Her latest release contains all the things we have grown to love by CMAT. This includes her pride in her Irish roots, highlighted in the title track ‘Euro-Country’ where she sings the first verse in Gaelic, and her humour shown in the track ‘The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station’. CMAT celebrated the release of her latest album on Instagram where she wrote “today is the day that EURO-COUNTRY is out in the world. i am so happy that we made it even though it was the hardest job i have ever had in my life. i hope you can hear how much work went into it, along with a genuinely quite large part of our souls.”

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The music world has been highly anticipating this release and excitement has been building after her standout performance on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury this year, as well as performances at Primavera Sound and All Points East. CMAT has also released a memorial plate, available for a chance to win if you order the album on her official website before September 4, again highlighting her unique blend of humour and tradition. She shared this with her fans with the following post.

 

 

 

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CMAT achieved viral fame after her song ‘Take A Sexy Picture Of Me”, the sixth song on this latest album, became notable on social media platforms such as TikTok and even gaining it’s own TikTok dance. Though she was well known before this, the viral dance helped her achieve the fame she deserves. Celebrities such as Amelia Dimoldenberg have been performing the dance on her TikTok channel @ameliadimz shown below:

@ameliadimz Love you @cmat by @Sam Morris ♬ Take A Sexy Picture Of Me – CMAT

Fans have been reacting well to the album in discussions online. Tracks like ‘Lord Let That Tesla Crash’ are being seen as one of the highlights to the album, a song about death and materialism which has caused gut-wrenching sadness upon listens. The title song ‘Euro-Country’ tackles the economic boom Ireland had from the 1990s-late 2000’s and the effects of the 2008 crash on the lives of young people at the time. The album is catchy but deals with very real topics in an honest and throat-catching way.

CMAT is on tour next year with her new album, though tickets are selling quickly and she has even added a new date in Manchester. She is also currently performing solo album release shows in record stores around the country before beginning her main tour. Tickets are available here

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Following the release, CMAT shared in a statement: “I have certain phrases that reverberate around my head over and over again – and ‘Euro-Country’ was one of them. It’s the title of the album, and the name of the first song on the record. And it means three things to me: It’s the kind of country music I make; the fact that Ireland is a European country run by the euro; and that capitalism is one of the worst things to ever happen to us.”

The song starts with a 40 seconds long intro of CMAT speaking in Irish, in what feels like she is honouring her roots and where she comes from. The Dublin born singer took to Instagram recently, voicing her frustration towards BBC Radio for cutting the intro to her song. In her story, the singer said: “It was not my decision to have the Irish language edited out of the first-ever play of Euro-Country on radio. I don’t know if it was a mistake or what happened.” The BBC have since denied the claims and said they only played the version that was sent to them by the singer’s team. She has since then confirmed that the station have reached out to her and promised they would play the full version, Irish intro included from now on.

The song, an ode exploring themes of identity, Europe and capitalism pays homage to the singer’s roots. The single came out with a music video directed by Eilis Doherty and sees CMAT visit the Omni Park shopping centre in North Dublin, dancing in the water fountain and belting the words to the song. Speaking about her upcoming project, she said: “‘Euro-Country’ is, I think, the best thing I have ever made. I felt halfway through recording it was the most important record I’ve made for myself… mainly because it was making me go crazy. I’m always going to make the work I want to make, because there is a little gremlin in my head that tells me if it’s shit. More than success, there’s a bigger gremlin that wants me to make music that’s really good. She’s brutal and has ruined my life at times, but she is the keeper of my life and she’s always right.”

‘Euro-Country’ will also feature acclaimed single ‘Take A Sexy Picture Of Me’, a single that saw its popularity rise from TikTok and that has been called the “Gen-Z Macarena’ with its fun dance moves. CMAT is set to go on a UK and Ireland headline tour later this year, including dates in London and Dublin. She is also set to appear at numerous festivals over this summer such as Green Man, All Points East and Tramlines, festivals which follow her amazing Glastonbury set back in June of this year. Tickets for her shows are still available over on Ticketmaster.

