Cushla Premiere Their Imaginative New Single “7 Years”

It’s hard to mix and meld modern and traditional musical styles, but Cushla make it look (and sound) easy. Today marks the debut of the artist collective’s new single “7 Years” off of their debut album Tech Duinn, ahead of its April 25th release via Foehn Records. This is a really interesting new project, unlike anything else you’re listening to.

Cushla works well as a collective since it keeps their creative process fresh and open to considering just about any musical possibility. Take “7 Years” for instance, a classic sounding folk ballad with sean-nós vocals, analog synths, and layered electronic textures. Providing those vocals is sean-nós specialist Nell Ní Chróinín. It’s a merging of traditional Irish instrumentation with drum machines and ambient soundscapes.

Discussing “7 Years,” Cushla states

“For this track, we really wanted to explore a different direction. We felt like going darker and noisier, and honestly, it was a blast! After performing it live a few times, the song started to evolve on its own, and we couldn’t help but embrace that transformation. That’s when we decided to record some of the final improvised parts from those live shows and include it on the recorded version.”

Tech Duinn picks up right where previous singles “Ar Casa” and “The Mountain” left off. The songs are at times dark and cinematic, and carefully straddle the traditional and the post-modern. The album will dive deeper into the mythic, linguistic, and emotional themes previously introduced by Cushla. As a title, Tech Duinn references the Celtic otherworldly. It’s a place between life and death and myth and memory. It’s a musical invitation to explore the space between tradition and futurism.

Cushla is spearheaded by producer Marc Fernandez (Akkan, Ocellot) and Irish composer Leo Pearson. They were motivated to start the collective based on their passion for innovation and tradition. Despite Fernandez and Pearson driving the sound of the project, the aforementioned Nell Ní Chróinín really is the special ingredient to it all. Ní Chróinín sounds both hip and traditional, helping make Cushla such an interesting act. They successfully explore heritage, language, and technology in a way that’s accessible to a general audience. With their innovative approach and engaging sound, it’s no wonder that major festivals like Beyond The Pale and Primavera Sound have sought out Cushla as one of the most exciting electronic acts today.

Cushla ‘Tech Duinn’ album artwork