New Irish Music: Saint Sister, Rusangano Family, Rushes and more

SONGS OF THE WEEK

Saint Sister - Causing Trouble

Morgan Macintyre and Gemma Doherty’s “atmosfolk” band continues to reward listeners with songs of melodious intent and harmony. Their latest song addresses the transition from an old love to a new through references to Van Morrison and the Blessington basin. “We dance to Elvis in the kitchen, at least we used to, and honey you know me, we danced from Belfast to the basin, when you sang “it stoned me”, and it stoned me.”

Rusangano Family - I Know You Know

The Choice Music Prize-winning trio follow up last year’s

Let The Dead Bury The Dead

with a new song they’ve been playing live of late. The song is about opening up and talking about your feelings and issues. It’ll be launched with a special event in D-Light Studios in Dublin on June 14th with spoken word performances from MuRli and God Knows, a DJ set from mynameisjOhn and a talk by Blindboy Boatclub on mental health in Ireland. Email iknowyouknowevent@gmail.com for entry.

Rocstrong  - Vibes 

Andre Bangala’s releasing a new song every month to try out some new styles at the moment. Vibes has a dance-pop reggae beat and is nice vibes indeed.

Native Ensemble - Phases

A light and airy pop tune from a new Kildare band who were on the Whelan’s Ones To Watch bill earlier this year. This lead track from the six-piece band is more Balearic than Ballymore Eustace in its summer tone.

ALBUM OF THE WEEK
James Vincent McMorrow - True Care
A surprise release from an Irish artist who only released his third full-length We Move in September, True Care is an album five months in construction that feels unburdened by the need to make a large impact or statement, by virtue of being tied into the singles/albums cycle, and it's all the better for it. True Care is McMorrow at his most direct. Lyrically, McMorrow is at his most vulnerable, referencing nights spent listening to The National, drinking by himself, spilling wine on someone else's carpet and sharing his nightmares involving airplanes.

Vocally, he adds a conversationalist tone on some songs to his established falsetto, while musically, his compositions are increasingly hard to categorise, but are in the realms of electronic soul with sharp and soft-edged synth notes, rousing self-sung harmonic choruses and spatial arrangements. McMorrow’s journey from folk-style musician to 21st century balladeer has entered a new phase.

NEW ARTIST OF THE WEEK
Rushes
The latest artist from Diffusion Lab, the Irish production crew who brought us Soulé and Jafaris, is Sean Walsh's Rushes project. Wild High is his debut track, an R&B electronic song with a distinct pop edge, informed by Walsh's love of N.E.R.D, D'Angelo, Frank Ocean and Marvin Gaye.

VIDEO OF THE WEEK
aboveDat - Better

Directed by Lochlainn McKenna

Newcomer McKenna got to work on the video for this under-rated tune from the Cork electronic and house project abovedat through the First Cut Youth Film Festival music video comp run by Brendan Canty and David Leister. McKenna took to it like a pro with this clip, in which the protagonist prefers drug-fuelled hedonistic nights out to facing his own problems.