Ray Recommends: March's Irish music picks from The Shift
Hello it's Ray C here and I would like to introduce you to some newly released Irish music that have featured on my show The Shift over the month of March. This is a special month because on March 14th we kicked off our now annual Waterford Music Week in which WLR featured over 30 acts from our city and county. We had loads of great music over the week and for this month’s RR I’ve picked four acts from Waterford.
Some of the artists you may know and some you may only be discovering for the first time. Either way, Enjoy!
Alex Gough – Busy
I want you to keep in mind that Alex is 23 years old. Now a quick back story for you. During his years in De La Salle secondary school Alex played drums in several bands most noteworthy would-be Central Hall. When he finished school he got a place in Cork School of Music and that’s when Alex started to find his form. He went from being a drummer to full on producing and eventually rapping. I read before that he would send his instrumental tracks to people, but they would decline saying, “it wasn’t their vibe” so he decided to make it his vibe and that’s when he started rapping. Alex takes influence from some of the greatest but maybe not the most well known in popular urban acts like Slum Village, The Roots and Mos Def.
Alex's first official release was in 2019 with the 80% EP which racked up millions of streams and earned a high-profile sync on the BBC adaptation of Sally Rooney’s Normal People. In October of 2020 Alex released his debut mix tape Forever Classic on Vinyl and digital. Alex's list of gigs has brought him around the country from Electric Picnic to Whelans, and overseas to Mladi Ladi Jazz Fest (Prague) and Eurosonic Noorderslag (Netherlands) to name a few. The above blurb is just a little sample of what Alex has done by the age of Twenty Feckin Three!!
His next EP is ready for release and just in time for Waterford Music Week he released the first track from it, BUSY!
Stream Busy! HERE
Alex Instagram
Dylan Kearns – She’s Like A Drug
Dylan first came to my attention in 2018 with a band called Gorilla Troubadour. The lads kept me in the loop with their music for the best part of two years. Jump to March 2022, and Dylan emailed me to say he's going solo. His debut release brings me right back to the synth sounds of the '80s like Ultravox, Human League and Depeche Mode, with a voice that brings a hint of Bowie with it.
Don't believe me? Hear it for yourselves.
Stream She's Like A Drug HERE
Dylan Instgram
Deaf Joe – Shadow Work
In all my years working for WLR I could count on one hand Waterford artists that have been consistent in releasing music and Joe is one of them. Not only is his solo stuff top notch, I’ve loved Joe’s collaborations also, from the folkier sounds of The Plainest Truth with the unreal talent that is Aisling Brown, to dance outfit wasP, and I must give a mention to Peter Vogelaar’s ‘Felicity Breaths’. Joe released his fifth studio album, Kalachuchi, a few weeks back and it’s a cracker. Shadow Work is the lead single and it sucks you right in to the entire album.
Go forth and give your ears the pleasure they deserve.
Stream Shadow Work HERE
Joe Instragram
Cian Cuxack – Values Ft Azurah
Alternative Indie Electric Pop - that’s how I would sum up Cian’s releases that I have heard over the last three years. Not only is the music element of his tracks catchy and different, but with each release he brings vocalists I would probably never have heard otherwise. The featured singer on Values is Azurah aka Angel Lane from Daytona.
Soak this one up and be sure to keep yourself in the loop for all Cian’s future releases.
Stream Values HERE
If you like Ray Recommends, check out the February edition here.