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The playlist is made of 23 different tracks including songs by Sam Fender, Lil Simz, The Beach Boys, The Velvet Underground and The Murder Capital. The playlist is a mix of different genres loved by the actor and allowing his fans to delve more into the season at the same time as him. Murphy made sure to include a few of his favourite Irish artists such as The Murder Capital.

Cillian Murphy is known to be an avid music lover, having taken part in many different bands before becoming an actor. Although the Oscar winner decided to focus on his acting career, his passion for music remains strong and the actor occasionally gets to broadcast on BBC 6 Music.

The production company Big Things was founded back in 2022 by producer Alan Moloney and Oscar winner Cillian Murphy and saw the pair make movie ‘Small Things Like These’. The film is a historical drama released in November 2024 which takes place in 1985 and follows main character Bill Furlong, played by Murphy as he slowly starts to discover the dark and disturbing secrets of his small Irish town, influenced by the Roman Catholic Church.

The movie was a a box office success, scoring a 93% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Being the company’s first release, it sets them on a journey for more with their next production ‘Steve’ in the works. The website describes the new movie as: “a reimagining of Max Porter’s novel Shy, and traces a pivotal 24 hours in the life of a head teacher (Cillian Murphy) at a reform school for boys in rural South West England, circa 1996. Financed by Netflix, Tim Mielants directing”.

Favourite.

Out now. https://t.co/mDPoe2gyyS pic.twitter.com/DlExLjRAGT

— Fontaines D.C. (@fontainesdublin) June 18, 2024

The accompanying music video for ‘Favourite’ was directed by the band themselves and it documents a trip to Madrid. Madrid is a city quite personal to Fontaines D.C. as it is the birthplace of guitarist Carlos O’Connell as well as it being the city which the band used as a base for their first tour. The music video is very nostalgic as it has home childhood footage of all five members of the band all put together. Watch the video below.

Talking about the video bassist Conor Deegan has said that explores what shaped each band members: “This video is a reminiscing of the past; of each other’s childhoods we didn’t know. To see people we know on an intimate level as adults in the tender ages of childhood, we explore where we came from, and who on some level, still are.”

He added that he wanted to pay tribute to those that the band love: “I would like this video to serve as a way of honouring our friendships, and moving from that, the relationships we hold dear. Our mothers, fathers, siblings, aunties and uncles, grandmothers and grandfathers. Those who we still have, and those we have sadly lost. We haven’t lost that connection to each other, and are not afraid to come of age again, holding on to romance in a sometimes trying world.”

The Irish Band’s upcoming album is set to be released on the 23rd of August via XL Recordings, which will be their first release on this record label and their first with producer James Ford. They will be hoping to build on the success on the band’s last album ‘Skinty Fia’ which reached number 1 in the UK and Irish album charts and saw them receive various accolades including “International Group of the Year” at last year’s BRIT Awards.

The forthcoming album is set to be Fontaines D.C’s most ambitious record formed by ideas that have been brewing from the five members since their last release. The first single, ‘Starbuster’, was written by singer, Grian Chatten, after experiencing a panic attack in London’s St. Pancras train station and sees Chatten almost rapping in most of the song. The ideas for the new album came to fruition when the band was touring the US and Mexico with the Arctic Monkeys as they shared music with each other that they had been listening to, very different from the usual sounds we normally expect from the Dublin five piece.

The band will be playing a huge UK and Ireland headline tour later this year in support of Romance and you can get your tickets here.

The tracklist for the album is:

1. Romance
2. Starburster
3. Here’s The Thing
4. Desire
5. In The Modern World
6. Bug
7. Motorcycle Boy
8. Sundowner
9. Horseness is the Whatness
10. Death Kink
11. Favourite

His wife, Victoria Mary Clarke, has since posted a heartfelt statement on Instagram, writing, “I don’t know how to say this so I am just going to say it. Shane who will always be the light that I hold before me and the measure of my dreams and the love of my life and the most beautiful soul and beautiful angel and the sun and the moon and the start and end of everything that I hold dear has gone to be with Jesus and Mary and his beautiful mother Therese. I am blessed beyond words to have met him and to have loved him and to have been so endlessly and unconditionally loved by him and to have had so many years of life and love and joy and fun and laughter and so many adventures. There’s no way to describe the loss that I am feeling and the longing for just one more of his smiles that lit up my world. Thank you thank you thank you thank you for your presence in this world you made it so very bright and you gave so much joy to so many people with your heart and soul and your music. You will live in my heart forever. Rave on in the garden all wet with rain that you loved so much. You meant the world to me.”

