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Album Premiere: Turf Accountant Schemes EP by Sons of Southern Ulster and Pete Briquette

Sons of Southern Ulster 2
24 August 2021

Sons of Southern Ulster – Photo Credit: P. Merchant

On the trail of Irish underground quartet Sons of Southern Ulster, who have been making rather big waves in their homeland of Ireland and also abroad press- and radio-wise, we are pleased to present you their new EP. With the odd but intriguing name Turf Accountant Schemes, here they collaborate with music legend Pete Briquette of The Boomtown Rats and this offering is a doozie, so tune in and soak it up from start to finish. Highly recommended.

The Turf Accountant Schemes EP features four tracks from the band’s second album Sinners and Lost Souls (2020), each of them re-imagined and re-mixed by Briquette. The other three acerbic classics are ‘Fear My Scorn’, ‘Stubby Yellow Fingers’ and ‘Polaris’ (with video produced by Nicky Fennell), a stellar and invigorating track, mixing cinematic rock and spacious electronica with spoken word but with a sparseness that is chilling. Thematically, the song touches on regret, lost opportunity, death and, of course, alcohol – a recurring theme with the band.

Formed around songwriters Justin Kelly and David Meagher, Sons of Southern Ulster released their debut album Foundry Folk Songs in 2016. Many of their songs reflect the experience of growing up in a small southern border town (Bailieborough, County Cavan, Ireland) long before the internet and the country’s “Celtic Tiger” rapid growth period. They explore themes of regret and disappointment, interspersed with moments of light and insight.

David Meagher delivers the perfect canvas against which these stories can be told with echoes of Gang of Four and a lifetime misspent listening to punk rock. But this is no one trick pony, this EP also bearing hints of Sparklehorse sprinkled throughout.

Pete Briquette is an Irish bassist, record producer and composer. A member of The Boomtown Rats, he has also played in Bob Geldof’s band. Things have come first circle, so to speak, with Pete originally from Ballyjamesduff in County Cavan and the Sons from such a nearby community.

“In Sons of Southern Ulster, we took a very conscious decision to sing songs about Cavan as it was always a bit underserved, not just in music but in infrastructure and resources. In many ways, the Irish government ignored us and left us to our own devices – for better or worse. I think Pete picked up on that,” says David Meagher.

Mixed / engineered by David Minehan (The Replacements, Buffalo Tom, Dropkick Murphys), produced by Daragh Dukes, and mastered by Richard Dowling at WavMastering (David Bowie, Brian Eno, Sinead O’Connor, Primal Scream, Suede, Interpol, Foo Fighters), this EP features striking artwork by acclaimed Danish artist Claus Castenskiold.

Turf Accountant Schemes is out everywhere on Friday, including on CD. You can support the band directly by ordering it from them via Bandcamp

TRACK LIST
1. Polaris (Pete Briquette Remix)
2. Live In The Past (Pete Briquette Remix)
3. Stubby Yellow Fingers (Pete Briquette Remix)
4. Fear My Scorn (Pete Briquette Remix)

CREDITS
Written by Justin Kelly and David Meagher
Remix by Pete Briquette
Produced by Daragh Dukes of Dukes Productions, Limerick
Engineered / mixed by David Minehan at Wooly Mammoth, Daragh Dukes, The Slimmer Twins at Bog Road Studio
Mastered by Richard Dowling at WavMastering, Limerick
Justin Kelly – vocals
David Meagher – guitars
Paddy Glackin – bass
Noel Larkin – drums
Cover artwork by Claus Castenskiold
Video production by Nicky Fennell
All photos taken by P. Merchant

Sons of Southern UlsterTurf Accountant Schemes EP

Check out the video for the lead track, as well as debut album:

Sons of Southern Ulster
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Pete Briquette
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