May 20, 2022 By Mark Redfern (with Joey Arnone)

Welcome to the 20th Songs of the Week of 2022. It was a mixed week for new tracks, but there were still some good ones worth crowing about and we settled on a Top 13. More

May 16, 2022 By Mark Redfern

SOAK (Northern Ireland singer/songwriter Bridie Monds-Watson) is releasing a new album, If I Never Know You Like This Again, this Friday via Rough Trade. Now Monds-Watson (who uses they/them pronouns) have shared the album’s third single, “swear jar,” via a video for it. They have also shared a live video of them performing the song acoustically in a parking garage. More

Apr 08, 2022 By Mark Redfern

Welcome to the fourteenth Songs of the Week of 2022. It was a fantastic new release day, with fresh albums by Wet Leg, Father John Misty, Jack White, Oceanator, Daniel Rossen, Orville Peck, Lucius, and others. Some of those artists end up on this week’s Songs of the Week, which is a Top 12 this week. More

Apr 05, 2022 By Mark Redfern

SOAK (Northern Ireland singer/songwriter Bridie Monds-Watson) is releasing a new album, If I Never Know You Like This Again, on May 20 via Rough Trade. Now Monds-Watson (who uses they/them pronouns) have shared the album’s second single, “purgatory,” via a video for it. More

Jan 25, 2022 By Joey Arnone

SOAK (Northern Ireland singer/songwriter Bridie Monds-Watson, who uses they/them pronouns) have announced the release of a new album, If I Never Know You Like This Again, which will be out on May 20 via Rough Trade. They have also shared a video for a new track from the album, “last july.” More

Jul 27, 2020 By Samantha Small

“I’m alive and I can feel it,” says SOAK (aka Northern Ireland singer/songwriter Bridie Monds-Watson). It’s been about six months in quarantine with no end near in sight. But Monds-Watson wants to try to deliver the “antidote to anxiety” with a new collaborative track and film “I’m Alive.” More

Nov 25, 2019 By Christopher Roberts

SOAK (Northern Ireland singer/songwriter Bridie Monds-Watson) released a new album, Grim Town, in April via Rough Trade. Now she has shared a cover of The National’s “Bloodbuzz Ohio” (originally found on the band’s 2010 album High Violet). Listen below.

Jul 08, 2019 By Christopher Roberts

SOAK (Northern Ireland singer/songwriter Bridie Monds-Watson) released a new album, Grim Town, in April via Rough Trade. Now she has shared a cover of Sleater-Kinney‘s “Modern Girl,” recorded for Amazon Music as an Amazon Original. More

Jun 26, 2019 By Christopher Roberts

SOAK (Northern Ireland singer/songwriter Bridie Monds-Watson) released a new album, Grim Town, in April via Rough Trade. Last night she stopped by Late Night with Seth Meyers to perform the album’s “Déjà Vu,” in her national TV debut. More

Apr 19, 2019 By Christopher Roberts

SOAK (Northern Ireland singer/songwriter Bridie Monds-Watson) is releasing a new album, Grim Town, on April 26 via Rough Trade. Now she has shared a new song, “Country Air,” but it’s not from her album. Instead it’s from the soundtrack to the Finish/British TV kids show Moominvalley. More

Feb 08, 2019 By Mark Redfern

This week’s Songs of the Week was almost just a Top 8. However two fun, but seriously inessential, songs from the Lego Movie 2 soundtrack skated in at the bottom of the list. Veteran Scottish rockers Idlewild surprised us with an interesting new song, even though we admittedly haven’t paid much attention to their last few albums. More

Feb 07, 2019 By Christopher Roberts

SOAK (Northern Ireland singer/songwriter Bridie Monds-Watson) is releasing a new album, Grim Town, on April 26 via Rough Trade. Now she has shared another song from the album, “Valentine Shmalentine,” via a lyric video for the song. More

Jan 11, 2019 By Mark Redfern

Welcome to the first Songs of the Week of 2019. We took an extended break in December, as there aren’t too many notable new songs released at the end of the year (beyond endless Christmas covers), but the past week has been filled with exciting new album announcements, most accompanied by new singles worthy of consideration for this list. More

Jan 10, 2019 By Christopher Roberts

SOAK (Northern Ireland singer/songwriter Bridie Monds-Watson) has announced a new album, Grim Town, and shared a video for its new single, “Knock Me Off My Feet.” More

Dec 20, 2018 By Christopher Roberts

SOAK (Northern Ireland singer/songwriter Bridie Monds-Watson) recently returned with a new song, “Everybody Loves You,” on Rough Trade (it was one of our Songs of the Week), along with a video for the song. Now she has shared a cover of Chris Rea’s “Driving Home for Christmas,” via a video of her performing the song. More

Oct 16, 2018 By Christopher Roberts

SOAK (Northern Ireland singer/songwriter Bridie Monds-Watson) recently returned with a new song, “Everybody Loves You,” on Rough Trade (it was one of our Songs of the Week). Now she has shared a strange video for the song. More

Oct 05, 2018 By Christopher Roberts

This week Sharon Van Etten and Moonface announced new albums and their lead singles both made this week’s Songs of the Week list. Joining them are new standalone singles from Julia Jacklin, Jessie Ware, and SOAK, as well as some singles from upcoming albums, and an eight-minute album track. But our #1 this week is a bonus track that probably shouldn’t have been cut from an album released earlier this year. More

