FEATURE: Spotlight: Dark Tropics — Music Musings & Such

FEATURE:

Spotlight

Dark Tropics

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A terrific Belfast duo…

who I think should get attention far and wide, I wanted to spotlight the magnificent Dark Tropics. I have been a fan of theirs a while now. I think I first heard them when their 2021 debut album, Ink, was released. Out at the height and toughest time of the pandemic, it was a challenge promoting the album and establishing a foothold. it is a superb album. Since then, they have grown even more assured and confident. The latest single, Carnival, is one of their very best! I do wonder whether there will be a second studio album next year. Growing in popularity and acclaim, everyone should have Dark Tropics on their radar. Comprised of Gerard Sands and Rio McGuinness, there is a close interaction and real chemistry between the friends. In my view, McGuiness has one of the most expressive, soulful and beautiful voices in modern music. Paired to the talent that Sands has dripping from every pore and Dark Tropics are a tantalising and unstoppable force! I was wondering how often we look at music coming from Belfast and Northern Ireland. In fact, I feel the media has an issue still with looking outside of England and the U.S. Hopefully that will change! I am going to come to a recent interview with Dark Tropics. First, I wanted to head back. In April 2020 – when the pandemic was new and there was uncertainty in the air -, The Music Files spend some time with the fabulous duo:

“1. How did you guys form?

Gerard: I’d been on the look out for a singer for a while. Just over a year ago I saw an ad online from a singer based in Belfast looking to perform live in a jazz band. Although I didn’t want to start a jazz band or play jazz I thought it was intriguing so I messaged Rio and she emailed me back from Morocco where she was volunteering, seeming interested. She sent me this really jazzy voice note of her singing ‘crazy’ by Gnarls Barkley acapella. It sounded beautifully strange so we organised to meet on her return. At our first meeting we discovered a mutual appreciation of Radiohead and The Rolling Stones song ‘Sympathy for the devil’ and decided to try recording something.

Rio: The first time we actually met I was just out of work, my manager had made me re-set half the restaurant because the salt and pepper were on the wrong sides so I was not only horrendously nervous but also late (very typical of me). I was surprised at how well we got on and how much we had to talk about! As soon as we met I abandoned the jazz band I was planning on busking with.

2. How would you describe your music to first time listeners?

Pop-Noir.

3. You were recently played on KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic in California – what an achievement! How does it feel knowing your music has been played worldwide?

Gerard: Getting played on that show was an especially big deal for me because I’ve listened to it for a long time. I’ve discovered lots of new music there so I was absolutely delighted. ‘Badlands’ isn’t the chirpiest song in the world so the response from radio generally has been fantastic. It’s incredibly hard to get to radio and we’re so grateful for the support.

5. You are based in Belfast, how would you describe it’s music scene?

Gerard: It’s an incredibly exciting time for Belfast Music. It’s buzzing. There’s genuine camaraderie among musicians and with the ‘Oh Yeah’ Music Centre there’s an important avenue for musicians who want to gig, record and release but need help getting started. The music is so diverse and it feels like there are great songs being released all the time. You can go to a show with a pop act following a heavy rock band and it somehow works cause the crowds are so open”.

I am going to move things along. In February last year, Dark Tropics discussed how they put something of themselves into the music. Explaining to Hot Press how things are polished to perfection, we learn more about a wonderful duo who were gaining a lot of traction and new adoration. It seems like, over a year later, they are in the position of playing some huge festivals. I think next year will be a breakout year where they will tour internationally and get some huge bookings:

“The first time Gerard Sands heard Rio McGuinness sing, she was humming Gnarls Barkley’s ‘Crazy’ into a handset.
“I was at a bus stop, walking to work, singing into my phone,” recalls McGuinness.

“It was this jazzy version. The melody was different,” continues Sands. “Everything about it was weird. I half hated it, half loved it. I was like, ‘We need to meet.’”

So went the origin story of Dark Tropics, the Belfast duo whose Lana Del Rey-esque cinematic pop has seen them anointed one of Ireland’s most acclaimed new outfits. Sands had discovered McGuinness on an app called “Join My Band”, which in Belfast largely consists of heavy metal bass players looking for drummers.

After inhaling her breathless take on Gnarls Barkley they met, mucked around in the studio – and a beautiful partnership was born. Since then, and even with the pandemic doing its best to derail the collaboration, they’ve barely stopped.

“Rio’s voice dictated what type of songs we wrote,” says Sands. “I knew very quickly it wasn’t going to be EDM music, with the way she sang. Slower songs, more thoughtful songs, suited her voice. Her voice dictated where all the production went.”

