Speakeasy, Belfast

The subtle lighting describes faint sketches of amplifiers and the shapes of keyboards, drawing the crowds attention to the flowers scattered across the stage, each one containing its own bulb. It’s moody, it’s beautiful, and it’s Stars.
As the band arrive on stage to ‘The Beginning After The End’, the opening track of new album In Our Bedroom After The War, the crowd cheer and applaud, but still maintain a palpable level of reverence before tonight’s entertainers.
Across the following ninety minutes the band serve up almost their entire creative repertoire, with singer Torquil Campbell delivering an occasional speech, one concerning his accident during second song ‘The Night Starts Here’, in which he solemnly declares “Ladies and gentlemen, I am wounded. I have incurred my first ever on-stage injury”, chipping a tooth on the microphone. The second sermon is spent reflecting on the legend that the Irish provide the greatest crowds of any tour. As this is their debut date in the country, he proudly proclaims the challenge that “Dublin will have a lot to live up to tomorrow night”.
As they work their way through the highlights on each of their albums, the band give it everything they’ve got. In a live setting, the self-confessed cold distance of their music is given warmth and closeness, enveloping the crowd with tales of seduction and submission. As come to close their set, Torquil hopes that everyone will leave and forget about the people on stage, but hold on to the places that the music took them. Judging by the response, the wish goes ungranted. They’ll never forget such a show so easily.

Speakeasy, Belfast

The subtle lighting describes faint sketches of amplifiers and the shapes of keyboards, drawing the crowds attention to the flowers scattered across the stage, each one containing its own bulb. It’s moody, it’s beautiful, and it’s Stars.
As the band arrive on stage to ‘The Beginning After The End’, the opening track of new album In Our Bedroom After The War, the crowd cheer and applaud, but still maintain a palpable level of reverence before tonight’s entertainers.
Across the following ninety minutes the band serve up almost their entire creative repertoire, with singer Torquil Campbell delivering an occasional speech, one concerning his accident during second song ‘The Night Starts Here’, in which he solemnly declares “Ladies and gentlemen, I am wounded. I have incurred my first ever on-stage injury”, chipping a tooth on the microphone. The second sermon is spent reflecting on the legend that the Irish provide the greatest crowds of any tour. As this is their debut date in the country, he proudly proclaims the challenge that “Dublin will have a lot to live up to tomorrow night”.
As they work their way through the highlights on each of their albums, the band give it everything they’ve got. In a live setting, the self-confessed cold distance of their music is given warmth and closeness, enveloping the crowd with tales of seduction and submission. As come to close their set, Torquil hopes that everyone will leave and forget about the people on stage, but hold on to the places that the music took them. Judging by the response, the wish goes ungranted. They’ll never forget such a show so easily.

How was your experience of the studio?
I felt liberated in the studio. It was great to have someone I could completely trust, who had done all this before. It was a lovely experience. He took a lot of pressure off me. I was really worried about making an album, I didn’t even know where to start so Jim [Abiss, producer] made me feel more comfortable. He was almost like a counsellor.

You recorded with RKD2 in Philadelphia for ‘Learning Lines’, what was that like?
It was mad, as it was the same room The Roots used and Justin Timberlake made ‘Justified’ in there! It was pretty surreal, we’re these three, white, middle-class English boys in a proper hip-hop studio surrounded by these guys all blinged out. We felt very comfortable and the guys there really dug it. It was such a contrast to the warm, homely vibe of Jim’s place in London. It was like we were moonlighting, like ‘we’re hip-hop now, proper gangsta’.

Are you worried that being lumped in with the rest of the LDN crew might be limiting at all?
It’d be limiting if I didn’t have the talent to pull myself out of it. I hope I do. It’s all very flattering, it’s not like I’m annoyed about it but it’s something I definitely hope won’t be here in five years time. When I got asked to do the NME cover with Kate [Nash], my initial feeling was ‘maybe not’ I wasn’t sure I wanted to do it but it’s one of those things, it may never happen again. So I’m glad I did it.

There may be some who will write Jack Peñate off based on a bias about his associations with The Macabees, appearing on the cover of the NME with Kate Nash, and being a fully-paid up member of the love it or hate it LDN scene. But those people have no taste and are missing out on a true talent. Peñate has a seemingly endless repository of choruses incorporating various styles and a musical panache that’s staggering for one so young. The delectable ska-tinged pop of breakthrough single ‘Torn On The Platform’ is only the tip of the iceberg. The white-boy R’n’B soul groove of the RJD2-produced ‘Learning Lines’ and ‘We Will Be Here’ contrast the indie-rock stomp of ‘Made Of Codes’ and tear-stained balladry of ‘My Yvonne’, showing he has more one string to his bow. When he does pop, he does it at breakneck speed as on current single ‘Second Minute Or Hour’ but he’s not afraid to take the foot off the pedal, confident he has the ability to take the listener in several directions within the space of a few songs and never once risk losing their attention. As an opening gambit on what hopefully will be an illustrious career, ‘Matinee’ is an infectious, exuberant trailer that bodes well for the grit of the feature presentation.

