writing
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Every industry obsesses over legacy, but in music, it’s more personal. It is not just about whether the songs endure, but what remains when the lights dim, the tours end, and the spotlight moves on to the next name. Dolly Parton left behind more than almost any of her peers because she understood that legacy…
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The Cork artist turns poetry, anger and the invisible weight people carry into a collision of alt-R&B, soul, jazz and spoken word. There is something immediately likeable about an artist who can move from discussing societal pressure, mental health and sexual violence to wanting to “frolic away from smelly men.” Welcome to the world of…
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There are records that announce themselves at the door and others that make you lean towards the speaker. Elanor Moss’s debut album, The Knife, The Needle, belongs firmly to the latter. Across the nine-track record, Moss works within an intimate world of acoustic guitar, voice, strings, brass and carefully considered space. Love sits at the…
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There is something immediately refreshing about a folk song that arrives with an actual story to tell. On “The Cavalier”, Jessica Willis Fisher leans wholeheartedly into the old narrative tradition of folk music, giving us characters, consequences and a cautionary tale wrapped inside a track energetic enough to disguise just how much is going on…
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REVIEW: RADIE PEAT – STILL I LOVE HIM There are voices you recognise within seconds. Radie Peat has one of them. As a member of Lankum and ØXN, Peat has become one of the defining voices of this extraordinary period in Irish folk music. But on Still I Love Him, her first solo release, there…
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Filmed across Ravensdale and the coastline surrounding Balbriggan Lighthouse and beach, the video places Sonaírí’s classical interpretation of one of Coldplay’s best-known songs against some striking Irish landscapes. The film opens in woodland, with the pair dressed in white. There is something almost theatrical about those first scenes, a touch of Phantom of the Opera…
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The acclaimed Irish songwriter gives one of her most cherished songs a new visual life ahead of her appearance in RTÉ One’s Trinity’s Treasures The music industry is perpetually hunting for the next thing, sometimes so frantically that it forgets a great song does not expire simply because release week has passed. Eleanor McEvoy understands…
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On her debut album, the Northern-Irish-Ghanaian artist moves confidently through soul, disco, electronic pop and folk, creating a record about desire, identity, community and choosing light without denying the darkness. Artist: Winnie AmaAlbum: DEKALabel: WAMA MusicRating: ★★★★½ There is something quietly defiant about an artist refusing to choose between the different parts of herself. The…
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On her exhilarating second album, Nia Archives tears down the walls between jungle, indie-pop and confessional songwriting, proving that emotional vulnerability and ferocious breakbeats belong in the same room. Artist: Nia ArchivesAlbum: Emotional JunglistLabel: Hijinxx/Island RecordsRating: ★★★★½ The music industry is fond of celebrating women who break through barriers, provided they remain grateful, marketable and…