They’ve had a rapid rise, with swooning reviews for last October’s debut album, Ink, which they have dedicated to their late manager, Lyndon Stephens. Hailed by Hot Press’s Lee Campbell as “atmospheric, moody and complex”, the project has also received sustained airplay both sides of the border.

Given that Dark Tropics’ introverted sound demands the listener lean in and pay attention, this success is not to be sniffed at. Quiet and thoughtful music doesn’t always get a fair hearing, particular in our present era of shrinking attention spans. And yet somehow Dark Tropics have touched a chord.

Their calling card is ‘Badlands’, a vertiginous ballad that combines Philip Glass piano minimalism, pre-stardom Billie Eilish vocals, and an Americana sensibility so rich you can almost feel the desert dust whipping your face. It all comes together as McGuinness arrives at the enigmatic chorus: “Strayed from the heart / Strayed from home / Dead from the start / I let you in.”

“This is the best case scenario in terms of radio play and how lovely people have been,” says McGuinness. “It’s all extremely positive. When people hear us on the radio and find us online and leave a lovely comment – I guess I hope it’s people seeing something in our music that we see. We put a little bit of ourselves in all of our music. Everything is polished to perfection. Those songs do not go out if they’re not perfect.”

“Rio” is short for Rionnach: the singer, who has just graduated from Queens, grew up in a family steeped in traditional music. And if that background hasn’t percolated into Dark Tropics, there is nonetheless something very ancient and hauntingly Irish in the way in which McGuinness can convey a lifetime of heartache in a single, sustained note.

“The man my mam used to work with used to make bodhráns. To the point of choosing the goat [the skin of which was used to make the instrument]. I grew up around trad musicians. Unfortunately I never did it. It’s an entirely different set of skills, especially the singing – it’s insane and it’s so beautiful.”

McGuinness is speaking from Brighton where she is on a post-Christmas break. Her bandmate, meanwhile, is in his family home just outside Newry. It’s a few days since minimum alcohol pricing was introduced south of the Border, and he confirms the roads to Newry have been doing well out of parched citizens from the Republic.

“The road’s chockablock,” he says. “It’s weird. Coming in from the Dublin Road, there is a Sainsbury’s and that carpark is completely packed.”

He’s lived most of the past several years in Belfast, where he received a history degree from Queens. Sands also spent his time at college immersed in the city’s music scene. He came to Dark Tropics having previously fronted the dance project Kid Trench.

“It’s not that big,” he says of Belfast’s indie circuit. “It’s about 20 people all together, not including the artists. You meet bands. It’s a wee bit ridiculous how supportive everyone is of everyone. A lot of the same musicians play in each other’s bands. You kind of know everyone. Even if you don’t know them, you know them.”

Dark Tropics’ music is often described as “cinematic” – and it is frequently suggested that they would be the perfect artists to soundtrack a future season of True Detective. Sands takes that as a compliment – up to a point.

“It’s very easy to get into, ‘it’s a bit earnest and cringe’,” he says. “You have to stay on the right side of that, which is surprisingly tricky. All of the songs are so melancholic, it’s hard to avoid the filmic thing. It’s honestly not that intentional. Rio’s voice dictates it, really”.

There are a couple of things left. I will get to a new interview from the Irish Post. I want to start with their review of Dark Tropics’ Ink. It is one of the best albums of 2021 in my opinion. A real treat that gained great reviews - yet you do not hear it played on radio as much as it truly deserves. I know things are changing now and the duo are getting more love. This is what the Irish Times wrote when they sat down to review the amazing Ink:

“Belfast duo Dark Tropics (Rio McGuinness and Gerard Sands) have all the right inspirations, musical (from Radiohead and The Velvet Underground to Aretha Franklin and latter-day Leonard Cohen) and literary (from Paul Auster to William Somerset Maugham). But what is most impressive on their debut album is how effortlessly these influences, and more, fuse into something you don't hear much of these days: genuine individuality.

While their separate backgrounds wouldn’t give many clues as to what their combined work is like (they met via an online ad from Rio looking to sing in a jazz band), the result of about two years of collaborating presents not just an intriguing slant on pop music but also an insightful one.

Despite the somewhat classic influences, there is a distinct contemporary thread running through most of the songs – a little bit of London Grammar here (I Remember), Lana Del Rey there (The Drug) and Lorde over there (Escape).

