Experimental doom folk at its best…now we’re talking…but who would have thought such an offering would suddenly spur a signing by one of Ireland’s best-known record labels…their first in 18 years, which they have hailed as leading the charge as they enter a new era.
ØXN [pron. ‘oxen’] are Radie Peat, John ‘Spud’ Murphy, Katie Kim and Eleanor Myler, a melting pot of influences, described as existing at the uncharted intersection of its constituent parts – melding Lankum’s experimental doom folk (Radie Peat), the motorik euphoria of Percolator (John ‘Spud’ Murphy and Eleanor Myler) and Katie Kim’s glorious Lynchian meta-verse. The band dig deep into the earth, retrieving evocative tales of love, loss, longing, revenge and ritual. Add to that the other-worldly sonic textures that beckon you to peer behind the curtain, with your heart in your mouth, and you might get close to anticipating the music that ØXN has created.
Their first single ‘Love Henry’ will be released on Claddagh Records on Friday, 30th June 2023, a flavour of which was given in 2020 during a Mary Wallopers Halloween Special, I’m looking forward to hearing the studio version:
About ØXN
What began as a side project duo between Radie Peat and Katie Kim in 2018 blossomed into a full-on, multi-textured tapestry with the addition of Myler and Murphy during lockdown. This resulted in one of the streaming highlights of the Covid era – an unforgettable live performance from a Martello tower in Dublin in conjunction with visual artist and Lankum collaborator, Vicky Langan.
ØXN take their literal name from the draft animal. Oxen are not a breed of cattle but rather steers – adult, male bovines that have been castrated. Something about the story of the beasts appealed to the band: Castrated, pulling heavy machinery; out to slog, or an interred beast for milking, since about 4000 BC. Sometimes worshipped, sometimes doomed for domestication.
The accompanying press for the new single adds: Like Claddagh Records’ founder Garech Browne, with his own rich and storied past, ØXN is a band made up of people whose primary expression comes through music above personality, above aesthetic, above all else. This need to tell stories through evocative sounds that are enough to stop you dead in your tracks is the twine that binds Claddagh Records artists together, so it’s fitting that ØXN leads the charge as the label enters a new era that will see these stories reach farther than ever before, following the signing of a worldwide licensing agreement with Universal Music Ireland in 2020.
Pre-Save ØXN’s debut single ‘Love Henry’ will be released on Claddagh Records on Friday, 30th June 2023
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