Max HeyraudThe Irish producer’s forthcoming LP reflects on vanishing clubs, rising ticket prices and the erosion of underground communities through hazy, cassette-worn house and techno.
Dublin’s underground nightlife is in freefall. Clubs are closing, ticket prices are climbing, and the spaces that once brought young people together are disappearing. As nightlife becomes increasingly commercialised, Irish producer Ciarán Meister turns his attention to what’s being lost on Macallaí, the debut album from his Übung project.
Irish for “Echoes”, the album looks back on the clubs, parties and DIY spaces that gave a generation a sense of community. Macallaí asks what happens when the places that bring people together vanish, and what remains of a scene when opportunities to experience it collectively become harder to access.
Built around productions on an Akai MPC2500, the record draws on ’90s house and techno, filtered through heavy cassette manipulation. Warped loops, blurred melodies and degraded recordings give its hypnotic rhythms a hazy, worn-down quality, recalling the fleeting intensity of a night out and the melancholy of returning to a venue that no longer exists.
Macallaí also recognises the resilience of underground culture and its ability to find new spaces and form new communities. Across the record, Meister considers the enduring need to gather, dance and connect beyond the digital world.