The dynamic between the pair of musicians is such that you’d wonder who calls the shots, but between the jigs and the reels (not literally, in this instance) we reckon there is an equal give and take here”.

Let’s finish off with a great recent interview from the Irish Post. In a busy year for Dark Tropics, we get to learn more about where they are. Rio McGuinness was fielding the questions. It sounds things are all go in their camp! I am fascinated to see where the duo go from here:

“What are you up to?

As of the time of writing this I am currently multitasking, finishing up my masters dissertation, working on lyrics to a new song and drinking a cup of tea. I find I’m more productive if I have multiple things to work on at once, when my brain goes to mush while working on one, I can use a different part of my brain to work on another! It’s an essential skill to have, and of course, one which requires copious amounts of tea!

Which piece of music always sends a shiver down your spine?

“Un bel di vedremo” from Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini. I

.Who would be in your ideal band?

Joan Jett.

How did you get started in music?

Choirs, so many choirs. Everyone in my family has an intense love for music, my grandfather played piano and conducted, my grandmother sang, my dad headbanged, my mum danced around the kitchen and sang to me, and my uncles played blues.

Where are you from in Ireland, and what are your roots?

I’m from Antrim, with some roots in Scotland and around Ulster. I’ve tried to map it, but not with the success I’d like. My heart and soul belongs to this isle.

What’s on your smartphone playlist at the minute?

I have a playlist full of Japanese noise music, mostly female vocalists, Midori, Otoboke Beaver and the likes. Then I have The Scratch, Gurriers, Enola Gay and more local bands on that playlist.

What is your favourite place in Ireland?

I would have always said Dingle, but Glenveagh National Park is coming in close second.

Which song being played a party would make you get up and leave?

Wonderwall.

If you were told musicians are no longer welcome in Ireland, where would you go? - Scotland, probably Edinburgh.

Mozart or Martin Hayes?

Martin Hayes.

Who will you thank in your Grammy award acceptance speech?

My family and partner, for pushing me to do what I need to do, Gerard for having really good ducking reflexes after a long studio day, and my cat, for putting in tireless hours as a non-licensed therapist.

If you weren’t a musician what other job would you be really good at?

Animal rehabilitation worker and conservation officer, if I wasn’t doing music, I would be working in reptile care and conservation.

What's the worst piece of advice you've been given this year?

Bathing a cat is better than using no-rinse shampoo. I still have the scar on my face.

Have you a favourite line from a song?

“Slow down, you’re doing fine. You can’t be everything you want to be before your time”

In terms of inanimate objects, what is your most precious possession?

A white music box with painted pink and lilac flowers.

What’s the best thing about where you live?

The traditions

PHOTO CREDIT: Will Walden

....and the worst?

The price of Guinness

What’s the greatest lesson life has taught you?

Nothing is more important than your physical and mental health. And therapy is not just a solution, but a preventative measure.

What do you believe in?

Kindness

What do you consider the greatest work of art?

Watching someone laugh until they snort, its pure joy.

Who/what is the greatest love of your life?

My cat Roxas”.

Actually, I will end with a recent post from She Makes Music. They reacted to the news of Dark Tropics bringing us Carnival. It is a magnificent track that shows that they definitely deserve huge respect and opportunities:

“Irish duo Dark Tropics today release their new single and music video for ‘Carnival’. Channelling their signature pop-noir sound, the songwriting duo invite you down a twisted path of love and lust, demanding you fall prey to the allure of their summer street party.

Following the critical acclaim of their debut album INK and 2023 singles ‘Midnight 10th Of December’ and ‘I Bet You Can’, Dark Tropics announce their brand new era.

Discussing the making of the single, Dark Tropics say “‘Carnival was written and demoed really quickly and felt completely effortless. The groove seemed to have an immediate swagger and the lyrics danced onto the page. It’s about an intense but fleeting holiday romance; one that stays ingrained in your mind forever.”

The stylised single is a sweeping cinematic slideshow of energising percussion and upbeat bass hooks in the classic pop tradition. Reminiscent of the sound and scope of Florence and The Machine and Haim, Dark Tropics’ newest release is their most ambitious yet. Lyrics dripping with seduction powered by towering vocals and arrangements propel the act into a new era of stadium sized songs”.

The mighty and wonderous Dark Tropics are no doubt looking ahead regarding their next step. On an upward trajectory, this close-knit and wonderfully talented duo of Gerard Sands and Rio McGuinness have a bright and long future ahead. Carnival shows that they are very much here for the long-run! Fans around the world will wait eagerly to see…