Ciara O'Neill - Le Soleil

It's been three years since the release of "Arrow", the second album from Northern Irish singer/songwriter Ciara O'Neill, who for our money has one of the best voices of any vocalist from this neck of the woods, and who came on the podcast around the release of that record (and if anyone who heard that podcast was wondering - since then I've finally finished the copy of Norwegian Wood that had been gathering dust beside my bed, although now I've got a copy of Kafka On The Shore to get my teeth into instead).

She's been quiet on the music front in the past year owing to you-know-what, but with better days ahead, she's released a wonderful new song. "Le Soleil" (which translates as "the sun" in French, thank you "B" in GCSE) is a a hopeful song of brighter days ahead, with a rich production that recalls the chilled, lush production of Zero 7 or The Beatles at their most relaxed, all topped off with the wonderful vocals of O'Neill. 

"Le Soleil" is taken from the E.P "La Lune" (which means "the moon" in French - once again, thanks GCSEs), which is due for release in the autumn.

Ciara O'neill · Le Soleil

Invaderband - I Won't Remember You

Derry-based group Invaderband first came to our attention a few years ago through their self-titled debut album and its infectious lead single "Not Alan Rickman", a short-sharp ode to the late thespian's greatest movie roles.

Four years later, and with album #2 on the horizon, the group have released their new single. Clocking in a less than 2 1/2 minutes, "I Won't Remember You" is sardonic ode to perpetual forgetfulness, and it's a great post-punky track which calls to mind the music of Franz Ferdinand or the Buzzcocks. It's an infectious, snappy little earworm of a track.

"I Won't Remember You" is out now, and is taken from their forthcoming album "Peter Gabriel". 

Adam Leonard / Invaderband · Invaderband - I Won't Remember You

Lauren Bird - Keep Trying

 

The Metaphorical Boat has been fans of Strabane singer/songwriter Lauren Bird for some time, enjoying her fantastic 2017 album "The Inbetween", and even having her on as a guest on the podcast around the time of its release.

Since then, she's been relatively quiet on the new music front, bar a one-off single release in 2018, but at the end of last year she released "Millennials", a song that saw Lauren taking her music in a new direction, most notably with the absence of the ukulele, the instrument that she's most associated with.

Her new single, "Keep Trying", is also ukulele-free, although it's not something that's too concerning, given how much this song struck a chord with me. It's a tender song about self-acceptance, about learning to love yourself for who you are, a song for "anyone who still struggles to look in the mirror." As someone who spent 29 years of his life looking in the mirror, hating the person he say in the reflection, it's the sort of song I wish I could have heard many years ago, and hopefully it's a song that can provide comfort and support to the people who need it.

Plus, the music video has cute dogs in it. And everyone sensible likes dogs. 

"Keep Trying" is available now.