jape album

This Chemical Sea

without fuss.

BREAKTHROUGH OF THE WEEK

Gavin James plays US Late Night TV

The Capitol Records-signed Dublin singer-songwriter has probably already exceeded his expectations in terms of his rising popularity. This week, he appeared on

The Late Late Show with James Corden

in the US for the second time this year and performed the ballad

Bitter Pill.

RELEASE OF THE WEEK

Owensie - Dramamine

Three years on from the Dublin singer-songwriter's second album

Citizens

, Owensie's follow-up is a sturdier and more elegant collection of layered folk music anchored by his brittle falsetto and bright Spanish guitarplaying. Conor O'Brien gives his seal of approval by supplying backing vocals and playing drums. The album is launched at A4 Sounds in Dublin on Friday night with support from Landless.

NEW ARTIST OF THE WEEK

Exmagician

Belfast band Cashier No.9 burned brightly a few years back with debut album The Death Of Fun. Now, the two principal songwriters, Danny Todd and James Smith, have returned to the Bella Union label as a duo. Produced by quality-assured Rocky O'Reilly, Exmagician reach for something tougher than the indie/folk of their previous band with new track

Kiss That Wealth Goodbye

. Still present, though, is their echoed instrumentation and melodic singalong sensibility. It sounds a bit like Kasabian playing with an organ, light synths and acoustic guitars.