There's a storm blowing outside, but we've got some sweet, sweet sounds to sooth the restless soul... This one's for you, Doris.
Aldous Harding – Horizon
This 26-year-old singer from New Zealand is a complete UFO, or more precisely a USO - Unidentified Singing Object. Aldous (Hannah) Harding’s music deals with death, birth, love and grief, and you can feel it all in this one song. Her deep voice reminds us at times of London Grammar's Hannah Reid; dive in, and soak in the haunting atmosphere. The elliptical lyrics get the listener's imagination working further: “Here is your princess/Here is your horizon”. The peaceful and rather poetic video stars the singer and her mother, the latter pulling some serious tai chi moves with a stick. As Hannah explains:
"I was listening to the demo at mum's place and she just got up and started doing her thing. I was transfixed, actually. I thought about how it might look on film, an older version of myself dancing, with honour, to a song sung by essentially the same face. I asked her how she would feel about being in my video and, at first, she wasn't interested. 'No one wants to see an old woman do improvised stick work darling.' I eventually convinced her that she was indeed still beautiful and was the right fit. We chopped up her dances with shots of me and this is what we were left with."
Look towards the Horizon...
Talos - Odyssey
This Cork-based singer's voice is a real Odyssey unto itself... With his androgynous vocals, soft and melodious, Talos (aka Eoin French) just dropped this new single from his debut album Wild Alee, coming April 21st, and we like, a lot. Take a really moving melody, with the pulse coming in like an heart beat, beating and beating and beating.... Talos reaches all the high notes in this electronic ballad, which makes you think of Sam Smith, in a good way.
Here's Talos on Odyssey, in his own words: “In any endeavour, we find ourselves at that point of doubt. Those moments where you question yourself. That’s what the line, ‘In this odyssey, it’s hard to leave…’ refers to. It’s a beautiful and testing cycle. “I was asking myself some pretty big questions. Am I doing the right thing? Is this worth it? Am I deluding myself?! And I think in the end, the answer is yes to all three. These feelings come and go. The thoughts pass. Sometimes the delusions get realised. And we move on.”
He's touring Ireland in April and May - find a venue near you here.
Half Waif – Frost Burn
Half Waif is the project of one Nandi Rose Plunkett, based in Brooklyn NY. Boasting Indian and Irish roots, she soaked up everything from Indian bahjans to Celtic songstress Loreena McKennitt, and we can feel the diverse influences in her music, a perfect mix of electronica, piano, and Nandi’s mermaid voice. The singer on her song : “Painful memories from childhood were there, in that landscape, and my insidious self-doubts were there, in my body. And that’s where that line comes from: ‘and on my island / I cannot keep out all the violence.’ It’s a way of saying: no matter how much of a circle I draw around myself, no matter how much separation I create between me and my environment, I am still affected by the dark forces that are a part of me. There is no retreat, really – there is only recognition.”
The results are a truly magnetic song. We always say that the best of music comes from pain...
Lana Del Rey – Love
She's back! After her 2015 masterwork Honeymoon, Lana Del Rey returns with the first single from her forthcoming album, definitely one for the fans, of which there are many, if the rapturous response she received at last year's Electric Picnic is anything to go by. Lana brings back her lascivious tone and vintage vibes, but this song has something more - dare we say, a hint of hope? The dreamy video by Rich Lee combines Lana's pop culture touch with an '80’s style sci-fi atmosphere, showing a car flying to the sun. She sounds positively upbeat, for a change:
'Back to work or the coffee shop / Doesn't matter cause it's enough / To be young and in love'
We do love a back-to-basics comeback. This tune makes us wanna be young, wild and free!
Erica Cody – Addicted
Dublin singer and songwriter Erica Cody likes her old school R’N’B, infused with some serious electro sounds - and it works! Her sweet soul voice is giving us some serious Mary J. Blige vibes, and we're completely cool with that. The R’N’B Irish scene has a number of promising contenders at the moment - such as Jafaris - and we're already addicted to Erica!
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