Fintan McKahey
Lost Balloons
Out: 27th August


Singer/songwriter Fintan McKahey presents the jaw-dropping Lost Balloons. Singing in his usual dusty style with a warm-room recording of his acoustic guitar, this latest number shows us what Cork already knows. They have been enjoying Fintan McKahey's productions since 2016. After the release of 2019's God Games, the world opened its doors to the sounds and intentions of this fast-rising star. A dab hand at all the instruments you'd find in a rock band and a master on the buttons, along with his team of dedicated music elves, Fintan McKahey climbs another step with Lost Balloons.


A chorus effect brings the guitar alive as a rhythmic jam spreads out with glistening bumps in the road. Fintan McKahey begins the song, his voice is deep and emotional, the words slowly pour over the bars as the acoustic guitar rings and slides in between the bars. Melody forms and rises before the music fades from view.


Find out more by visiting Fintan McKahey online


Listen to Fintan McKahey on Spotify


Apple


and YouTube


Connect with Fintan McKahey on Instagram


Facebook


and Twitter

John Amadon
Monarchs of the Spukhaus


This is getting beyond serious, now on album number five, John Amadon trumps his previous fame and success of The Bursting Sheaf and Seven Stars. This next release reimagines his talents in the craft of sound-good-feel-good composing to yet another level of brilliance. With a recording process undertaken during lockdown, the hush of the neighbourhood gave Amadon the perfect zone for rewiring his know-how into yet another creative tulpa. Long-term bandmates and music companions Scott McPherson (Beck, Elliot Smith, Bright Eyes, Neil Finn), William Slater, and Paul Brainard (Richmond Fontaine) each lend their expertise to give this multi-instrumental work its premium ingredients.


The music begins on a track called Poor Teresa. It begins with a catchy guitar groove which sprouts wings then flies into a flock of sounds. Drums, bass, acoustic guitar, and vocal all join in with the riff. The voice carries a fantastic harmony that hangs just behind in a cool breeze. A great range of notes splashes melody across kinetic guitar parts that evolve and flow unlike anything made by a machine. A smooth rush of acoustic guitar follows, a piano dwells in the sidelines waiting for its taxi. Blues notes roll out from the highway corner pulling standing-rainwater along with the turning wheels. A slush of emotions and gathering sentiments overflow as the crafty bars follow the line of the horizon stretching over Entering A Northwest Town.


A folk edge pushes the line further afield as cymbal splashes elevate the bar. Neat tempos fathom a twisting melody of chord strikes and vocal swervery that shimmies on a coiling spring of progression. Drums pick up the pace and a bass guitar punches in the time. Pentacle Mind shows the map of intention that prevents honest communication. Next is Without Doubt. A rock sensibility chugs like a vintage engine and homely moreish descriptions of music define the mood. Harmonica is added, inviting yet more colour to the vibrant palette. Funky layers of melody swap between steel plucks and bottle-necked fretless swings that amplify the atmosphere.


Harvest The Clones begins and it reminds me of the 1970s. I wasn't there, it's called sehnsucht as it allows me to feel like I was. A rolling progression of hill-side like composition brings out colours and feelings from first the vocal and then a mixture of instruments that each carry a complimentary focus. Next up, an electric guitar with ample distortion revs up the inner fire and creates a forum of snappy drums and shredded power-chords. An uplifting melody climbs the slopes of rock with backpack and camera, taking moments to look back and see how far they've come. Lighthouse Keeper goes round and round like a reel of rhythms that elevate and shine out across interchangeable waterscapes.


A rumble of chords meet harmonious melody as Pills On The Nightstand opens up. A melancholy vibe winds like fast-growing ivy across once loved and cherished garden toys. Choral voices rise like the warmth on sunlit pillows and tuneful bursts of melody wrap like pieces of time preserved for moments on end. Then, a fiery rock n roll energy chokes up the engine and pushes fuel into the chamber. A boom of power collides with the riff in between the voice to provide a laid-back roar through easy-going fast-lanes. Parable Of The Lone Mare gallops along at a suitable pace to absorb the blurring of life around us.


A bash of drums turns into a sleek chord progression that's effervescent with tempo. The vocal-line begins, highly manicured strings vibrate in tuneful bursts that twinkle with the metal clash of cymbals. Lyrics about a mad dog bring unique imagery to Flamethrowers In The Mall. Perhaps it's a zombie attack? Soulful blues riffs form spiralling eddies within the churning torrent of guitar and percussion as the song builds and dips with musical clarity. Francine begins with a plucked guitar melody that honours the great folk musicians. Twiddles of tone form chords and drumming that rise from the bedrock of skilful melody. A silky layering of classical production sweeps over the melodious and catchy lines.