An ever-charismatic and endearing figure, MacGowan and his renowned snarl came to represent many things during his 65 years on Earth; the nonchalant fusion of punk and poetry, Irish nationalism and pride, and, to a great many, Christmas music. “Fairytale Of New York“, indeed, remains a true December classic; will we see it take number one spot this Christmas? Above all though, MacGowan always remained true to himself, his culture, heritage and nation, and his nonconforming spirit.

Listen to “Fairytale Of New York” below:

Born in Kent to Irish immigrant parents in 1957 and growing up in various cities in the Southeast of England, MacGowan’s punk nature was evident from the start. He was allegedly expelled from secondary school for possession of narcotics and soon became enamoured with the early punk scene, experiencing his first bout of fame as he was pictured in a newspaper after being injured at a Clash gig. So inspired was MacGowan by the Pistols and the Clash he decided to join Shanne Bradley’s punk band, the Nipple Erectors.

Come 1982 and he had formed his own band, initially named Pogue Mahone (an anglicisation of the Irish phrase póg mo thóin, meaning ‘kiss my arse’). Shortened later to the Pogues, MacGowan employed his Irish identity to explore in his lyrics Irish nationalism, Irish history and the Irish diaspora in England. The Pogues’ first album, Red Roses for Me, came in 1984, followed by Rum, Sodomy & the Lash in 1985 and their most commercially successful record If I Should Fall from Grace with God in 1988.

Listen to “Dirty Old Town” below:

Notable singles from his time with the Pogues include covers of traditional Irish folk songs “Dirty Old Town” and “Irish Rover“, along with “Fairytale of New York” featuring Kirsty MacColl and “Dark Streets of London“. After leaving the band in 1991 he formed another group, Shane MacGowan and the Popes, releasing two full length LPs before re-joining the Pogues in 2001.

Listen to “Irish Rover” below:

Last night, at 5 pm, in London, there was a seemingly quiet crowd gathered in the Barbican foyer, in front of the free stage to watch the two Irish jazz groups: The RGB Trio and The Eoin O’Callaghan Trio. Sometime later, just before the band were about to play, there were no seats available in the Barbican foyer with many now standing around.

Fast forward to 6 pm and a large audience has gravitated towards the enchanting music being played. Both groups, which comprise saxophone, bass and drums, play improvised and composed pieces, albeit very different takes has their sounds blasting through the centre, with hints of Irish melodies and Jan Garbarek-esque saxophone tones.

The musical set-up of the two groups, both with no chord instruments, allowed for a spacious sound, based on groove and showed a sense of simplicity in the timbre of each instrument during solos as well as musical interactions. At the very baseline, the musicians all played with endless care.

RGB Trio features some of Ireland’s finest musicians including Meilana Gillard, double-bassist Dave Redmond and drummer Kevin Brady. Unfortunately, Redmond could not attend the gig so the audience was presented with the wonderful Corman O’Brian.

The group began their set with their 2022 single ‘Neither Here No There’ before moving on to ‘Chrysalis’, a track from their latest album ‘RGB Trio’, written by the saxophonist Gillard,  the musician who was seemingly the leader, or just the musician who did the talking. 

Gillard took a moment to thank Culture Ireland, Improvised Music Company and Serious for setting up the gig and for funding the trip to London.

The second trio led by bassist and composer Eoin O’Halloran had obvious Irish trad references throughout the jazz set. There was a mixture of original compositions, with some electronic processing and a couple of arrangements by other composers, including a nursery rhyme originally from Japan. The band states that the “music is accented by catchy hooks and landmarks combined with broader themes by the instincts of long-standing collaborators Yuzuha O’Halloran on alto saxophone and drummer Hugh Denman. ” 

The festival ends today Sunday 19th November but will be returning to the streets of London next year with another exciting array of musicians and events.

