New Irish Music Monday: Karmacloud, Fiction Peaks, Elephant and more

SONGS OF THE WEEK
Elephant - Waiting Game

Dundalk’s Shane Clark followed up his debut album of brittle folk music with a fallow period and a refocus.

Waiting Game

then, is a different beast, excuse the pun, of what came before. Sounding more like late-period Bowie and 1980s rock, the song heralds the end of one relationship and moving on to new beginning.

No Monster Club - You Are Here

No one quite does Irish DIY indie-pop quite like Bobby Aherne. He’s currently releasing a two songs a month in what he’s calling a encyclopedia-themed singles collection. Leading

Faqir Hex

this month is the delightful bop of

You Are Here

, backed with a b-side inspired by a tweeted picture of Dublin Chinese restaurant Kung Fu Buffet.

Shookrah - Our Own Way

A soul-sweet jam from Cork band Shookrah who work electronic modernity into the mix on a song about familial ties that bind no matter where they are.

Kojaque - Wificode

The only complaint about Dublin rapper Kojaque’s newest track is that it is too short. “The only man on a label still on Dublin bus,” he raps on an urgent piano beat that cries out for another verse.

ALBUM OF THE WEEK
Fiction Peaks - Citizen

A band active since 2013 whose first few songs crossed the net between indie-rock and seven-minute synth excursions. For this debut album, the five-piece band of Joey Doyle, Brian Giles, Cillian Kenny, Barry Lyons and Joáo Francisco have knuckled down on a more clearly defined set of sounds.

Citizen

brings together classic songwriting structures, layered alt-guitar rock, thoughtful band ballads, folk diversions and orchestral flourishes. The seven-minute synth track held firm and also features.

NEW ARTIST OF THE WEEK
Karmacloud

Karmacloud were formed at Berklee College of Music in Boston by Scandinavians Linnéa Lundgren, Rumle Langdal and Irishman Danny Forde. They’ve since released an EP and toured Europe, played with Téada String Orchestra in Dublin. Their music has elements of plaintive folk, harmony pop and trad as heard on their debut single

The Longing

.

VIDEO OF THE WEEK
WOB! - Higher ft. Erica Cody

Video by: Crooked Gentlemen

With the temporary jolt into summer weather, Irish people convince themselves they’re Mediterranean and are shocked when it rains. Wob! and Erica Cody made the allusion a reality and wrote a dance summer jam and shot the bright video in the Med.