Music

Nialler9's New Irish Music: Larks, Soulé, Áine Cahill, Yonen and more

A round-up of what’s fresh in Irish music this week, featuring 5th Element & Doublescreen, Stoat, Floor Staff and Larks

Niall Byrne
Fri Feb 10 2017 - 08:53

ALBUM OF THE WEEK
5th Element & Doublescreen - State of Mind 2.0

Ger Kellett and Ryan "Linco" Lincoln are better known as 5th Element are Ballymun rappers who have come up with the goods on their collaborative debut album with producer Doublescreen. Where a lot of Irish rap albums are too pofaced and set out to impress the scene more than the general public,

State Of Mind 2.0

Soulé - Good Life

is refreshing in its content and delivery drawing on electronica, drum and bass, blunted jazz beats musically and confidence in the lyrics. There are guest spots for Joni, Bitter Rocc, Mango and Tebi Rex, and among the album’s 16 tracks is the best skit track you’ll hear in years called Relentless Scutter.

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SONGS OF THE WEEK

Soulé - Good Life
Dublin singer Soulé scored a Choice Music Prize Song of the Year nomination for her debut song Love No More. The follow-up is full of spark and vibrancy in both tone and meaning with the singer espousing positive vibes over a throwback garage and 2step beat.

Áine Cahill - Plastic

The Cavan singer-songwriter seems marked for the big-time and it’s simply a case of when.

Plastic

is indicative of Cahill’s appeal, smouldering retro-pop with nods to the cinematic faded glamour of Lana Del Rey. Cahill is on tour in April around select cities and towns.

Stoat - Talk Radio Makes Me Feel Alone
We've all listened to Irish radio and ended up bewildered by talk radio and sentiments expressed on the airwaves by public and presenter alike. Dublin band Stoat felt the same and wrote a song about it (it could also apply to social media too). Stoat's rant in reply is this frenetic individual tune. If you're thinking "they don't make tunes like this anymore", you'd be right. Stoat originally started as a trio in 1997 and have been playing together ever since.

Floor Staff - Saviour
Anthony Donnelly's solo project Floor Staff had a debut EP out in 2015 and a somewhat frightening video to accompany it . New song Saviour sounds like an out-take from the recent Bell X1 album with Donnelly even sounding a bit like Paul Noonan. Saviour is taken from forthcoming The Convictions EP.

VIDEO OF THE WEEK
Yonen - Tokyo
Created by Ross Ryder, Joey Breslin & Algorithm
How do you accompany a sprawling, snaking celestial jazz prog-rock song which doesn't sit still? The answer, according to animator Ross Ryder is to place a narrative structure around the song's twists and turns involving a Wall-E style robot called Podrig and his travels through an isolated city. Trippy.

NEW ARTIST OF THE WEEK
Larks
Speaking of soundalike singers, Nothern-Irish singer Larks has a similar timbre to Cathy Davey, which is no bad thing. When not playing with the band RunawayGo, Fiona O'Kane makes music on her own as Larks. New track Tired Eyes, released via live video, suggests the solo path is one O'Kane could pursue. Catch her in Belfast at the Output festival on February 16th