November A&R Department: Maicín, tekekura, Danxgerous & more

There are A&R Dept. favourites aplenty in the first batch of artists to be confirmed for the Eurosonic 2027 showcase festival in northern Holland, which runs from January 13-16 and has Ireland as its spotlight country.

Proudly flying the flag will be – drum roll, please! –  Aaron Rowe, BABYRAT, Black Nylon, Bleech 9:3, Bradley Marshall, BROOKI, Dave Lofts, Esmeralda Road, F3miii, GAG REFLEX, Hotgirl, McGrath, mischa and the bear, MOIO, pôt-pot, Shamrock Showband, Sei Green, Sell Everything, THEATRE, The Wran and Therapy Horse.

Needless to say, Hot Press will once again be in the thick of the Groningen live action.

There’s a huge industry buzz developing around Maicín, a five-piece folk rock band from Cork who are supporting The Pogues in Dublin, Belfast and Killarney in the run up to Christmas and before that pay a November 27 visit to Dingle for the latest edition of Other Voices.

New single ‘Mouth Open Wide’ finds them working with Oli Deakin who’s previously produced the likes of CMAT, Elanor Moss and Swimming Bell.

With delicious harmonies, distorted guitars, Omnichord, harmonica, a lap steel twanging away and a Sultans Of Ping-esque quirkiness – there’s definitely something in the River Lea water – they sound like serious contenders.

Joining Maicín at the recent Left Of The Dial showcase event in Rotterdam were tekekura who’ve previously been described by us as “weird and wonderful” and make a glorious, shimmering, synthy alt. rock noise.

New single ‘hi-chew’ is a beaut and will get a live airing on November 27 when they play Upstairs @ Whelan’s and then decamp to Other Voices.

The title is a reference to lead singer Rachel Tan’s favourite childhood sweets.

“There’s a bit of nostalgia and regret mixed in there,” she reflects. “It overtly points at a romantic relationship, but extends to any other opportunity that you might have given up in pursuit of the ‘right thing to do’.”

We’re loving Danxgerous, AKA Irish-Czech singer-songwriter Daniela Mariti who was this year’s FM104 A New Local Hero pick and gave a very good account of herself at the Dublin Academy live event.

Citing the likes of boygenius, Clairo and Big Thief as influences, she’s just completed a headlining European tour which included stop-offs in Italy where she’s been building great momentum.

Attention now turns to her Old Souls album, recorded in California and choc-full of earworms.

“I think of Old Soul as my own modern fable,” she explains. “It’s about an ancient character wandering through a strange, shimmering world where dreams don’t unfold the way she imagined.”

Bucket justify BBC 6Music calling them “Dublin’s loudest band” with the first-ever vinyl release of their Muck and Mosaic EPs, which they’ve managed to squeeze on to the same 12”.

There’s also a new digital single, ‘Strung Out’, to annoy the neighbours with.

From respective garage punk and metal/hardcore backgrounds, singer and guitarist Cian Dahdouh and Emmet McNamee met at college and have since been joined by former Bricknasty drummer Korey Thomas.

Also causing local house prices to plummet are Trähbag, a Dublin duo comprising Zap Dickson on bass, vocals and harmonica and Pijus Furmaniukas who sings/shouts whilst beating the shit out of his drums.

The follow-up to their ‘My White Van’ single, ‘Bullet To My Brain2’ tells the story of a bystander who’s shot during a robbery and has a dark, funky feel.

Medieval Irish instrumentation combines with hyperpop to glorious effect on ‘Villain’, the latest from MURKY, an Irish-Kenyan trans musician and producer based in Dublin.

“I was inspired by the sounds of my childhood – from fantasy games using crunchy synths to live traditional music –and the feeling of wonder it instilled in me,” she reflects.

It’s the flagship single from new album Ollamh, which underlines MURKY’s love of similarly genre-straddling artists like Jane Remover, Esdeekid and 2hollis…

Our man with the golden ears, Terry McNally, is rightly impressed with Other Mother, a West Cork outfit whose Can’t Help But Feel Dramatic EP is a darkly malevolent delight.

Check the self-proclaimed “bubble grunge” merchants out at othermother.bandzoogle.com.

Meanwhile, the acts who impressed him at Irish Music Week include Mayo/Wicklow punk experimentalists Nerves, Irish-German gut punchers Gag Reflex and shoegaze-y Leesiders Mirrors – think The Cranberries, Mazzy Star and Just Mustard – who all had various Irish and UK industry people checking them out.