The Point of Everything

Dublin-born, London-based artist Lucy Rice aka Last Apollo released her debut album I'll Walk Towards You on September 4. A collage of grief and care and honesty, it's an artefact of love that took Rice on a journey. We talk about the road to get there, influences, playing with the Glasshouse ensemble and other acts, and lots more.

Buy the album: https://lastapollo1.bandcamp.com/album/ill-walk-towards-you

Dublin launch gig at Bello Bar, November 18: https://www.singularartists.ie/show/last-apollo

Dublin-born, Brighton-based Sarah Crean released her second album Heirloom on September 18. It's a concept album based on the myth of Calypso, using her story as a lens for Sarah to explore loss, escape, and reclaiming her own voice. It's also entirely made by women, which was a very deliberate move. We talk about Sarah's journey, the viral success of the 2022 single 2am which led to her getting signed, moving to London, later getting dropped, depressed, and finding her way out of that hole. Along the way we also discuss Electric Picnic, Olivia Rodrigo, and writing killer choruses.

Buy Heirloom: https://elasticstage.com/sarahcreanmusic/releases/heirloom-album

Sarah Crean plays Ireland Music Week on October 1

Loah released her debut album Materia Medica on June 5. She says: "The ambition was to create a hypermodern body of work that sonically exemplifies the changing definition of what Irishness is, what femininity is and indeed what musical ‘genre’ is and its flexibility in the modern context. We have many excellent producers and musicians on this album - it is a collage of sound!"

The album features Congolese guitarist Niwel Tsumbu, Italian multi-instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi, her sister Fehdah, Gambian kora player Suntou Susso, harpist Allanah Thornbourgh, producer Ben Bix (Meltybrains?), drummer Dylan Lynch (Soda Blonde), and the Crash Ensemble. It was produced by Brian Dillon and Danny Forde.

Loah is part of Sirens and will appear at the National Concert Hall on Saturday, September 26, and Cork Opera House on Sunday, September 27. The show is hosted by Lisa Hannigan with arrangements by the Theodora Byrne Trio and featuring a host of amazing female voices such as  Amanda Bergman, Kate Stables, Angie McMahon, Anna Mieke, The Staves. It will also be at Inis Oirr and at the Barbican, London, on October 17 (Loah won't be a part of these shows).

Buy Materia Medica: https://loah.bandcamp.com/album/materia-medica

Really Good Time (Diolmhain Ingram Roche/Wastefellow - vocals and guitar, Ado Tornado - drums and
Jacque le Coque - bass) released their debut album Affirmations on August 7.

Affirmations sits with the temptation to disengage - from the news, from other people, from the relentless grind - a rejection of navel-gazing nihilism, delivered with black humour and no small amount of noise. They say: "This album started with a kind of doomsday thinking, with a creeping sense that we were waking up hungover at the end of history. For anyone that resonates with, I’m sure you may agree that this isn’t necessarily the most affirming feeling to meditate upon.
"Yet over the year we have spent writing, recording and getting this record ready to release, the process of showing up each day to work on something you believe in, with people you care about unconditionally has been deeply life-affirming."

Really Good Time support Super Furry Animals and Baxter Dury at Collins Barracks as part of the Wider than Pictures concert series on August 30 and tour the UK and Europe in October and November.
Irish tour dates:
 December 4: Cleere's, Kilkenny
December 5: Button Factory, Dublin
December 6: Spirit Store, Dundalk
December 10 Roisin Dubh, Galway
December 13: Coughlan's, Cork

Buy Affirmations: https://reallygoodtime.bandcamp.com/album/affirmations-2

Wallis Bird released her eighth studio album I Can See Your House From Here on her own label, Bród Records, on June 5. She says thr album serves as a celebration of the life of her late friend and collaborator Kevin Ryan and a way to process grief as it also reflects on the war in Gaza. the challenges of addressing political issues in her music. Over nearly two decades in music, Wallis Bird has built a career defined by longevity, honesty and a deep sense of community. We talk about everything from navigating criticism and the impact of sobriety on her creativity, to the importance of collaboration, fun, and emotional intelligence in the artistic life.

Listen/buy I Can See Your House From Here: https://ffm.to/icsyhfh.bio

Wallis Bird tour dates:
Thursday, September 3: The Spirit Store, Dundalk
Friday, September 4: The Grand Social, Dublin
Saturday, September 5: The Briery Gap, Macroom
Sunday, September 6: De Barra’s Folk Club, Clonakilty
Thursday, September 10: The White Horse, Ballincollig
Friday, September 11: Dolan’s Warehouse, Limerick
Saturday, September 12: Róisín Dubh, Galway
Sunday, September 13: Cleere’s Bar & Theatre, Kilkenny