Unmistakably Burnside. Undeniably brilliant.

The calypso rhythms and tales from lands afar are buried like treasure, Joshua Burnside has left Ephrata and entered the depths of Hell. What does it sound like? A mesmeric darkness, shadowed by the Irish conflict and traditions 3000 miles closer to home than his debut NI Music Prize winning album.

New single War On Everything (released August 14th) pushes the drums to the front of the mix, marching Burnside towards some form of light amidst the maudlin-toned singles we've heard so far. The influence of Ohio elder-statesmen and Taylor Swift collaborators The National is obvious; everything from the swooning verse melody, to the Devendorf drum beat marking a continued growth from Ephrata's more pop-centric roots. We hear strings dancing in and out of time, militaristic in their desire to move the listener. Waves crash in the dark, as a lover reaches out for something, anything.

"She said I feel lonely when I'm with you, lonely when I'm with anyone, like those old ghosts you sing about, yeah, that's how I feel."

Much like The National, Burnside's rise from Belfast's underbelly to an audience of millions (online anyway) has been a steady one, quietly gathering fans the world over whilst refusing to compromise on his visions. It's an attitude his manager, friend and long-term confidant Lyndon Stephens undoubtedly nurtured before his tragic passing earlier this year.

It's worked Lyndon, but you never needed anyone to tell you that.

The world of former More Than Conquerors axe-swingers Kris Platt and Danny Ball have been perpetually in motion since their decision to leave the mosh pits behind in 2019.

Kris' hiatus to France was cut short when songwriting supremo Ciaran Lavery requested his services on lead guitar, and before long he was preoccupied with smashing his own Spotify algorithms in electro-indie project Blue Americans.  Entirely self-producing their new body of work soon sparked the creation of Oiltape Studios, Belfast's newest recording space and the chosen birthplace for indie-slackers The Zang's debut record, scheduled to drop later this year.

Dipped in a pool of Weller-esque guitar tones, The Zang! tackle issues of modern homophobia, sectarianism and life beyond the beautiful game in this, the first single taken from their as-yet-untitled debut. Arriving in an age of rising unemployment, economic uncertainty and Liverpool as the dominant footballing force in England, you'd be forgiven for falling into a sepia toned world after listening to this one. Platt's aversion to over-complication in the producer's chair serves the track well, bursting in just the right moments for a climactic gut punch.

Check out the music video below.