Rory Nellis on getting the public vote for Album of the Year at the NI Music Prize for Written & Underlined
“I must admit that it completely blew my mind, so thank you to everyone who took the time to vote. I can assure you that this is a very big deal for me and it’s much appreciated.
I worked so hard to get the album finished in some quite challenging circumstances; meeting the producer Phil d’Alton in car parks to make plans and recording with the band at a safe distance in Half Bap Studios in Belfast. I’ll remember that stuff fondly though. It’ll be the only time I’ll ever get to record like that, I hope. Continue Reading…
If you were exiled and homesick in the Eighties – part of that wash of Irish émigrés from a damaged island – then you may have taken recourse in a Paul Brady album, Hard Station. Alongside Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks, it was a point of focus and a reassurance. We brought the record out when the drink was in and the self-possession was due for a crash. 
The first thing I noticed was Death, standing there nine feet tall, moving silently, scythe in one hand and bony fingers pointing out on the other.
“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives”.
“If we had forever, I still don’t think it’d be enough” sings Becky McNeice on ‘Freeze’. It’s music made for a daydream, but if you stay long enough, you’ll get something to think about. The Belfast artist’s string of pop songs have a slow-burning effect with gentle production and intimate lyrics.
Too bad if you missed the return of New Pagans in 2021. We shouldn’t gloat, but hey, it was monumental. It was all the stuff you had yearned for in the silent months before – volume, roaring communion and festival kicks. New Pagans came onto the stage and called it. It was time, again, to be alert. To transmit fierce ideas in a public place. To cook up the synapses and release the joy. 
Raised in south Belfast, Winnie Ama currently works out of London. She travels keenly and during a youthful visit to New Orleans, she came to understand and love the jazz legacy. 
John came on from stage left and David made his appearance from the other side. They walked cautiously, past the microphone stands, the amplifiers and the effects pedals. The pair met in front of the drum riser and with some ceremony, they shook hands. David crunched down firmly, but John was also a practiced gripper. There were a few more reassuring pats, taps and exchanges and 2,000 school children roared over the awkwardness. 
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