:: New Pagans – Harbour (single, Big Scary Monsters)
WHILE we await the release of their debut album The Seed, The Vessel, The Roots and All on March 19, Belfast's New Pagans have just released the second single from it in the form of Harbour, a dynamic and atmospheric indie rocker with lyrics inspired by New Pagans leader Lyndsey McDougall's recent pregnancy.
"Pregnancy and birth are often feared and presented as unnatural and terrifying experiences," explains Lyndsey of the song, which follows the band's previous release, Christian Boys.
"Indeed, in the Bible birth is announced as a form of punishment for women. Of course, not all pregnancies or births go to plan, but it is important that women feel empowered and informed to make the right decisions for themselves and their babies.
"Hopefully, Harbour will give the band the opportunity to demonstrate how natural and empowering pregnancy and birth can be."
Admirable sentiments indeed: it's also excellent for dancing to, so engage your brain and your butt before grabbing a listen via Spotify or wherever you get your streaming music from. Find the band online at Newpagans.com, where you can also pre-order The Seed, The Vessel, The Roots and All.
:: Invaderband – I Won't Remember You (single, Tectona Grandis)
AS A life-long sufferer of short-sightedness – literally and metaphorically – I'm apt to walk right past people I've known for years simply because they are reduced to a vague blur in my field of vision without the aid of corrective specs or contact lenses.
Of course, then you get older, the auld grey cells start to fade and you start encountering people who say you've actually met them before, even though you wouldn't know them from Adam, glasses or no glasses.
Resigning one's self to such incidents as a fact of later life is what has inspired the cracking new single from Derry's Invaderband, a catchy garage pop nugget titled I Won't Remember You – a slogan which will surely be slapped on the back of an official Invaderband T-shirt before too long, perhaps with the song's plaintive refrain of "Please remember me" across the front.
"It's not about anyone in particular, just sadly a regular occurrence these days – simple autobiography," explains frontman Adam Leonard of the memorable – pun intended – first cut from his band's forthcoming second LP, Peter Gabriel (no, really).
"The original title was Forgettable, That's What You Are. Back in socialising times, I was often nonplussed when meeting people I'd apparently talked to before. I could be cruel and say these people did not make an impression, but it's actually my fault. My brain is either not recording memories correctly, or not retrieving them, or both.
"It's a cliche to say 'my memory is terrible', but I'm absolutely certain I'm a world class forgetter. Total non-recall. Sorry, who are you again?"
Cut from a similar cloth as Mudhoney's wry and rambunctious reflection on middle-aged memory farts, I Don't Remember You, I Won't Remember You is due for release on March 12. You can pre-order this top tune right now from Invaderband.com, where you'll also find a link that will enable the purchase of their excellent eponymous debut album from a couple of years ago.
More news on Peter Gabriel (and indeed, the new LP from Invaderband, ho-ho) as and when I receive it. In the meantime, can someone please utilise the song-title Unforgettable (That's What You Aren't)? Ta.
:: Open House Festival – Court House Sessions
WITH no return to live music on the horizon yet – indeed, the rest of 2021 is looking like a bust for gig goers, unless the government somehow manages to get everyone their second dose of vaccine by the end of the summer – online live streams and pre-recorded shows are the closest we can get to experiencing the thrill of live musical performance.
Happily, more and more organisations are providing us with the means to curate our own personal music festivals: indeed, today finds Bangor's Open House Festival throwing their hat into the virtual gig ring with their new Court House Sessions series.
The Court House in question is the old Court House on Bangor's seafront which, as some readers may remember, is now in the Open House Festival charity's ownership following the first ever community asset transfer in the wake of a five-year development and fundraising campaign.
Thus, from today, the Court House Sessions will feature a series of 11 recorded performances lasting from 10 to 20 minutes, all filmed in various rooms within the building under strict Covid guidelines.
All the participating artists are based in the Bangor area and bring a mix of music and spoken word to the project: the line-up includes Stephen Macartney and Ken Haddock, Aeons, poets Moyra Donaldson and Amy Louise Wyatt, Bríen, Opmst, Gilmore, the JBR Project with vocalist Ada Storm, The Darkling Air, The Florentinas and acclaimed local author Colin Bateman.
The sessions will be released in a staggered schedule from today through to mid-March via the Open House YouTube channel, and also available to view through the organisation's website Openhousefestival.com and social media platforms.
"This is a wonderful opportunity for us to show people the interior of the Court House as it stands right now, before the full restoration project begins in April," says Open House director Kieran Gilmore.
"When planning the project, we felt it was fitting to celebrate the wealth of talent we have on our own doorstep, something we haven't been able to do for a while. We weren't able to involve all our local artists, but believe the line-up reflects a strong cross-section of established and emerging musicians and writers.
"We look forward to welcoming many more artists and performers to the Court House once the renovation work is completed, and to the festival in general just as soon as we can safely do so."
First up is music from Bangor alt-rockers The Florentinas, who you can watch today via Tinyurl.com/CourtHouseSessions.
And, if you'd like to ask Colin Bateman a question during his time in the Courthouse Sessions dock, email it to Lesley@openhousefestival.com. You can ask him anything, so long as it's actually related to his work, and they will select a few favourites to put to him during filming.
More line-up news as and when it arrives at Noise Annoys towers.
