Suede, Alt-J, Ry Cooder, Billy Ocean: This week’s must-see rock and pop gigs

Delorentos

Kavanagh’s, Portlaoise Saturday October 13th 9pm €18 kavanaghsportlaoise.com

Set Theatre, KiIkenny Sunday October 14th 8pm €19 set.ie

Extensive nationwide tours by groups with a high enough profile to headline Dublin venues such as the Olympia Theatre are usually undertaken to road-test new material. There is an element of that in the decision by Delorentos to schlep from one end of Ireland to the other, but more pertinent, perhaps, is that their latest album, True Surrender, is a work of great subtlety. As such, its songs need to settle as well as to blend with previous material. Delorentos are off to Germany after these two gigs, but quickly return to Ireland to continue their tour, starting on Friday, October 20th with a visit to DeBarra's, Clonakilty, Co Cork. Try not to miss them in such small venues, is our advice. See delorentos.net for full tour dates and details. TCL

Dawn Landes

Whelan's Upstairs, Dublin Saturday October 13th 8pm €13 whelanslive.com

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From Kentucky, singer-songwriter Dawn Landes honed her craft in and around Brooklyn, NYC. The mix of rural and urban has influenced her music, but there's something really individualistic about Landes that marks her out as someone who by rights should be playing bigger venues than Upstairs at Whelan's. This year's highly praised Meet Me at the River album is a case in point, especially so with a song titled Why They Name Whiskey After Men. It seems Landes has a reasonably good answer: "It comes on strong and keeps you warm before it starts to do you in." Many a person will drink to that, we are sure. TCL

We Cut Corners

Whelan's, Dublin Saturday October 13th 8pm €12 whelanslive.com

Multiple Choice Music Prize nominees We Cut Corners are busy, busy, busy. When guitarist/vocalist John Duignan and drummer/vocalist Conall Ó Breacháin aren't tending to the day job, they seemingly use every spare minute to create songs that run the gamut of pop to rock, indie-folk to garage-blues. Added to the music is a lyric-writing deftness that few bands can come close to. This show sees the official launch of their fourth album, Imposters, but if you can't make this one they visit Cork (Cyprus Avenue, Saturday October 20th) and Dundalk, Co Louth (Spirit Store, Sunday October 28th). TCL

Okkervil River

The Grand Social, Dublin Saturday October 13th €18.50 ticketmaster.ie

On the back of the release of their ninth album, In the Rainbow Rain, earlier this year, Okkervil River are hitting the road. This new release from the Austin-based indie band, led by Will Sheff, starts off with Famous Tracheotomies, an autobiographical account of Sheff's own tracheotomy – but instead of being dour, this album is a peppy celebration of life and survival. With a full band in tow, this celebration will only double in a live setting. LB

Phum Viphurit

The Workman's Club, Dublin Saturday October 13th €16.50 ticketmaster.ie

The creation of mellow pop is a fine craft and Phum Viphurit's music strikes a balance between breezy and charismatic. The 22-year-old is Thai-born, New Zealand-raised and is now based in Bangkok, so his musical influences come from far and wide. His debut album, Manchild, is a soulful, indie record but his latest single, Lover Boy, hints that he might be taking a more upbeat direction in the future. Definitely one to keep tabs on. LB

Billy Ocean

Cork Opera House, Cork Saturday October 13th€41.50 corkoperahouse.ie

With 31 hits filling up Here You Are: The Best of Billy Ocean, Billy Ocean is well capable of keeping a crowd entertained. Perhaps underrated as a hitmaker, he's celebrating 30 years of When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going, i.e. one of the greatest songs of all time, and songs like Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into my Car and Caribbean Queen (No More Love on the Run) are an added testament to the joy his music brings. LB

Suede

Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Dublin Sunday October 14th 8pm €49.50 bordgaisenergytheatre.ie

You gotta love Suede. Lumped in with the Britpop brigade of almost 25 years ago, they have – following a brief parting of the ways, during which lead singer/lyricist Brett Anderson released fine solo work – returned fully in charge of what made them such a thrilling band in the first place. Their latest album, The Blue Hour, honours their early days while future-proofing their music, and if there's a slimmer, leaner lead singer of a veteran band than Brett Anderson, we have yet to see them. Special guests are Belfast group Jealous of the Birds. TCL

Alt-J

Olympia Theatre, Dublin Monday October 15th/Tuesday October 16th/Wednesday October 17th 7pm €54.50 (sold out) ticketmaster.ie

