New Single - Carmen 'Take This Dance'

CARMEN, 'Take This Dance'

Info: Chanteuse CARMEN has a new single out, 'Take This Dance' in aid of a very good cause, Console, Ireland's National Suicide Charity. Thanks to www.orchestrate.ie for sending the single on to me and you can buy the it on iTunes here https://itunes.apple.com/ie/album/take-this-dance-single/id807447735 

Irish singer-songwriter CARMEN is not one that’s unfamiliar to moving around. From moving to Silver Springs (US) to attend school in the early years of her life, she then joined the good people of county Cork further down the line, and has now resided in not one but two places to live – Dublin and London.

At 18, CARMEN won a place to study classical music at the prestigious Guildhall School of Music in London. But she’d always had an independent spirit and found herself increasingly frustrated in that environment. Her heart was elsewhere, so she packed her bags and left giving her the freedom to play the music she was really excited about.

CARMEN has recently been gaining steady industry support due to her distinct voice and writing style. Whilst ‘Take This Dance’ is the first track she is making available as a solo artist, she has toured, performed and recorded with many well-known acts including Sinead O’Connor, Andrea Corr, Noisettes, The Kooks, Kate Ceberano and she’s even played Reading and Leeds with metal singer Serj Tankien. CARMEN’s songwriting has been compared on numerous occasions to that of the classic singer-songwriters of the 1970’s.

 ‘Take This Dance’ features prominently in Ridley Scott Associates film The Phone Call directed by Mat Kirkby, which stars Oscar winner Jim Broadbent and Sally Hawkins. It premiered at the Los Angeles Film Fest in 2013 and so far has been shown at London BFI Film festival, Cork Film Festival and won the ‘Audience Appreciation Award’ at Leeds Film Festival. The song was produced by legendary Irish record producer John Reynolds (Sinead O’Connor, U2, Damien Dempsey).

For more info visit;

http://carmenofficial.com/

https://www.facebook.com/carmensmusic

Bold Things - New Single & Upcoming E.P.

Bold Things, 'Fillings'

Info: Our favourite exiles have a new single out, 'Fillings' (see above video) starring Laura Finnegan and it's proof that Bold Things are developing their sound in exciting new directions with each release. 'Fillings' has a dark, sometimes menacing vibe about it but the most interesting aspect of the song is seeing the band put more emphasis on an electro sound which compliments the already excellent instrumental set up of guitar, drums and vocals. In the words of the lads themselves; ''Fillings' runs on a simmering sense of frustration. It grows from a pent-up rage and eventually spirals out euphorically capturing the end of one phase and the quiet excitement of something new.' The video for the track was made in Hackney Downs in London by Freddie Leyden.

Bold Things, 'Swallows End'

It's exciting times for Bold Things and you get the sense that they are on the cusp of taking off with a new E.P. due out shortly which will bring together in one place their releases to date. From a selfish perspective I would be hoping to see 3 songs in particular on the upcoming record with 'Fillings', 3 tracks I have been hooked on over the last 2 months, 'Love The Bomb', 'Hearts Ajar' and my personal favourite 'Swallows End' (above). It's difficult to compare Bold Things to other artists either current or that have gone before, which is a good thing, but if I was to take a stab there are elements in 'Swallows End' of Whipping Boys 'We Don't Need Nobody Else' from the Heartworm album, but also early Interpol in terms of mood from 'Turn On The Bright Lights', the New York band's debut album. Aside from those small references it's clear Bold Things have a unique sound of their own, haunting guitars and drumming and optimistic if almost heartbroken vocals make for a wonderful sound that becomes more rewarding with each listen. Hats off to these guys, it's going to be very interesting to see where they're at in 12 months time, so long as there are no Yoko's or Spinal Tap-esque rifts we should be in for a treat.

*** FREE Bold Things downloads available on SoundCloud ***

Bold Things are Jim O'Donoghue Martin, Gavin Murray, Ian Patterson and Ronan McGeough, they're from Dundalk, and currently reside in London.

Next performance - The Yardlife Festival, Sunday, 20th April http://www.yardlifefestival.co.uk/

For more info check out their website http://boldthings.com/

And if you do nothing else today show them some love on Twitter, Facebook or SoundCloud, or all three!

https://soundcloud.com/bold-things

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bold-Things/462605317156304?fref=ts

@BoldThings

New E.P. Release - Abandcalledboy

Info: At the start of last month I did an introductory piece on Northern Irish rockers Abandcalledboy and their excellent video / track, 'Cliff Richard'. The band have now completed recording of their second self-titled E.P. which contains 7 hard hitting tracks, and doesn't disappoint. Describing themselves as similar to early Biffy Clyro, Reuben, Husker Du and Kerbdog, I can also see musical similarities with Californian hard rockers, Queens of the Stone Age. The E.P. will be released on the 8th of April on the Dead Academic Records label which will be followed by a U.K. Tour. The E.P. contains the aforementioned 'Cliff Richard' (see below) which was unsurprisingly the Hot Press music video of the fortnight in February. Other stand out tracks on the forthcoming release are opening track 'Another Meat Industry' and 'Serotonin' combining fast-paced drums and electrifying guitar in addition to the customary humour in the lyrics. Fingers crossed we'll see the guys in Dublin at some stage this year and maybe get to do a bit of crowd-surfing!

So what's the deal with Abandcalledboy? Abandcalledboy are an Alt-Rock three piece from Northern Ireland. They have been featured on BBC 6 Music 'Introducing with Tom Robinson', BBC Radio 1 on the ‘Introducing show with Phil Taggart’, BBC Radio Ulster’s ‘Across the Line’ and have shared a stage with bands including: Rolo Tomassi, The Futureheads, And So I Watch You From Afar, LaFaro and Fighting With Wire.

The band have been constantly touring Ireland since bassist Mark Finnegan joined in late 2012. Debut EP 'Dead Academics' was released in early 2013 on Irish label Chew Your Own Fat to critical acclaim. April 2014 will see the band release their biggest release to date, a self-titled 7-track EP. The band will complete their first UK Tour in April 2014 and have already planned to return at the end of the year. In February 2014 new single "Cliff Richard" was selected by Hot Press magazine as their 'Video Of The Fortnight'.

Abandcalledboy are Ryan Burrowes, Adam Smith and Mark Finnegan and you can follow them on Facebook, Twitter and check out their Bandcamp & SoundCloud pages too:

https://www.facebook.com/abandcalledboy

@abandcalledboy

http://abandcalledboymusic.bandcamp.com/

https://soundcloud.com/abandcalledboy