Speaking to The Independent on the influences behind Unreal Unearth, Hozier shared that the pandemic lockdowns strongly influenced his creativity. He said, “It was funny, because in some ways I thought I’d spent enough time [on his favoured themes of life and mortality], and then we were thrown into these new conditions. So there was a lot of death hanging over me.”

Hozier continued, “I was confronted with things that were working in my life, and things that weren’t. Things were changing and shifting. People, careers, habits, places… relationships around me were breaking down and forming in new ways.”

During this time, Hozier found Dante’s Inferno to have a lasting impact on him, as well as the Greek idea of ‘katabasis,‘ meaning a journey to the underworld. Hozier told The Independent, “I think everyone goes through a version of that in their lives.” The album is structured around the nine circles of hell, featuring his signature blend of piano ballads and folk-pop tracks.

Hozier released his first single from Unreal Unearth, “Eat Your Young” back in April. This track is one of multiple on the album with a literary influence, drawing inspiration from Irish writer Jonathan Swift’s satirical 1729 essay, A Modest Proposal.

Hozier is no stranger to drawing upon literary and historical subjects to influence his writing, and Unreal Unearth proves to be no different. Across the album, Hozier references the Wexford Rebellion of 1729, Flann O’Brien’s 1967 philosophical text The Third Policeman and more, satisfying his fanbase who turn to him for his poetic and historically informed approach to lyrics.

Hozier worked with co-writers on this project, with this being a new and welcome change for him. He shared, “I’m somebody who is constantly trying to crawl away and be on my own, but to the point where I could end up losing my own mind. It was a drug, to come from such solitude and then be in a space with others, making all this fantastic noise.”

He took to Twitter to celebrate the album’s release, writing “The album represents a reflection on the journey through the last few years and all that was reckoned with in that time. I feel incredibly lucky for your support and can’t wait to see some of you at shows soon.“

#UnrealUnearth is out now

The album represents a reflection on the journey through the last few years and all that was reckoned with in that time. I feel incredibly lucky for your support and can’t wait to see some of you at shows soon.

https://t.co/seLzUUhvUi pic.twitter.com/HoPXmwjEsZ

— Hozier (@Hozier) August 18, 2023

Hozier has also announced a UK and Ireland tour to celebrate the album’s release. Read more here.

10/12/23 – M&S Bank Arena – Liverpool
11/12/23 – OVO Hydro – Glasgow
13/12/23 – Resorts World Arena – Birmingham
15/12/23 – OVO Wembley Arena – London
17/12/23 – SSE Arena – Belfast

Unreal Unearth is available for purchase now. Stream the album below.

Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Micheál Martin announced in a televised address on Friday night that a number of new restrictions were coming into place in order to fight the new Omicron variant. These include restricting indoor events to a 50% capacity, applying to sports games and concerts, as well as limiting private home visits to no more than four households.

These rules are temporary, coming into place from the 7th of December until the 9th of January, completely covering the Christmas period. Martin said that the “risks associated with proceeding into the Christmas period without some restrictions to reduce the volume of personal contacts is just too high.” 

The move is especially frustrating as it was only on the 22nd of October, less than seven weeks ago, that nightclubs in Ireland reopened. Another restriction to Irish nightclubs also came into play on the 17th of November that imposed a midnight curfew in Ireland, effectively closing nightclubs that typically only allow entry after 11pm, in a story covered here on mxdwn last month. Irish clubs had less than a month of regular operation before being hit by Covid restrictions once more.

These new restrictions, however, are not arbitrary, as they are necessary in the fight against the new Omicron variant. More data is coming out about the new variant by the day, but the first real world data is showing that the Omicron variant may evade some of our immunity, weakening the effectiveness of vaccines, as reported by The BBC. Since nightclubs pose the risk of superspreader events, they will be the first against the wall.

Martin acknowledged the impact that this news has on the hospitality and entertainment sectors, that “many of them will be fearing for their livelihoods”, but he was quick to reassure: “The government will stand by them and ensure that they have the financial supports necessary to weather this latest storm and to stay intact until we are out of it.”

The full list of restrictions is available on the Irish government website here.

