Thursday 25 October 2018

Chandler Juliet - tidal wave


It's great to hear a stripped back song that's rather engrossing. "tidal wave" (all lower case), is the latest song from Chandler Juliet, a singer/songwriter based in Los Angeles. Built around a simple guitar part and a subtle yet effective production style, the song is a ode to finding your place in the world once adolescence has passed by. It calls to mind a more organic version of "All I Need" by Air, which is no bad thing indeed.

"tidal wave" is taken from Chandler Juliet's upcoming E.P "elements", which is out in January 2019.

Wednesday 24 October 2018

Bring On The Night - Hurts At Hello


Bring on The Night are a Manchester based electro-rock duo, who for the time being have chosen to keep their identities secret, hence the Commedia dell'Arte masks in the above promo picture, although they have been involved in quite a few musical projects before this.

"Hurts At Hello" is their debut single, and offers a great introduction to their music. It's ostensibly a rock song, although it weaves in a more hip-hop, electronic production in such a way that it doesn't feel like too much of a distraction.

"Hurts At Hello" is out now.

Saturday 20 October 2018

Conor Mason - We Watched The Sky Rotate


Derry based singer/songwriter Conor Mason has been involved with several music projects over the past few years, including being involved with blog favourites PORTS & Our Krypton Son. He's also released a number of solo albums over the years, with his first new album under his own name since 2012 due out next month.

As well as featuring a new version of a track that we first wrote about back in 2011 (which unfortunately is no longer available on the interwebs), the album also features the rather nice single "We Watched The Sky Rotate". If you're familiar with PORTS, it's musically in a similar musical area, an atmospheric piano-led folk track with a wistful & tender central melody.

"We Watched The Sky Rotate" is taken from Conor Mason's 4th solo album, "On The Surface", which is out on 2nd November.

Tuesday 16 October 2018

Party Fears - Dog Star


Formed in Korea, based in Berlin, and with members from Northern Ireland & Australia (if you know a more continent-spanning band, then you've got more time on your hands than me), Party Fears are a group that I have known about for some time, even though it's only been recently that I've taken the time to listen to their music.

Their name has been etched into my psyche for the last year and a bit, largely because their stickers appear to have been strategically placed in Belfast city centre along the route that I take every Monday to Friday on my walk to that place that I go to every Monday to Friday. I also bumped into them earlier this year when they were at a Jealous of The Birds gig in the Oh Yeah Centre, where they spent quite a bit of time hiding behind a curtain in the venue.

But it is their music that they're most known for, and having released a warmly received album in 2017, they have just released a new single, "Dog Star", and if you're new to their music, it's a pretty great jumping-in point. It's an ace slice of disco-inspired art-pop which is quite infectious and poppy in spite of the sombre theme of the lyrics.

"Dog Star" is taken from their upcoming E.P "Just Friends", which is out on 12th November.

Monday 15 October 2018

The Metaphorical Boat Podcast Episode 08 - The Northern Ireland Music Prize 2018


The nominations have been announced for the 6th annual Northern Ireland Music Prize, the annual award given for the best album from Northern Ireland over the past 12 months. This year’s ceremony, on November 15th, promises to be the biggest to date. It will be held in the Ulster Hall for the first time, and in addition to the best album category, it will also feature new awards for Best Single (which will be decided by a public vote), Best Live Act, and the Oh Yeah Contender award for the best up and coming act. And for the first time, there will be a cash prize for all the winners on the night. 

The nominees in each of the categories are:

Best Album

And So I Watch You From Afar - The Endless Shimmering
Ash - Islands
Bicep - Bicep
Brand New Friend - Seatbelts For Aeroplanes
Ciaran Lavery - Sweet Decay
Girls Names - Stains on Silence
Hannah Peel - Mary Casio: Journey to Cassiopeia
Malojian - Let Your Weirdness Carry You Home
Robocobra Quartet - Plays Hard To Get
Ryan Vail - Distorted Shadows
Snow Patrol - Wildness
The Wood Burning Savages - Stability

Best Single

Arvo Party - Liberté
Ash - Buzzkill
Brand New Friend - Girl
Cherym - Take It Back
Hot Cops - Decay
Joshua Burnside - A Man of High Renown
Kitt Philippa - Human
Robocobra Quartet - You’ll Wade
ROE - Hey Thomas
Rosborough - Burn Blue
Snow Patrol - Life on Earth
The Wood Burning Savages - I Don’t Know Why I Do It To Myself


Oh Yeah Contender Award

Cherym
Hand Models
Hunkpapa
Rebekah Fitch
Roe

Best Live Act

And So I Watch You From Afar
Brand New Friend
Robocobra Quartet
Ryan Vail
The Wood Burning Savages

To discuss the 2018 Northern Ireland Music Prize, the captain of The Metaphorical Boat, Christopher McBride, is joined on the podcast by Robert Brown, the editor of Northern Irish music website Chordblossom, to talk through all the nominees, and who we think will win each of the prizes on the night. Plus, find out what happened to the captain when he found himself sat beside the lead singer of Snow Patrol at a prior Northern Ireland Music Prize ceremony.

Listen or download now on Soundcloud, Google Podcasts or on Apple Podcasts: