NIAMH REGAN – A RISING VOICE IN INDIE FOLK

With her stunning 2024 release Come As You Are, Niamh Regan has cemented herself as one of Ireland’s most distinctive songwriters. Nominated for the RTÉ Choice Prize for Irish Album of the Year, Come As You Are is a masterwork of intimate storytelling, rich arrangements, and unflinching emotional honesty. The album marks a bold evolution from her debut Hemet (2020), which garnered nominations for the RTÉ Folk Awards and the Choice Music Prize.

Come As You Are, produced by Tommy McLaughlin/Attica Studios, is an album full of vulnerability and unflinching introspection. As the title suggests, it invites listeners to embrace their true selves, confronting personal doubts, complicated relationships, and questions about life's direction. Each track is a delicate balance of delicate folk instrumentation and expansive soundscapes.

Niamh Regan first caught the attention of listeners with her 2020 debut Hemet, a strikingly collection that showcased her gift for penning folk-tinged songs with emotional depth and reflective sincerity. That album paved the way for a whirlwind of performances across Ireland, the UK, Australia, and beyond. Opening for artists such as CMAT, Villagers, John Grant, SOAK, Patrick Watson, James Vincent McMorror, and Sam Amidon, Regan honed her live performance chops and began to embrace the joy and catharsis of sharing her music with a wider audience.

With Come As You Are, Regan's vision grew. She sought to create a richer, more expansive sound, inspired by artists like Julia Jacklin, Caroline Rose, and Wilco. The result is an album that feels both intimate and cinematic. 

Niamh Regan has always been a storyteller at heart, and Come As You Are proves that her voice, both literal and musical, is one that demands attention. 

With Come As You Are now available worldwide and the RTÉ Choice Prize nomination in the mix, 2025 is poised to be a banner year for Niamh Regan. Niamh continues to evolve as an artist, and there’s much more to come.

‘Come As You Are’, is out now via Faction Records: https://factionrecords.lnk.to/ComeAsYouAre

Other recent notable releases include ‘We Didn’t Know We Were Ready’, a song co-written and performed by Ólafur Arnalds, Talos, Niamh Regan and Ye Vagabonds: https://OlafurArnalds.lnk.to/WDKWWR  

“Niamh Regan is becoming a quietly assured national treasure with that sure fingered approach to her craft” – Jim Carroll, RTÉ Culture 

“Come As You Are has Niamh Regan in total control of her artistic faculties and at the top of her game; she will be one to watch in the coming years... this is an album that needs to be heard, a project teeming with quiet intensity and resonance..." 9/10 The Line of Best Fit

“A powerful second album...Come As You Are’ is a delightful album full of delicate vocals, subtle hooks and exquisite instrumentation.” CLASH Magazine 

"A beautiful, breathtakingly candid indie folk record of self-acceptance, Niamh Regan's 'Come As You Are' is an intimate, emotionally charged invitation to embrace ourselves for who we are and lean into our light – even when it's dark outside." Atwood Magazine

"There's a touch of Laura Marling in her voice, something of John Martyn in her intonation and Nick Drake in her guitar picking, the influence of everyone from Jeff Tweedy to Josh Ritter in her crafted storytelling…" 

8/10 UNCUT Magazine

"...one of the most formidable forces in the Irish indie-folk scene… a pristine record which deals with faltering relationships, self-doubt, and love with exactitude and fearless candour." 9/10 Hot Press 

“There’s hypnotic late-night deep synths, plus a woozy, bespangled hidden track. In all, intelligent and beautifully idiosyncratic” 4/5 Mojo Magazine

"Come As You Are is a brutally authentic work from a songwriter of the highest order."- KLOF Mag

Genre-bending Irish musician and producer 

DAVID KITT 

A unique and sincere songwriter with an expert ability to meld inspirations, eras and sounds, platinum selling artist David Kitt’s music glimmers with a sense of timelessness well-earned after over twenty years immersed in music. 

Kitt’s inconspicuous debut album, ‘Small Moments’, was a slow-burn collection of lo-fi recordings that crept up on the record-buying public in 2000, helping to re-establish vaunted indie label Rough Trade in the process, leading to the breakthrough success of his sophomore LP, ‘The Big Romance’. In 2002, Kitt even appeared as part of Meltdown Festival in London, as curated by David Bowie. 

Kitt’s follow-up, ‘Square 1’, debuted atop the Irish charts in the balmy summer of 2003. Kitt’s initial success aligned him with a then-burgeoning scene of radio-friendly indie and folk-rock breakthrough acts, including David Gray, with whom Kitt has regularly toured alongside as a supporting musician. However, Kitt was quickly drawn into his wider sphere of influences, from optimistic, MPC-driven hip-hop, melancholic Arthur Russell-esque funk and the more traditional but ambitious folk of his heritage. Each of these avenues were wandered at ease throughout 2004’s ‘The Black and Red Notebook’ and its follow-up ‘Not Fade Away’, which saw Kitt return to Rough Trade in 2006.  

A long history of supporting and then playing with the acclaimed rock group Tindersticks, lead to Kitt officially joining the group for the release of their 2010 LP, ‘Falling Down a Mountain’. Touring internationally, Kitt remained creatively fertile, and yet, eight years passed between the release of his LP ‘The Nightsaver’ and 2018’s ‘Yous’. Celebrated by Louder Than War as “a sublime, introspective, soother of a solo album, reaffirming him as one of Ireland’s best singer/songwriters”, the record was imbued with a clear-eyes sense of optimism and a timeless take on his typical melding of acoustic and electronic elements. ‘Yous’ was released on Dublin’s own All City Records, the notably and suitably eclectic label through which Kitt released ‘From Night to Night’, his debut album under the alias of New Jackson. 

Solely focused on techno and house music influences, but energised by the same sense of melody and experimentation that defines Kitt’s work under his given name, the music of New Jackson has featured on some of the best-respected electronic and dance labels across Europe, including Hivern Discs, Cin Cin and Permanent Vacation. These numerous releases have led to Kitt DJing at a number of the world’s equally celebrated clubs and festivals, including Berlin’s Berghain/Panorama Bar and the forward-thinking Belfast festival, AVA. As a remixer, he has gone on to provide memorable edits for major pop and dance artists, including The XX, Mano Le Tough and Shit Robot. 

Kitt's reputation as a live performer has soared in the past year, returning as guest musician to the acclaimed David Gray marked yet another milestone in his career. In a testament to his versatility, Kitt also had the honour of supporting legendary band The Waterboys on their Irish dates.  

In March 2023, via RE:WARM, Kitt shared his ninth studio album ‘Idiot Check’, seeing the artist tap into a diverse range of influences once more, emerging as an ambient and atmospheric record that puts an eclectic experimental spin on traditional folk music.  

Blending acoustic and electronic elements with expert precision, the record showcases both the diverse circumstances of its inception and Kitt’s personal breadth as a songwriter and producer. 

PRESS FOR ‘IDIOT CHECK’ 

“…the songs thrum with inventive (if perennially casual) ambient/electronic twists on folk music” 

-4/5 The Sunday Business Post  

“The ninth long-player from David Kitt finds Dublin’s king of low-key on frankly flying form. Its ten tracks manage the elusive feat of being both cohesive and subtly eclectic, quietly pushing things beyond the merely folky, and yielding frequently striking textures without swamping the tunes… …this is possibly David’s best yet. You’d be an idiot not to check it out.” 

– Totally Dublin  

“`Idiot Check` is a wonderfully absorbing listen with passages that are ambient and atmospheric but also has a real blend of electronic experimentalism.” 

- Maximum Volume Music