Oct 03, 2018 By Christopher Roberts

SOAK (Northern Ireland singer/songwriter Bridie Monds-Watson) has returned with a new song, “Everybody Loves You,” on Rough Trade. It’s her first song in three years, since her acclaimed debut album, 2015’s Before We Forgot How to Dream. More

Jan 12, 2016 By Christopher Roberts

The Sasquatch! Music Festival has revealed the lineup for their 2016 festival, their 15th year. Once again it will be going down Memorial Day Weekend (May 27 - 30) at the Gorge Amphitheater in Quincy, Washington. It’s a stacked lineup, including The Cure, M83, Sufjan Stevens, Grimes, Florence and the Machine, Wolf Alice, Julia Holter, Jamie xx, Caribou, Yeasayer, Savages, Kurt Vile, Mac DeMarco, and others.

Dec 02, 2015 By Christopher Roberts

SOAK (aka the 19-year-old singer/songwriter from Northern Ireland named Bridie Monds-Watson) has released a new video for “Reckless Behavior,” a song found on her debut album, Before We Forgot How to Dream, which is out now via Rough Trade. Bob Gallagher directed the touching clip, which centers on a suicidal teen girl who forms an unlikely friendship with a crafty elderly woman. More

Oct 16, 2015 By Christopher Roberts

Since 1992 the Mercury Prize has been awarded to the best British album of the year, meaning an album created by a citizen of the U.K. and Ireland. It’s become one of the biggest honors a British musician can receive and can also boost an album’s sales in the U.K., especially if it wins. Now this year’s nominees have been announced. More

Apr 30, 2015 By Christopher Roberts

When SOAK (aka the 18-year-old singer/songwriter from Northern Ireland named Bridie Monds-Watson) played Under the Radar‘s day party at SXSW this year, the audience was in rapt attention, despite the fact that she was performing solo acoustic, just her voice and her guitar. More

Apr 15, 2015 By Trevor Flynn

SOAK, the alter ego of 18-year old Bridie Monds-Watson, has just released the music video for her song, “Blud,” off of her forthcoming debut album, Before We Forget How To Dream. More

Apr 10, 2015 By Christopher Roberts

Under the Radar is excited to announce the full details of the April/May 2015 issue, which is about to hit newsstands. It features Tame Impala on the cover. Actor Charlie Cox talks about his starring role in the new Netflix series, Marvel’s Daredevil. We interview The Jesus and Mary Chain‘s Jim Reid and Creation Records’ founder Alan McGee about the 30th anniversary of the Scottish band’s iconic debut album, 1985’s Psychocandy. The issue also includes interviews with Death Cab For Cutie, Mew, My Morning Jacket, Father John Misty, Domhnall Gleeson of Ex Machina, Courtney Barnett, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Laura Marling, Django Django, Will Butler, Purity Ring, San Fermin, TORRES, Twin Shadow, Matthew E. White, Amason, Jacco Gardner, Tobias Jesso Jr., Petite Noir, Natalie Prass, SOAK, and more. More

Mar 29, 2015 By Christopher Roberts

Under the Radar‘s own Wendy Lynch Redfern and Laura Studarus were down in Austin for SXSW last week. Here’s a selection of their live photos from the Under the Radar Daytime event at The Flamingo Cantina on Thursday, March 19, 2015. More

Mar 06, 2015 By Christopher Roberts

Under the Radar magazine is excited to reveal the full lineups, poster, and set times for our two SXSW 2015 events. This year we are having a day party at the Flamingo Cantina on Thursday, March 19, and an official nighttime showcase at Central Presbyterian Church on Saturday, March 21. Our events are set to feature performances from of Montreal, Mew, Torres, San Fermin, East India Youth, Matthew E. White, Jacco Gardner, Boxed In, SOAK, Amason, Springtime Carnivore, Pompeii, Talk in Tongues, and Dinner. More

Nov 27, 2014 By Laura Studarus

For the first time in its eighteen year history, Oslo festival by:Larm will welcome non-Nordic acts. More

May 02, 2019 By Mark Redfern

My Firsts is our email interview series where we ask musicians to tell us about their first life experiences, be it early childhood ones (first word, first concert, etc.) or their first tastes of being a musician (first band, first tour, etc.). More

Jun 03, 2015 By Lauren Down

For every overnight success story, there is an over-365-nights success story: When it comes to Derry, Northern Ireland-born Bridie Monds-Watson’s moniker SOAK, we’re talking about something a good seven years in the making. More

Jun 01, 2015 By Billy Hamilton

There’s nothing the Brits like more than hyping one of their own. It’s a trait that explains why so few U.K. bands make it past album number two-by the time they’ve delivered a follow up, fickle tastemakers have already moved on to the latest hot piece of stuff. And then nobody listens. More

Mar 30, 2015 By Mark Redfern

“We played a show at 7’oclock this morning, which is entirely too early to be playing a rock ‘n’ roll concert,” said Matthew E. White. The Richmond, VA-based singer/songwriter/guitarist was up on stage at the Flamingo Cantina, for a second-on-the-bill 12:45 PM set at Under the Radar‘s SXSW day party. More