Eamon Brady
Eamon Brady has long been a secret weapon in the Irish music — a producer, mentor, and multi-instrumentalist whose work with artists like Junior Brother, The Whileaways, David Kitt
Eamon Brady has long been a secret weapon in the Irish music — a producer, mentor, and multi-instrumentalist whose work with artists like Junior Brother, The Whileaways, David Kitt, and The Spook of the Thirteenth Lock has shaped the sound of a generation. Now, with Half Light, his debut album, Brady turns that craft inward. Written in the still hours between night and morning, the record explores the tension between restraint and release, beauty and unease. Layering alternate-tuned guitars, modular synths, strings, and pedal steel, Half Light is both intimate and expansive — the sound of an artist finally surfacing, tracing the quiet undercurrents that have long driven his work.
The Half Light album launch will take place in Whelan’s, Dublin on December 10 2025
Nick Drake – Cello Song
This was the first Nick Drake song I ever heard. It opened a CD compilation I picked up in Top Twenty in Kilkenny (now Rollercoaster Records) around 1999 or 2000. I’d never heard an acoustic guitar sound like that — I’d never heard anything sound like that. I soon tracked down a copy of his debut Five Leaves Left, and those arrangements are seminal to me. The instrumentation never sits on top of the core sound of his vocal and guitar. It probably shaped me from a lyrical point of view also — it showed me another way to approach songwriting.
Radiohead – How to Disappear Completely
Can’t overestimate the impact Kid A had on me and my friends (and a big chunk of that generation obviously). I was about 18 at the time, and at first this track was the one I found most accessible, even with the relentless, dissonant strings I’m sure they borrowed from Scott Walker. I spent so much time with this record when it came out, but there’s one strong memory I have — on a flight, staring out the window at 40,000 feet, completely transported by this song. The role the River Liffey plays in the lyric too — I’ll never forget the crowd’s reaction when he sang that line in Punchestown on the Kid A tour. Anything was possible after hearing that record.
Sigur Rós – Untitled #1 (Vaka)
I was lucky enough to see Sigur Rós play this live the day before that album was released, in the Ambassador, Dublin. They played two nights in a row, and my friend and I went back again for night two. The whole experience was so impactful — incredible arrangements, space, and unique textures. This song, and the whole record, has had an impact on pretty much everything I’ve ever produced in some way. The fact he sings in ‘Hopelandic’ proves to me how important feeling and how you say things are — rather than what you say.
Björk – Cocoon
Another Icelandic influence — I think I came to this album after the Sigur Rós one, though. One of my favourite songs, if not my favourite outright. The rhythmic textures are sparse yet detailed. They sound so organic and weirdly human. The production is minimal and spacious. Björk’s lyric and vocal are ridiculously intimate — so close to the listener. Her breaths are loud and form an extra rhythmic texture. I just love everything about this song.
Caribou – Dundas, Ontario
I first heard this track on the Irish TV show No Disco — I could be wrong, but I remember Leagues O’Toole presenting that episode, and I’m 99% sure it was also the first time I heard Sigur Rós. Caribou was ‘Manitoba’ at the time — didn’t he legally have to change his name? Anyhow, this record is so important to me — as organic a production as you can get with something made using electronic instruments (for want of a better description). Totally redefined the rules for me.
Joanna Newsom – Emily
The opening track on her second album Ys. It was a new level of songwriting for me — a new take on form and structure. Joanna’s harp and vocal were beautifully recorded by the late Steve Albini, with the incredible string arrangements by Van Dyke Parks added later. They complement the core elements so well. Such a unique album and artist — lyricist and musician. Another level entirely.
Mark Hollis – The Colour of Spring
The opening track on his only solo record which I came to very late — around ten years ago. I wasn’t aware he’d made one until then. It has everything I love about Talk Talk (Spirit of Eden, Laughing Stock) and so much more. More acoustic elements maybe; even more space. It’s the hums, noises, and imperfections in that space that attract me so much to productions like this. Definitely a strong reference point for many of my productions now. Incredible stuff.
Adrianne Lenker – Terminal Paradise
This song made it on to a Big Thief record later, but it’s this version that does it for me more (the other is amazing too). The delivery sounds closer to the source to me. A really powerful song on a difficult topic — it captures what I imagine deep, eternal grief to feel like. So much beauty in something so painful. Produced with Luke Temple, they were very sympathetic to the live acoustic guitar and vocal. Amazing.
Rozi Plain – Symmetrical
It was hard to pick one song off this album. I love the whole thing so much. Again, a braveness in the approach here — in both songwriting and production. It feels to me as if her composition process is loop-focused to begin with — constantly reshaping and rebuilding over the core idea. It allows her to be very frugal with her words, while the polyrhythmic arrangements twist and turn in other ways. A very rewarding journey that I go on pretty regularly. I saw a great live show of hers in the Workman’s a few years back too. Can’t recommend this highly enough.
Buck Meek – Pareidolia
I first heard him play this live as part of a Big Thief set in Vicar Street in 2019. I had to wait a couple of years to hear it again when it appeared as the opening track of his 2021 record Two Saviours. I love the approach they took to recording that album — very live and tracked to relatively lo-fi tape. It’s a brave approach, and the results are so musical — both in terms of the performances and the sonics. A unique songwriter with so much personality and quirks in his delivery.