Belfast duo New Portals have released their brand new EP Golden Hour. The four track EP features new single ‘Chasing Shade’; a moving ballad with reverberating pianos, and a solemn drum roll laying the foundations for the pair’s beautiful harmonies.

New Portals say, “‘Chasing Shade’ is a song we wrote about that one person we all know who is just happy with their lives no matter what happens. We’re off busying ourselves, trying to make the world a better place or build a better or more fulfilling future for ourselves and some people are just happy to sit back, relax and enjoy the ride. This song is about how envious we are of those people and how we wish we could just get away from the compulsions that drive us.”

On the Golden Hour EP the band say, “This is our most honest and delicate release to date. We’ve tackled issues that aren’t necessarily in vogue. Discontent, sobriety, dissatisfaction. Production on the Golden Hour EP turned out differently from what we had envisioned. We booked studio time to make a simple acoustic record but couldn’t get away from adding in some synths and vibey electric guitar, so we just went with it. The EP ended up as a blend between folk and electronica.”

New Portals have also received strong support from BBC Radio 1, with Phil Taggart and Huw Stephens particularly big champions of the band at the station. They’ve been featured in a host of high profile Spotify playlists and receive regular in-store rotation at a number of leading UK high street brands too.

The band have also been developing increasing transatlantic appeal, having completed their first US tour last year and playing a number of shows at SXSW 2017. It illustrates the fact that New Portals are one of the most exciting musical exports coming from Ireland today. New Portals will be playing live in London at The Crowndale, Camden on November 10. Tickets are available now through SeeTickets.

Kylypso’s debut EP Soon Fun is a celebration of the fact that we can usually find good in a bad situation. It’s a work that expresses lyrical vulnerability and doubt, in relationships and in ourselves, but through the sheer joy of the music and melodies it carries the life-affirming sentiment that the good times are just around the corner. Its slick production, unpretentious execution, and relatable human outpourings make it the kind of EP that speaks to a part of everyone’s experience: the tragedy and the fun of finding ourselves.

'Cosmic Dolphins’ is the type of happy accident the universe occasionally throws down to shake our shit up. Initially stemming from a meshing of drum samples with a field recording of a street in Japan, by the time it got to loading up the project a computer glitch churned their recording back upended, slowed down and morphed into something special. Thematically it’s classic Kylypso, submerging tragic, lovelorn imagery in upbeat melodies and funk guitars.

With their name inspired by a boat, Kylypso are an East London three-piece whose luxurious technicolour psych pop pierces through the dour gloom of autumn with its quirky and vibrant style. It’s the sound of an everlasting summer of hope and heartbreak. The teenage tennis playing lovechild of Tame Impala and Caribou, it’s airy, funky stuff, birthed from their hearts, minds and hard drives in various studios around London. Deceptively simple (it’s easy to listen to, but hard to make), Kylypso’s sound is vital and rooted in the deep exploration and cosmic wonder of music.

SOON FUN EP Tracklistings

01: Cosmic Dolphins

02: Blame Love

03: Skies Are

04: Nights