Nialler9's New Irish Music: Two Door Cinema Club, Faune, Sion Hill and more

SONGS OF THE WEEK

Bantum feat. Rusangano Family & Senita - Feel Your Rhythm

Cork producer Ruairi Lynch have a new album out called Move. As

[ detailed in a recent interview with The Irish Times ]

, it's heavy collaborations, a who-you-should-be-listening-to list of Irish music. None more apt than

Feel Your Rhythm,

a headnodding upbeat track featuring singer Senita Appiakorang (Shookrah, Lakerama) and Rusangano Family.

Faune - Waiting

Synth-pop isn't something that is in abundance in Ireland but Dublin duo Faune are one of the few groups who embrace it with a big vocal sound as heard on new single Waiting. The song is accompanied by a video featuring the practice of Nantaimori, that is eating sushi off a naked body.

Craos - Babaí

How about this for something different? Laid back lounge hip-hop as Gaeilge? Poet Séamus Barra Ó Súillibháin and producer DJ Cú Roí (also of experimental band Tuath) takes their rap name from “gluttony”, specifically the Celtic Tiger kind. More of this.

Slow Riot - Absent Dreams

Limerick alt-rock band Slow Riot continue their career apace with news that they've signed to Killing Moon record label in the UK. The trio's new single has a real Interpol/ post-punk feel to it, which is much more likely to find a bigger audience across the pond.

NEW ARTIST OF THE WEEK
Sion Hill

Ultra-melodic harmony-filled pop music is the name of this Mullingar singer-songwriter's game. The Berlin-based youngster's debut song

Nothing Wrong With Loving You

goes the whole hog with a gospel choir backing him up.

ALBUM OF THE WEEK
Two Door Cinema Club - Gameshow

This time last year, it seemed certain that the Bangor trio's shared creativity had waned and perhaps, the band had dissolved after two albums of fine indie-guitar music and a lot of success. As it happened, the members were taking some time away from each other but once they regrouped and ironed out some interpersonal issues, another band stepped to the mic. While it might not be what their fans expected,

Gameshow

is the sound of a band getting out of a much-needed creative funk and bringing some funk to their music too. The 10 tracks here are glossy and fit for radio with a sheen that makes Two Door's previous hits sound weedy by comparison. Two Door Cinema Club Mk II is a band comfortable sounding like Duran Duran (

Bad Decisions

), The 1975, (

Gameshow

), Justice (

Je Viens De La

) embracing synth-pop, falsetto voice, and a polychromatic production style. The result is a maturing band sounding invigorated by possibilities.

DANCE / ELECTRONIC RELEASE OF THE WEEK
John Daly - The Smoke Clears

Galway producer and DJ John Daly follows up an album he released in 2013 with a full-length for All City Records.

The Smoke Clears

is an 8-track collection of emotive electronic instrumentals (there is one guest vocalist from Cian Finn) that draws from ambient music (AFX's Selected Ambient Works as an reference) and Daly's love of house and techno to make an album that doesn't settle on either but builds beautiful passages out of both.

VIDEO OF THE WEEK
We Cut Corners - Oh

Directed by Adam O'Regan

The latest single from forthcoming

The Cadences Of Others

album (November 4th) features a video that's seems inspired by the film

A Beautiful Mind.