This month’s staff pick is the music video Lovers by Irish Recording Artist cbakl, who worked with the Northern Ireland Tourist board collection. 

“As soon as I looked through the archival footage I knew I had to work with it in some capacity. Being from Portrush on the North Coast & seeing the archive footage of the races from the 1950/60s, alongside footage of the way the town used to look, I knew it would perfectly fit the aesthetic & vibe of this track I created. I wanted to include archive footage that painted a picture of the landscapes that shaped me as a person & artist over the years, paying homage to the country I’m very proud to be from! Lovers marks a slight shift in direction with regards to my music, originally garnering a lot of attention in the ‘lo-fi’ scene, I wanted to branch away from that side of things & show that I’m capable of making a variety of different genres whilst keeping the signature ‘cbakl’ sound.” - cbakl, 2023

Lovers came from the live event cbakl: seanfhocail that took place on 27th January 2023 for TradFest Temple Bar in the Button Factory, Dublin. It was presented by Word Up Collective and featured Alicia Raye, Bricknasty, Matt Ó, Natalya O’Flaherty and Sasha Terfous. The event was a bold reimagining of traditional music for the modern age – combining archive samples with hip hop, eclectic beats, spoken word, jazz, R&B, soul and house. Composed and performed by the Belfast based producer cbakl it brought a sense of musical adventure rooted in years of history. The live performances were accompanied by visuals selected by cbakl from the U.T.V. and Northern Ireland Tourist Board collections.