The Inside Track: Eckhart and soul

When we said goodbye to Bjork, Mani and the boys at Electric Picnic, we also bid a final farewell to the summer festival season. Luckily, there are lots of highly-anticipated releases and accompanying tours to keep us going as winter creeps in.
Cork’s Hooray For Humans have just announced that their debut long-player will hit the streets this October. The album was recorded this summer with Ross O’Donovan of Ten Past Seven, Waiting Room and Cars In Walls fame. A new version of the highly-infectious ‘Signature’ is up on their MySpace page, and it will be released as a digital single shortly. The video will be shot in Cork on Saturday September 22, and the band are currently seeking extras! To be in with a chance of immortalising yourself in music video history, just email [email protected].
In other audiovisual news, Crayonsmith will be performing live on The Once A Week Show With Dustin And Sinead, on Saturday September 29 on RTE 2. They’ll be playing ‘Bad Days Move On’ from the new album, which is due out in early 2008.
Fellow labelmates Giveamanakick are also finalising work on their new album, which will also be making an appearance early next year. You’ll just have to make do with some stellar live performances in the interim. Check hotpress.com for details.
In other news from the south, angular alt-rockers Hope Is Noise are heading across the pond for a US west coast tour during September. The band are co-headlining with the wonderfully-monikered San Diego post-hardcore outfit Hostile Comb-over. It has been an exciting year for the People’s Republic lads who released their debut album Applaud Friends... The Comedy Is Over through Rimbaud Records last April.
Any Dublin news, I hear you ask? Well, it’s all go for rockers Chrome Horse who, fresh from a blistering performance in Crawdaddy, take to the stage again in The Sugar Club on September 13 as part of the Garageland/LiveInYourLivingRoom.com series of showcase gigs, then visit Belfast’s Rotterdam on September 26 and also squeeze in an appearance at the Hard Working Class Heroes festival at the end of the month. The band are working on their next single ‘Wall Of Death’, which is due for release shortly. After taking care of live business, the guys travel to Poland to record their debut album, which should be available early next year.
Suddyn release their hotly-anticipated new single ‘Gravity’ on September 21. The song was mixed in the prestigious Grouse Lodge studios and mastered by none-other-than John Davis of Snow Patrol, Arctic Monkeys, Razorlight, and Kaiser Chiefs fame. For a sneak preview, check out www.myspace.com/suddyn
Hot Press fave Erik Eckhart has been busy recording a new EP at Sun Studios recently. The four-tracker is due for an October outing and includes three new tracks, plus a new version of ‘Katie’s Waiting’ featuring Stephen Sensbach from the National Symphony Orchestra on cello. The song previously appeared on last year’s highly-lauded debut mini-album Lost And Found. Check out forthcoming live appearances from Erik on hotpress.com...
La vita et bella in The Kinetiks camp. The band gave a roof-raising performance at The Beck’s Fusion launch recently alongside Neosupervital and aim to equal this at Cois Fharraige on September 8. The Dublin four-piece have just finished recording at Grouse Lodge with producer Gareth Mannix (Republic of Loose, Director, Delorentos) and the fruit of their labour, the single ‘Shuffle Your Feet’ will be released digitally on October 12.