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.

Touma - Fading Out (Epilogue)

This is a blog post that has been nearly 10 years in the making. 

I first came across singer/songwriter Kacie Williams back in 2011 when I was living in the United States. I was on Spring Break in Nashville, Tennessee, and I went to a Battle of the Bands in the Mercy Lounge in the city - incidentally, it was at this Battle of the Bands where I saw Big Surr, the band that inspired me to start The Metaphorical Boat in the first place, so definitely an event that sticks in my mind. I got talking to Kacie at the gig (she was there to see Keegan DeWitt, who's gone on to score a smorgasbord of soundtracks since then), and after that made a note to check out her music going forward. 

She hadn't released as much music since then, but as of last year she has been releasing music under the name Touma, and has been building up a reputation on the local indie scene in Nashville. Her first single under this moniker, "Bodyguard", came out last year, and has now followed this up with "Fading Out (Epilogue)". It's a song that's very much of the epic pop variety and very much a widescreen heartbreak anthem. 

For those who haven't come across her work, it's a great introduction to the sound of Touma. Hopefully it won't be another 9 years before this blog writes about Kacie's music. 

Thrillhouse - 2045

A new addition to the burgeoning group of "bands who have named themselves after obscure references from The Simpsons", Brighton group Thrillhouse have been releasing quite a few well-received singles over the past year or so. The song however that caught our attention is "2045". A song that ruminates on the passage of time, the song mixes the songwriting style and vocals of Talking Heads or 80s era David Bowie with a production style that calls to mind acts like Yeasayer to create a great song that toes the fine line between eclectic and overwhelming. 

"2045" is available now in all the usual places, as well as some unusual places, one presumes.