The Murder Capital ended 2018 as that rare thing: a band tipped from all corners without having released a single song. In an age where people and bands overshare by default, The Murder Capital have been doing the opposite. If you wanted to know about The Murder Capital, you had to get to a show and see for yourself. That’s if you could get in.

Based on the caustic strength of one live recording of ‘More Is Less’, which went viral on YouTube, and feverish word of mouth from those who have been lucky enough to attend these early gigs, The Murder Capital have built a formidable reputation. In just over a year, they’ve sold out shows in their hometown of Dublin (to 400 people), and played with Slaves, Shame and fellow countrymen Fontaines DC.

With ‘Feeling Fades’ the band fulfil their early promise – delivering a brooding, propulsive slice of post-punk recorded with Flood (PJ Harvey, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Foals). In one of their rare interviews so far, the band have stated they are driven by the genuine desire to affect cultural change, and when front-man James McGovern repeats the lyric “the now elapsed ‘round you and me, and it kept us all together” on this, their debut single, you start to believe that they’re capable of achieving just that.

The Murder Capital will tour the UK in January and February:

31st January – Liverpool – EBGB’s

1st February – Cardiff – Club Ifor Bach

2nd February – London – The Shacklewell Arms

3rd February – Brighton – The Prince Albert

5th February – Birmingham - The Sunflower Lounge

6th February – Newcastle – Think Tank? Underground

7th February – Glasgow – The Poetry Club

8th February – Edinburgh – Sneaky Pete’s

Alt-folk brothers Cry Monster Cry return with a contemporary, pop focused retelling of their gorgeous track ‘Citadel’. The Richey McCourt Remix was borne out of Sunday morning coffee and chats that the Sutton natives had with a producer friend, McCourt (whose recent work with electro-pop artist Laoise has garnered critical acclaim). Richie & Jamie’s enthusiasm for the current music landscape, and the cross fertilisation of genres, inspired McCourt to spend the next 12 hours working on a remix of their recently released single ‘Citadel’, unbeknownst to the band. “We left Richey’s studio that morning and went about our day really- and then both of us had a track land in our WhatsApp group at about 9pm that night from Richey.’ explains Jamie.

“He loved the song we had released, Citadel, and wanted to experiment with trying a different soundscape with it – something he thought we would probably hate and say thanks, but no thanks! But one listen and we were hooked. He managed to bring a new atmosphere into the track completely – but hasn’t compromised the original sentiment and composition to do so,” continues lead vocalist Richie.

The Remix fuses warm synth sounds and beats with the trademark harmonies of Cry Monster Cry to create a track that stays true to the original – but as all remixes should do, finds the original’s best parts and shines a beaming light on them.

 “For us, this was just one of those lovely surprises that we didn’t plan for, but are excited to let people hear. We were raised on acoustic, folk, singer-songwriters– that’s our passion, and our inspiration when we write. That’s what’s in our souls. Our live shows and the new tracks we have recorded retain that heavily- that’s our compass. But experimenting on this remix with someone we trusted and coming from a very organic place, has been a great change and a great experience for us.” explains Richie.

To coincide with the release, the band will kick off a series of intimate concerts at Imbolc Festival in Derry on February 3. Following this, they will make their INEC debut, on a double headliner bill with Jack O’ Rourke in Killarney on March 9. The dates will see the band playing previously unheard material, and fan favourites from their debut long-player Rhythm of Dawn (2015).

FEB 3 SAT – Imbolc Festival – Derry

MAR 9 – INEC Acoustic Club with Jack O’ Rourke – Killarney

MAR 10 – Toals – Smithborough, Monaghan

MAR 16 – Kilkenny Tradfest, Cleere’s Bar & Theatre – Kilkenny

MAR 28 – Mike The Pies – Listowel

MAR 29 – Coughlans Bar – Cork

MAR 30 – Levi’s Bar – Ballydehob, Cork

APR 5 – Unitarian Church – Dublin

JUN 2 – Vantastival - Louth