The Point of Everything

Paul Noonan and Brian Crosby aka Pilgrims release their debut album Wintering on Friday, January 30. Built around hushed piano and an intimate vocal, the album prizes space and atmosphere. Over nine track,s it moves from tender stillness to shimmering moments of euphoria. Paul and Brian were in Juniper together in the 1990s before continuing with Bell X1 into the 2000s - Brian left the band in 2008, going on to become an acclaimed film composer. Meanwhile Paul has had solo projects over the past year, including Printer Clips and HousePlants as well as performing shows with Gemma Hayes and Lisa Hannigan - all while Bell X1 continue to inspire.

Buy Wintering: https://pilgrimsireland.bandcamp.com/album/wintering

Pilgrims live dates:
January 30: Ballincollig Winter Music Festival, Cork
February 1: All We Have Are Days, Limerick
February 5: Riverbank Arts Centre, Kildare
February 6: Whale Theatre, Greystones, Wicklow
February 7: The Social, Gaoth Dobhair, Co Donegal
February 8: Hawk’s Well Theatre, Sligo
February 12: Spirit Store, Dundalk
February 14: Solstice Arts Centre, Navan
February 15: Watergate Theatre, Kilkenny
February 19: Connolly’s of Leap, West Cork
February 20: Live at St Luke’s, Cork
February 21: Green Acres, Wexford
March 1: Róisín Dubh, Galway

Dublin artist Ian Nyquist is a composer who released the album Gilded in September 2025. It's focused on the bodhrán, pushing the instrument 'beyond its ordinary confines' channelled through modelling software. During this conversation, Ian talks about his upbringing, how he came to the bodhrán (only about three years ago), why limitations on music-making can be revelatory, the Irish artists interesting in taking 'traditional' Irish music to new places, the urban environment, the Complex whose future is in doubt as a music venue, and we discuss the creation of Gilded.

Buy Gilded: https://iannyquist.bandcamp.com/album/gilded

The beating heart around which 'Gilded' is woven is the bodhrán, a native Irish frame drum with which Nyquist uses innovative techniques to push the instrument beyond its ordinary confines. Mirroring the instrument's sound through modelling software, the album's title itself nods to a theme of transformation, suggesting something familiar burnished to a new brilliance, giving it new life. The result being a truly unique unfurling of the harmonic, hypnotic and rhythmic potential of the bodhrán.

This spirit of transformation is most vividly realised through Nyquist's collaborations with some of Ireland's most evocative voices. On a version of 'Leis a'bháta Dhubh Dharaich (The Black Oaken Boat)', Edinburgh-born, Dublin-based singer-songwriter lona Zajac lends her haunting vocals to an old Gaelic rowing song, her voice holds the track in a timeless tradition even as Nyquist's arrangement swirls around her; an anchor in a storm- tossed sea.

Similarly, on 'Úna Bhán (Fair Una)', Cork's sean-nós singer Lorcán Mac Mathúna brings a sacred and ethereal quality to the 18th-century love song, his voice floating assuredly over Nyquist's sparse, shimmering arrangement.

An original composition by Laucan, 'What Else Am I For?', marries introspective, dream-washed vocals with an impressively fine-tuned production style. Once again, Nyquist demonstrates his ability to connect diverse genres and musical traditions.

Ireland's music scene continues to branch out and evolve, spurred on by the artists-like Nyquist; with 'Gilded', he melds the sound worlds of old and new, of technique and heart, of heritage and reinvention. His work resists neat distinctions and rigid genre typologies, while retaining a sense of where he calls home.

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Flynn Johnson released his debut album The Green Box Theory via Golden Éire Records on November 7. It's a concept record about place, memory and everyday decision-making in mid-to-late 2000s Dublin 15. The project treats the estate's green electricity box as a meeting point, memorial and recurring narrator, tracing the "children of the hill" as they learn to find beauty in a place many people describe as broken.

In this interview, Flynn Johnson talks through his journey as a young rapper from Blanchardstown, exploring the duality of his hometown and the responsibility he feels to inspire the next generation. He reflects on the evolution of Irish hip hop, the collaborative energy of Golden Éire Records, and the guiding influence of his mentor ROC. We start off by talking about the closing track on the album, '4Eva', which acts as a manifesto for his community, grounding his music in authenticity, history, and pride.

Buy The Green Box Theory: https://flynnjohnson.bandcamp.com/album/the-green-box-theory