Another drum-fill begins the song as a piano and guitar duet in rumbling drives of tune. The vocal builds the main character with the familiar harmonisation and delay that warms and breaths life into the sound. To Get Back Home carries the feeling of fulfilment from adventure and renewal of one's place in the world. The album ends up on Here You Are, and here we are, at the end. A chugging guitar builds with drums and melody until its time for the singing to start. Folkish melody hits us as the music dives under the blanket with us. Character builds from drums and guitar and undercurrents of harmony give fresh feeling to the notes. A memorable ending to a classic album, the scope of feeling offered up is cavernous.


You can find John Amadon on Spotify


Facebook


Apple


and Bandcamp

​Noah Kite
Drunk Lil Guy
TBR: 3rd September


Chamber folk meets contemporary story-telling as the traditional arc of romance is left for the birds and made realistic. The jagged-edge presentation of homely and deeply-rooted musical style brings son of a therapist and an acting coach Noah Kite closer towards his pinnacle. A stunning LP of ten expertly written tunes, each performed live by a full band in Noah's employ, is waiting to greet us at the start of the coming month. Showcasing the billowing talents of Colin Corner on the upright bass, Laura Gershman on Oboe/English Horn, Alan Cook on Percussion, and Esme Schwall providing cello plus backing vocals, the album was produced by the world-renowned Sebastian Rogers and mastered by Adam Gonsalves at Telegraph.


A groove laden drumbeat reveals the album, subtle orchestrations rise in the heat of the mixture and vocals enter on a white horse. Human elocution dances a ballet on the pitches as a jazz inspired flux of melody lifts in emotive bars. Carrion Birds ripples with sonic charm as motifs and progressions radiate with progressive motion. The music focusses and greets a powerful edge that's sharpened by frantic harmonisation within loosely struck boundaries.


Violin and guitar push through a mist of memory as the build-up sinks into track two. More poetic lyrics fathom a path through the overgrown garden of human intention. Scored and cinematic backdrops frame a dramatic volley of impassioned song. A dual meaning with delicate notes mingled on powerful thoughts, like a winter flower the cold wind saps away at its fragility. Hair Ties brings so much meaning into such a simple ornament.


It's followed by Our Friends which opens on a pretty acoustic guitar. Noah Kite opens in song with warbling emotions, choreographed feelings swell and squash as pressures of living subtly caress the painful areas. Wind instruments buffet the winds like washing on the line, its clean scent aroma filling the surrounding air. A meandering progression laps the river's edge on prancing maypoles as the story continues.


Next, a sudden imprint of heaviness pushes the lines a little further out. The big-band sound muses behind the rock n roll time that levitates the jazz prettiness into stage-light. Rummaging in the shadows, harmonies and melodies decorate with spectral intuition on formations of long-forgotten postures within sound. Despite All Of This slows down, where it began on a roar, the energy falls and reveals what perhaps lay behind the mask of vigour worn so vividly. As it culminates, a certain stronger and more balanced sense of ambition raises its head before close.


The title track follows, it shines with an orchestrated introduction in which the whole group sway with one voice, pushing fractions of the whole with individual forms. The vocal begins, forlorn lines reflect like faces in the water with each passing description. The musical aspect of the story moves with directed ballast, weighing down the fluttering song as the stormy gales of reality tear at its blanket of comforting thoughts.


The vocal continues, as no music fills the space, and a melody from before rises with a refreshed and positively attuned outburst. A playful and sporadic feel jumps into the stillness as the lyrics continue with familiar feels along the new sense of joyous affirmation. Take Me To Your Room lodges like that moment when everything works and the chemistry fits the equation. A verse and chorus structure is more apparent, and the music had a radio sensibility to it.


It's Right Again that follows, strings sweep up a plucked guitar melody that creates a jig like reel. The foundation stone of rhythm and key allows branches of violin and drum to expel various internal apparati in internally guided whispers. The vocal provided by Noah Kite, bounces and glimmers in fascinations and spells. Female voices chorus beneath in a spongy texture of vibration and charm. A shift in the direction of music reveals a sudden drop of colour and majesty as the magical timbres escape their shade.