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The album is set to explore the deterioration of Dublin’s nightlife and culture as well as looking and the horrifying housing and homelessness crisis that is ripping through Ireland. Through the use of spoken word and electronic beats, Jimbo illustrates the gentrification and emigration of his hometown. It captures a chaotic vision of the world within Dublin’s city limits. He uses a range of spoken word devices, including a reading of  James Joyce’s Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man over a beat to show the evolution of Dublin life.

Speaking about the creation of the album, Jimbo said in an Instagram post; “The first track for this album was written a year and a half ago after leaving Ireland in the midst of chaos centred around housing crisis protests. Over that time I have been letting my thoughts and ideas fester and have formulated these notions into songs.”

“Only during lockdown was I able to compile and curate these tracks into a detailed narrative of a rapidly decaying Dublin City; the premise of this album. I wanted this project to reflect the feelings of isolation and separation experienced by both myself, and many of my peers, due to the the rampant gentrification and emigration that is prevalent in Ireland; particularly Dublin city. I hope that these ideas resonate with many of you, or at the very least, translate.”

 

 

 

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The first track off the album, Who is Dubh Linn For? gives an insight into the decay of cultural spaces and constricted creative outlets in the capital city. Dublin has seen the closure of countless weekends markets and small businesses as well as nightclubs and cultural pubs such as the Bernard Shaw, all for the sake of gentrification as the Irish government seeks to fill the city with hotels. The song features samples from Emmet Kirwan and Una Mullally as well as recordings of sounds of the city, which fully takes you back to the streets of Dublin. The album will also feature samples from local creator Kojaque.

All proceeds from the album will be donated to CATU Ireland, a grassroots organisation that works as a union for communities and tenants such as; renters, council tenants, mortgage holders and people in emergency & precarious living situations.

The Heat Death of My Hometown will be out this Friday, the 26th of February. You can listen to the first track off the album Who is Dubh Linn For? on Jimbo Jones’ Soundcloud. The tracklist for the album is below.

Who is Dubh Linn For?
Almost Post Coital
Beware of Monkey Mind
The Many Body Problem
From This Position
Frain Bried
Fear of Cranes
DART

The report was done by Cian Sullivan, under the supervision of Linda Coogan Byrne and used data from December 7th 2018 to November 6th 2020. The report stated that in the Official Irish Albums Chart over the last two years, 73 Irish acts entered the charts and only 17 of them were female. Also, in the 341 weeks Irish artists spent on the Official Irish Albums Chart over the last two years, female artists only spent 56 of those weeks in the charts.

Similarly in the Official Irish Single Chart, over the past two years, 69 Irish singles entered the charts and a mere 4 of them were women. Also, of the 500 weeks Irish artists spent on the chart over the same time period, only 23 weeks were spent by female artists. No female artist has entered the Top 10 Irish Single Chart since 2016, whereas five male acts have spent 51 weeks in the Top 10 with 12 singles over the last two years alone.

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Speaking about the report, Cian Sullivan said; “If you consume music in Ireland (buy, stream, download music) it is captured and reflected in the Charts. Despite the fact that yes, some people (such as record execs, radio programmers, DJs, playlisters and streaming playlist compilers etc.) have more power to rectify the imbalance than the average music consumer, we also (as consumers and music enthusiasts) have the power within ourselves to shift the bias, however unconscious it may be on either end of the spectrum. We each have our part to share in the blame. I’d like the data to speak for itself and act as a vehicle of change.”

The Irish music group, Irish Women in Harmony, which performed a cover of Dreams in order to raise money for SAFE Ireland, also aims to combat the inequality in the Irish music industry. In an Instagram post on the IWIH account they said; “We are seeing the change and making the change so keep moving with us and let’s get more Irish female artists on radio, on festival line ups, on tv, in the press. We need to support our own because the talent we have in this country is outstanding. Lets continue to leave an Irish music legacy for the artists to come.”

Following the release of the song in June, IWIH member and singer-songwriter Orla Gartland posted to Instagram saying: “growing up in Ireland there were so few female musicians on Irish radio & TV, billed at gigs and festivals.. it’s hard to imagine yourself doing a job when you don’t see or hear others that look like you.”

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