Mull It Over 024: The Single File
It's Bandcamp Friday, so here's ten essential releases from Northern Ireland to soundtrack your weekend. Featuring And So I Watch You From Afar and Sophie French.
Happy Bandcamp Friday! To celebrate, I have plucked ten of the best releases from Northern Irish artists over the past month. As ever, I have included direct links to the artists’ Bandcamp pages where, today only, they will receive full commission if you buy their songs. Where this is not available, I have added the Spotify link and of course you can follow the official Mull It Over Substack playlist, included at the end of the article.
And what a month it has been. With the long overdue return of who I’m officially coining ‘Northern Ireland’s band’, such is the goodwill for these guys in the region, And So I Watch You From Afar are finally back and doing what they do best - serving up intricate and emotive instrumental soup on the already classic sounding Do Mór. I can’t wait to hear what’s in store for this latest incarnation of ASIWYFA and their new album Megafauna, due out in August. A band I’m just truly excited to write about further. Clench Fists, Grit Teeth… Go!
Sophie French, on the other hand is a relatively new face on the local scene. After catching her tremendous Sunday afternoon set at Sound of the Shore on the banks of Lough Neagh last weekend (a similar energy to witnessing Lorde soundtrack the collective comedown at Glastonbury in 2022 on the Pyramid Stage), I was delighted to be able to include her latest single Riviera on The Single File this month.
I can’t get enough of this track. To The Moon, Sophie’s first single is a more soulful offering. Riviera, on the other hand (and while I’m in the coining mood), is pure pop fusion. Some of these harmonies are pure late 90s Max Martin. But in reality, Sophie’s sound is her own, and this is the sound of Summer 2024. Pour a glass of wine and listen to Riviera in your back garden this weekend, I guarantee you’ll play it twice.
And without further ado, here’s the rest of the best from May. Enjoy!
And So I Watch You From Afar - Do Mór
Sophie French - Riviera
RÚARY - The Art of Letting Go
Exhalers - Yellow Belly
Lucy Gaffney - Pitfalls EP
VERA - No Help From You
Thom Southern - JUST WANNA GET TO THE OCEAN EP
Strange New Places - Foreign Cities
Sarah McCreedy - Why Am I Still Here?
SX-70 - Past Joys
Thank you for reading the 24th edition of the Mull It Over newsletter. Last week’s feature on the Belfast hip-hop scene quickly became one of the most popular articles so I want to again thank everyone who subscribed off the back of that piece. There are some truly class songs on this week’s Single File, so please get your ears wrapped around them ASAP and purchase a song or two where you can.
As ever, Happy Friday everybody and happy listening!
The Mull It Over Substack Playlist
Some great tunes featured this week 👌🏻