Ray Recommends: April's Irish music picks from The Shift
Hi! It's Ray C here and I would like to introduce you to some newly released Irish music that has been featured on my show The Shift over April. Some of the artists you may know and some you may only be discovered for the first time. Either way, Enjoy!
1000 Beast– Glass Magic Ft Arthur Valentine
1000 Beasts is Cian Sweeney from Cork. He released his debut album Naruda in April and the whole album is pure class. Cian’s vision is to produce some amazing pieces of music and get guest artists to sing in them. Some of the acts on the album include Waterford’s very own Conor Clancy (Toucan), Carrie Mullane who both feature on last month's Waterford Music Week here on WLR, and one of Ireland’s biggest indie stars, Orla Gartland to name a few.
To celebrate the album's launch, he released the lead single from it, Glass Magic. Someone else summed it up best as a “lo-fi alt R&B earworm” not much more to say after that then do yourself a favour and check out his stuff. I have a feeling this will be my go-to album of the summer.
Here's a little quirky for you, the video to Glass Magic was Directed & Edited by Jordan Gough from Waterford City.
Stream Glass Magic HERE
1000 Beasts Instagram
Last Survivor – What It Could Have Been
Last Survivor is the electronic duo from Derry made up of Decky Hedrock (Japanese Popstars) & Mick McCallion. If you love the 80s synth sound these lads know exactly what they are doing. The track is from a AA side EP release that came out on their own label Synth Riot Records this month. On the flip side, Staring At The Moon is more of an 80s electronic ballad which is also a cracker. But I’ve been playing WICHB as I love its energy.
But you can decide for yourself.
Stream What It Could Have Been HERE
Last Survivor Instagram
DeCarteret – Trip
Clare native & BIMM Dublin artist Amelia DeCarteret released her latest Neo-Soul Pop Piece at the start of the month and it's dreamy. It’s taken from her forthcoming debut EP which is released at the end of May. A fun fact about this track from DeCarteret - I was staying in Sligo with my family at Christmas, the aul fella who ran our bnb fell in love with our dog billy, a border collie, and wanted to take him out to his sheep to see how he would react. We stood there for 30 minutes and talked about his farm and his childhood, I thought his accent was so interesting, so I took out my phone and recorded what he was saying. That’s the man’s voice you can hear dabbled in the song.
Stream Trip HERE
Tomike – Another Life
Tomike has been a mainstay on my show since she first sent me her music in 2019. She is comfortable covering loads of styles of music from Neo-soul, soul, R&B, jazz, and Afro swing. I have to say at only 24 years old she’s after releasing some great music in the last couple of years. To her credit, she took time away from music to study and graduate with her law degree near the start of her music career. Another Life was released on April 1st and is a proper smooth cut of RnB
Here’s a fun side note she had the privilege to sing for the former vice president of the United States Mrs. Hilary Clinton
Stream Another Life HERE
