April A&R department: Fizzy Orange, Darcy Faith, Jordan Adetunji and more

Sadhbh Keane impresses with ‘She Really Loves You’, an almost impossibly gorgeous love song, which is bathed in strings.

Despite being a mere 16-years old, the Dublin street musician has already joined the Christmas Busk outside the Gaiety Theatre at Glen Hansard’s behest and released a debut EP last year, Passion + Paper, which caught the ear of Dermot Kennedy, 2fm, RTÉ Radio 1, iRadio, FM104, Cork’s 96FM and, of course, Hot Press.

She also did a bang up job of opening for Saibh Skelly recently in The Academy and has not far shy of 50,000 Spotify listeners…

We’re also loving ‘Out Da Way’, a funky spring bop from $ona Blue, a Sri-Lankan living in Dublin who describes the song as “a journey to find peace of mind.”

Melodic in the extreme, it’s got a bit of an Amy Winehouse vibe but she’s got her own thing going on too…

We’ve been banging on about 21-year-old Dublin popster Reii for the last year and will continue to do so because his new single, ‘bleed’, is an absolute beaut.

Built around a seriously soulful guitar loop, it’s an atmospheric affair which follows on from January’s equally evocative ‘fairytale’.

Saibh Skelly at the Hot Press Windmill Live Series with Lyra. Copyright Miguel Ruiz.

Causing a major buzz in Limerick are The PVP, AKA Personal Vanity Project, whose debut ‘Callan’ single is a s wall of scabrous post-punk noise with a sweet melody lurking behind it.

A lockdown coming together of multi-instrumentalist Chris Quigley, James Reidy from His Father’s Voice and Bleeding Heart Pigeons’ Brendan McInerney, the song was recorded in Belfast’s Start Together studio with Robocobra Quartet and Just Mustard man Chris Ryan producing…

After keeping a low profile for the past couple of years, Darcy Faith returns with Self-Medicated, a four-track EP which includes previous 2021 single ‘Bubbles’.

The chilliest of R&B, its other standout, ‘HOTC’, is a meditation on mental and how hard navigating modern life can be…
Pier, Italian alt. rocker Pierfrancesco Dessi, whets appetites for his The Harvest EP with ‘Like A Moth To A Flame’, a single that makes sense of the Jeff Buckley, Radiohead and Slowdive comparisons.

Written on a trip home to Sarroch in Sardinia, it finds him “between desire and self-destruction” and was co-produced by the adopted Dubliner with Ber Quinn whose CV also includes Lisa Hannigan, John Grant and The Divine Comedy.
Catch Pier live at Connolly’s of Leap (April 20) and The Workman’s Cellar, Dublin (May 12)…

There’s also a whiff of Jeff Buckley about ‘Good Aches’, the latest from seven-piece Dublin collective and he, the fool who one imagines also have a few Talking Heads, Sly & The Family Stone and Black Country New Road albums in their record collections.

Catch it live when they fittingly play an April Fool’s Day gig in Whelan’s, Dublin…

Currently residing in Glasgow, Belfast exile Jordan Adetunji blends rap, R&B and post-punk to glorious effect on ‘Zack And Code’.

Newly signed to RCA after Bring Me The Horizon’s Oli Sykes put a word in for him, Adetunji has the sound and look to go all the way…

A&R Dept. faves Fizzy Orange are as effervescent as ever on ‘Choo Choo’, a ‘60s-flavoured pean to the Dublin Area Rapid Transport trains, which jingles, jangles and boogie-woogie pianos in all the right paces.

It’s one of six tracks to be found on their Fizzy Orange In Mono EP which underlines the Dublin six-piece’s abundant potential.

They’ve been making major headway in the UK with a big Bush Hall, London show on May 4…

If it’s “bittersweet shapeshifting pop that occupies a mesmerising world somewhere between Grimes and PinkPantheress” you’re after, look no furth than ‘Double Cherry’, single no. 2 from Dublin newcomer Annie-Dog who we suspect is a Smashing Pumpkins fan.

With its breathy vocals and ethereal feel, it’s made for warm summer nights, which are hopefully just round the corner…
Along with widespread Irish support, she’s also picked up plays on Radio X, SiriusXM and BBC 6Music who’ve been a major factor in NewDad and SPRINTS both going top 30 recently in the UK.

Her busy summer kicks off with visits to the Dot To Dot Festival, Bristol (May 25); Dot To Dot Festival, Nottingham (26) and The Social, London (28)…

Following up 2022’s Sofa Sessions, which included a neat cover of Britney’s ‘Toxic’, are Galway’s Back To Winnipeg whose ‘Slowdown’ single has a slacker-y Weezer feel.

Which is an entirely good thing.