Words_David McLaughlin

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DOWNLOAD: ‘Have I Been A Fool?’, ‘Torn On The Platform’, ‘Got My Favourite’
FOR FANS OF: Jamie T, The Macabees, The Housemartins

Additional Reading:
Jack on the making of Matinee

There may be some who will write Jack Peñate off based on a bias about his associations with The Macabees, appearing on the cover of the NME with Kate Nash, and being a fully-paid up member of the love it or hate it LDN scene. But those people have no taste and are missing out on a true talent. Peñate has a seemingly endless repository of choruses incorporating various styles and a musical panache that’s staggering for one so young. The delectable ska-tinged pop of breakthrough single ‘Torn On The Platform’ is only the tip of the iceberg. The white-boy R’n’B soul groove of the RJD2-produced ‘Learning Lines’ and ‘We Will Be Here’ contrast the indie-rock stomp of ‘Made Of Codes’ and tear-stained balladry of ‘My Yvonne’, showing he has more one string to his bow. When he does pop, he does it at breakneck speed as on current single ‘Second Minute Or Hour’ but he’s not afraid to take the foot off the pedal, confident he has the ability to take the listener in several directions within the space of a few songs and never once risk losing their attention. As an opening gambit on what hopefully will be an illustrious career, ‘Matinee’ is an infectious, exuberant trailer that bodes well for the grit of the feature presentation.

Words_David McLaughlin

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

DOWNLOAD: ‘Have I Been A Fool?’, ‘Torn On The Platform’, ‘Got My Favourite’
FOR FANS OF: Jamie T, The Macabees, The Housemartins

Additional Reading:
Jack on the making of Matinee

They bill themselves as the only successful Arab/Jewish collaboration in history, professing a sincere love for the cheesiest American pop the 80s had to offer. And they’ve just released the smoothest electro-funk record this side of prime Prince. Welcome to the slick, polished world of Chromeo.

The most exciting thing about listening to music, for this writer, is having no idea how it was made. In the mid 90s Aphex Twin was making music that sounded like it came from another planet, but these days it’s harder than ever for musicians to create that sense of wonder. Prefuse 73 has managed it pretty consistently over seven years or so, but sometimes at the expense of listenability – previous albums have suffered from being overlong and padded out with needless experiments. Here he’s hit his stride without really altering the formula. An old school hip-hop influence is combined with disparate samples: orchestral strings, slide guitar and found, twisted vocals, just in the first song.

Words_Niall Harden

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

DOWNLOAD: ‘Prog Version Slowly Crushed’, ‘Girlfriend Boyfriend’
FOR FANS OF: Four Tet, RJD2

The most exciting thing about listening to music, for this writer, is having no idea how it was made. In the mid 90s Aphex Twin was making music that sounded like it came from another planet, but these days it’s harder than ever for musicians to create that sense of wonder. Prefuse 73 has managed it pretty consistently over seven years or so, but sometimes at the expense of listenability – previous albums have suffered from being overlong and padded out with needless experiments. Here he’s hit his stride without really altering the formula. An old school hip-hop influence is combined with disparate samples: orchestral strings, slide guitar and found, twisted vocals, just in the first song.

Words_Niall Harden

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

DOWNLOAD: ‘Prog Version Slowly Crushed’, ‘Girlfriend Boyfriend’
FOR FANS OF: Four Tet, RJD2

For 15 years Pram’s career has unerringly followed a very precise blueprint. It seems their wont is to soundtrack that recurring nightmare we all experience as children, or how the media persist in portraying that first LSD trip, with the laughing clowns, in the style of French electro-pop. It’s difficult to imagine any anticipation surrounding this release, such is Pram’s ability to weird-out potential fans. There is none of the widescreen pop appeal of fellow brummies Broadcast or the tuneful disco of Stereolab, just eerie, angular collages of mis-matched sounds occasionally made more disturbing by Rosie Cuckson’s monotone vocals.

Words_Kenny Murdock

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

DOWNLOAD: Blind Tiger, Isk
FOR FANS OF: Evil Toys ‘come-alive’ Movies

For 15 years Pram’s career has unerringly followed a very precise blueprint. It seems their wont is to soundtrack that recurring nightmare we all experience as children, or how the media persist in portraying that first LSD trip, with the laughing clowns, in the style of French electro-pop. It’s difficult to imagine any anticipation surrounding this release, such is Pram’s ability to weird-out potential fans. There is none of the widescreen pop appeal of fellow brummies Broadcast or the tuneful disco of Stereolab, just eerie, angular collages of mis-matched sounds occasionally made more disturbing by Rosie Cuckson’s monotone vocals.

Words_Kenny Murdock

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

DOWNLOAD: Blind Tiger, Isk
FOR FANS OF: Evil Toys ‘come-alive’ Movies

The departure of a core member can spell disaster for many bands, but not Iceland’s Múm. Faced with the departure of vocalist Kristín Valtýsdóttir at the start of the creative process for this album, founding members Gunnar and Örvar found themselves back at square one. While fundamentally electronic at its core, it’s the quaint little details that make Múm’s sound so interesting. Accordions blend seamlessly with distorted synths and melancholy piano lines converge with ethereal vocals to create a distinctly atmospheric whole. If anything, this new album is more song-based than much of their previous output, with less emphasis on electronic experimentation. The undoubted highlight is the haunting ‘Moon Pulls’, with reverb-drenched piano and harpsichord moving effortlessly into the building, mini-epic ‘Marmalade Fires’.

Words_Chris McCorry

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

DOWNLOAD: ‘Moon Pulls’, ‘Winter (What We Never Were After All)’
FOR FANS OF: Sigur Rós, Amiina, Beirut