Blue Slate have been on a steady climb that’s anything but accidental. Their latest single, “Plastic Soul,” out now, is a statement of intent from a band carving out a distinct space in Ireland’s alternative scene.
The four-piece — John Harney (vocals & guitar), Pierce Devine (guitar), Isabelle Murphy (bass), and Tim Tora (drums) — have been generating a buzz with their charged live shows and powerful songwriting. Having already opened for Big Special and sold out headline gigs at venues like Dublin’s Workman’s Club, they are a group who thrive equally in intimate clubs and festival stages.
Musically, Blue Slate operate in the hazy margins between shoegaze, alt-rock, and indie. ‘Plastic Soul’ captures that balance perfectly: a warm, guitar-driven soundscape colliding with Harney’s raspy, lived-in vocals. The track begins in a haze of reverb-drenched guitar before exploding into strummed chords, pounding drums, and soaring lead lines that pulse with urgency. Across its runtime, it shifts between angsty eruptions and moments of melodic bliss, eventually dissolving into a climactic wall of layered guitars.
For Harney, the song carries a deeply personal weight.“The song is about trying to find your way in life. But when you start to reflect you realise that there is baggage that you have. The song is about the realisation of that,” the band explain.
That tension between reflection and release is something Blue Slate have been refining since their earliest days. Harney and Devine first met as kids, instantly bonding over their Brian Jones-style haircuts and long hours rummaging through Harney’s older siblings’ CD collection. From KISS to Nirvana, metal to classic rock, their sonic education was vast, and it shows. Today, the band’s sound evokes shades of The Velvet Underground, Sparklehorse, and Grandaddy, while still nodding to the grit of modern grunge and the urgency of post-punk.
But perhaps the truest measure of their rise lies in the live arena. Whether playing to crowds in London, Paris, or Rotterdam’s Left of the Dial Festival, Blue Slate have built a reputation for turning gigs into immersive, cathartic experiences. Their blend of hypnotic instrumentation and unfiltered emotion makes every performance feel bigger than the room itself.
With “Plastic Soul,” the band distil that live intensity into recorded form—bridging their youthful rawness with a sharper artistic vision. The single’s artwork, designed by bassist Isabelle Murphy, underscores the group’s DIY spirit and collaborative ethos.
And they’re not slowing down. September brings a run of Irish shows, from Dublin to Galway, while November sees them headline London’s Elephant’s Head, with a full European tour on the horizon. For a band that began with two friends obsessing over CDs and haircuts, Blue Slate’s journey has been one of persistence and discovery. “Plastic Soul” feels like both a milestone and a doorway into what’s next — a moment where self-realization becomes sound, and four musicians channel it into something visceral, beautiful, and unmistakably their own.