The appetite for remixes continues with Alt-J's latest album, Reduxer, which sees all tracks from last year's third (Mercury-nominated) album, Relaxer, remixed by a variety of hip-hop producers and MCs. Whether such studio-bound works (some of which go against the grain of what you might call quality uneasy listening) will be unleashed at these shows remains to be heard. Special guest is AK Patterson, fronted by inordinately skilled female vocalist Alex Patterson. TCL

Ry Cooder

National Stadium, Dublin Monday October 15th 8pm €76 ticketmaster.ie

Is there much left to say about Ry Cooder? Probably not, except to note that his return to Dublin comes at a point in his career when he is widely regarded as one of the most accomplished music explorers of the past 50 years. Collaborative and soundtrack work alone would guarantee Cooder a place at the VIP table – from A Meeting by the River (with Vishwa Mohan Bhatt) and various Buena Vista Social Club outings (with Ibrahim Ferrer) to OSTs for Southern Comfort and Paris, Texas, he has staked a claim for greatness. Cooder's solo albums, too, have their value, not least his latest, The Prodigal Son. A rare enough visitor to Ireland, now's your chance to see the man before he decides enough is enough. TCL

Lemaitre & Dagny

The Button Factory, Dublin Tuesday October 16th €19.90 ticketmaster.ie

Flying the flag vehemently for Norway, Oslo electro duo Lemaitre and Tromsø power popstrel Dagny are sharing the headline title in the Button Factory, which should be the musical equivalent of diving into an ice bath. It's fairly established that in the world of pop, Scandipop is lightyears ahead of the other regions, thanks to the likes of Robyn, Tove Lo, The Knife and, eh, Abba, taking charge, so this double show should waken up the senses. LB

Editors

Vicar Street, Dublin Tuesday October 16th €34 ticketmaster.ie

It's been 13 since Editors released their debut and impactful album The Back Room, an album that nicely slots in beside some of the greatest indie records of its time (Arcade Fire's Funeral, Interpol's Antics and Bloc Party's Silent Alarm, to name but a few). However, their latest album Violence slightly missed the mark, losing the anxious energy and brooding darkness that once made them so captivating. Lucky for all gig-goers, their live energy hasn't fizzled out so at least we still have that, right? LB

Dream Wife

Whelan’s, Dublin Wednesday October 17th €13 whelanslive.com

Róisín Dubh, Galway Thursday October 18th €15 roisindubh.net

Nothing will give you a kick up the arse quite like Dream Wife's music. Bringing together stylish indie, norm-changing attitudes and Cali-pop harmonies, this is music to shout and dance to. The trio met while they were studying in Brighton and while they initially intended Dream Wife to be a once-off performance art piece, thankfully sense intervened and they're properly making a go of it. Treat yourself to a listen of their debut, self-titled album. LB

Superorganism

Button Factory, Dublin Thursday October 18th 7.30pm €18.50 buttonfactory.ie

You can only hope that there have been various "pre-nup" contracts signed by the eight members of Superorganism. Can the relationship last long enough to withstand the back-and-forth whip-smart opinions of a bunch of creative types that, collectively, have released one of the year's best debut albums? On the face of it, both band and (self-titled) album shouldn't work: too many ideas from too many people can often spoil the end result. This time around, however, the chemistry works perfectly. How they'll all fit on to a relatively compact stage is another matter. TCL

Jon Hopkins

Vicar St, Dublin Thursday October 18th 7.30pm €35 (sold out) ticketmaster.ie

Jon Hopkins is almost as regular a visitor to Ireland as Nile Rogers – we just can’t get enough of the guy. The UK electronica musician started out playing keyboards for various musicians, gradually veering towards collaborations (Brian Eno, King Creosote), co-writing (James Yorkston, David Holmes), remixing (Wild Beasts, Four Tet) and co-producing (Coldplay). Crossover success came with 2013’s album, Immunity, and since then Hopkins hasn’t stalled. What to expect? Swathes of electro, swishes of melodies, effortless calm. TCL

Mahalia

Grand Social, Dublin Friday October 19th 8pm €16 thegrandsocial.ie

UK R&B singer Mahalia Burkmar might be under 20 years of age, but she's hardly a "new" pop star. She began her steady rise to headlining her own gigs about eight years ago when, as a preteen, she performed at open-mic shows in her native Leicester. Signed to a major label when she was 13, Mahalia subsequently worked with Rudimental, Ed Sheeran and others, but it is only over the past two years that she has forged an identity (notably with songs such as Proud of Me and forthcoming EP Seasons) that she can truly call her own. Special guest is the impressive Irish R&B singer Erica Cody. TCL