Hozier puts song online in advance of new album

MUSIC NEWS: Hozier is in Mitchelstown this weekend, and has also released a video of a duet with Karen Cowley on his single ‘In A Week’ that was recorded at Kilkenny Castle.

The Wicklow singer’s album is due on September 19 and his appearance on the cover of Aer Lingus’s inflight magazine Cara is an indication of his already burgeoning status overseas. Hear it at hozier-inaweek.com. Meanwhile, given Simon Cowell’s reported donation last year to a charity supporting members of the Israeli defence forces, it’d be interesting to hear what he made of the #freepalestine tweet from his young charge Zayn Malik (inset) of One Direction. The 1D star got several hundred thousand retweets for the message, but also got plenty of flak from Israelis and others who said he didn’t understand the situation in Gaza. At the time of writing, that tweet on Monday was Malik’s last activity on his Twitter account, but he hasn’t taken followed the path Rihanna took when she had second thoughts about a similar message and soon deleted it. There’s also ongoing conflict in the state of Led Zeppelin, with Robert Plant and Jimmy Page taking potshots at each other over delays in a proposed reunion. In the meantime, the band are to release ‘deluxe’ editions of two more albums, Led Zeppelin IV and Houses of the Holy.

GIG WISE: Corkonians not going to Indiependence can catch a rare home gig from the Sultans of Ping when they play Cyprus Avenue in the city tonight. The same venue has lined up ‘Teenage Dirtbag’ outfit Wheatus for October 8. Mick Flannery is also back on home ground for Coughlans Live Festival at the Douglas Street venue on September 24-29. Guinness Amplify is the event that replaces Arthurs Day, and as it moves around the country in September and October, bands appearing will include Bastille, Disclosure, Jess Glynne, Kodaline and Ellie Goulding.