Sons of Southern Ulster have teamed up with The Boomtown Rats’ Pete Briquette on a new EP collaboration. The Turf Accountant Schemes EP, featuring four tracks remixed by Briquette, is out on 27th August. A single from the EP ‘Polaris’ was released on 2nd July.
Formed around the song-writing partnership of Justin Kelly and David Meagher, Sons of Southern Ulster released their well-received debut album Foundry Folk Songs back in 2016. Many of their songs reflect the experience of growing up in a small southern border town, Bailieborough in Ireland’s County Cavan. This was 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.
“The first music I ever bought was the ‘Like Clockwork’ single by the Boomtown Rats when I was twelve or thirteen. I was obsessed with The Rats so when Pete Briquette reached out to ask if he could remix a few tracks from our ‘Sinners and Lost Souls’ album, we were absolutely shocked. Apparently, a mutual friend has passed the album on to him and he was suitably intrigued. Pete also grew up in County Cavan, so he’d get a lot of the references and the tone. Lyrically the songs are very “Cavan” in that they are on the surface often quite harsh but contain a lot of dark humour,” says Justin Kelly.
“I remember when the Boomtown Rats broke through. At that time it was highly unusual for an Irish band to make it in Britain. But for a Cavan man to be there!!! That was just bizarre. Cavan men were made to be farmers – not No.1 pop stars.”
The Turf Accountant Schemes EP features four tracks from the band’s second album Sinners and Lost Souls which was released in 2020. Each of the tracks is re-imagined and re-mixed by Briquette.
“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.
‘Polaris (Pete Briquette Remix)’ is out July 2. On August 27, the ‘Turf Accountant Schemes’ EP will be released across online platforms, including Apple Music and Spotify, as well as on vinyl. It can already be pre-ordered via Bandcamp.
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