17 October 2013 Hivemind: can you recall any particular reason—nationwide tour, TV talent show performance, Sunday Game closing montage—why 'Wings' by Birdy topped the charts in Ireland? After all, it only reached number eight in her native UK and didn't go to number one anywhere else either. Or was it simply that a song called … Continue reading Birdy – ‘Wings’ →

10 October 2013 Lorde here becomes the third act from Aotearoa - New Zealand to have a number one single in Ireland, and at the time of writing there's only been one more since her. By contrast, 12 Irish acts so far have topped the NZ singles charts: The Bachelors, U2, Foster & Allen, Sinéad … Continue reading Lorde – ‘Royals’ →

29 August 2013 Finbar Furey top of the charts, Johnny Logan at number three... was there an '80s-Ireland revival in August 2013 that I wasn't aware of? Not quite, but nor do I remember The Hit, an RTÉ talent show series in which each week budding songwriters competed to have their composition sung by one … Continue reading Finbar Furey – ‘The Last Great Love Song’ →

22 August 2013 The Katy Perry of 2024, up to her oxters in derision and controversy with the flop of her single 'Woman's World', could do with a bit of the 'Roar' spirit right now. I won't knock anyone for getting some sort of solace or inspiration out of it; the world is a dreadful … Continue reading Katy Perry – ‘Roar’ →

4 July 2013 Avicii's sudden and tragic death in 2018 overshadows 'Wake Me Up' for me now. The immense fame and pressure that came with gargantuan worldwide hits like this had their impact on his wellbeing, and the song's lyrics carry an unavoidable resonance. I wasn't a fan of the track at the time. Its … Continue reading Avicii – ‘Wake Me Up’ →

16 May 2013 [Content warning: sexual aggression; sexual assault.] Hashtags: that was my immediate reaction while I first encountered 'Blurred Lines'. It was a Sunday morning, I had a music TV channel on while eating breakfast and reading the papers, and the video started. Those full-screen hashtags of artist and track title had caught my … Continue reading Robin Thicke ft. T.I. and Pharrell – ‘Blurred Lines’ →

25 April 2013 When I moved to Paris in early 2005, I expected my music-writing hustle for the folks back home to feature mostly Daft Punk, Air and other internationally-renowned notables of "le French touch". This did not turn out to be the case. For one thing, Daft Punk and Air were of little interest … Continue reading Daft Punk ft. Pharrell Williams – ‘Get Lucky’ →

11 April 2013 'Pompous' is an easy reach here, I know, but it seems this track really is about being petrified in cataclysmic clouds of Vesuvian ash and lava as a metaphor for some vague romantic angst. Hang on now. Those unfortunate enough to be made statues by the neighbourhood volcano were most likely not … Continue reading Bastille – ‘Pompeii’ →

21 March 2013 Where are you Kodaline hipsters to tell me you preferred them when they were 21 Demands? Okay, I throw down that gauntlet knowing full well that Kodaline fandom doesn't really lend itself to hipsterism. Chart factoids, though, are always hip, and this is a band who've had two Irish number one singles … Continue reading Kodaline – ‘High Hopes’ →

28 February 2013 We've not had Ed Sheeran at number one yet—that pleasure is still a year away—but 'Let Her Go' can serve as our entrée to Ed-ism. Passenger's chart-topping profile in early 2013 came in great part from supporting Sheeran on his Irish tour that January. So, there's a good deal of similar baggy-jumper … Continue reading Passenger – ‘Let Her Go’ →