Guitar begins talking to us in a classical mode and subtle drums and string waver within a capsule of paragraph and memory. Buoyant phrases mirror heavy weaves that rest in loose and choppy waters. Oboe and violin compare notes on silken blankets where jealous eyes occasion to fall. This Body is perhaps naked, insecure, yet feigning complete confidence.


Bass and guitar work in unison to bring a choppy and moving melody. Violin crests on the edge of sound with vibrationary harmonics. Voice once more strides into the scene, casting his magic with each word. The eloquence of the lyrics is buried deeply within the fertile ground of super-competence in the composition. Orchestral and fantastical countermeasures in sound describe everything a lyric cannot touch in qualitative quests for truth. Corvallis leaves us feeling entertained and serenaded.


The final track features Catherine Feeny, called Shoreline, the intro melody remarks of traditional folk and vintage animation. The lyrics dip and climb with tidal impetus, and the duet of male to female voice allows a wholesome and purified layering to the already clearly defined atmosphere. Novel edges to the tonal journey knit starlit fireplaces together with friends and superb tenets of togetherness.


Find out more by visiting Noah Kite online


You can follow Noah Kite on Instagram


and Facebook


Listen to Noah Kite on Spotify


Apple


and YouTube

​

Prana Songbird
The River (Featuring Randy Stephens)


French Creole performing artist Prana Songbird works from Florida. She's recently toured with the Tribute Show In The Company Of DIVAS, which gained huge successes throughout her home state. Already known for her leading role in the film Love Song & Power and for singing in various TV commercials, Prana Songbird still finds the time to release new material for her fans. With help from the award-winning producer, Thomas Marolda, who has also worked with Rod Stewart, The Killers, and Jon Bon Jovi, as well as a number of big-name films, this latest single gets everything right.


It opens with a funky bass melody that progresses into drums, trumpets, and guitar. A groovy beat unravels a smooth atmosphere that swaggers and swings the hips. Prana Songbird begins singing, her voice breaks the ice and delivers a punch of powerful femininity. Perfect tonality rises on the edges of the notes in a jazzy dance that holds a beautiful shape. The video shows Prana Songbird singing her song under a radiant tree under which children play happily and care-free. A lead guitar runs through an uplifting blues stroke that glistens with a rock-n-roll sensation as the music culminates in an emotive and projected crest of song.


Find out more by visiting Prana Songbird online


You can follow Prana Songbird on Facebook


and Instagram


Listen to Prana Songbird on Spotify

​

Wendy Godfrey
Venus


Released today, our world has just got a little bit more tropical as Ireland's Afro-Swing young talent Wendy Godfrey struts Venus. Wendy's RnB style adapts beautifully to her cultural vibes radiating from the mother-land. A massive year of releases and amassing fans has her still in the headlights with new work once more fuelling the fire. With the release of Purple Emotions EP last year, Wendy Godfrey was propelled upward by performing on local radio and reaching international media simultaneously. Alongside writing and working with luminary names such as IK3, Andre Fazaz, and Evans Junior, Wendy Godfrey finds time to continue her blazing personal journey with Venus.


A smooth shuffle unravels the cosmos as a guitar gently blows the coals. The heat rises, a steamy atmosphere opens. Wendy Godfrey, what a voice! The tones resonate with humanity and rounded timbres that sit neatly on the notes. The music breathes in and out with relaxing and dramatic lyrics that float on an ocean of calm flowing composition.


Follow Wendy Godfrey on Instagram


Facebook


and Twitter


Listen to Wendy Godfrey on Spotify
​

Jenny Laws
Everything You Know About Me


Today's artist has made a name for herself as a backing singer for greats such as rock icons INXS and the easy-riding Micheal Buble. Clearly talented, she's managed by Prince's former mother-hen Jacqui Thompson. Now with her own sound, that has already earned a support slot for the Bruno Mars gig, it's time to listen to the latest single.


The song starts with a groove of finger-clicks and plucked acoustic guitar. A thumping bass drum keeps time as the flowing percussion flutters around the steady strings. More melody in the lyrics adds another layer to the flow. An RnB atmosphere drenches the piece in satin and silk as the various energies dance in the mix. Filled with catchy fills and vocal hooks, we can expect to recognise this one as soon as it plays.


Find out more about Jenny Laws on her website


Follow Jenny Laws on Facebook


and Twitter

​