“Elements of shoegaze, witch house, cloud rap and Irish traditional music” (Rough Trade)

BRDCST label focus: AD 93 (Label of The Year 2025, Pitchfork) 

Moin, Coby Sey, SKY H1, Holy Tongue, Valentina Magaletti and, more recently, YHWH Nailgun – there have already been quite a few acts from the London label AD 93 to grace the stage at BRDCST. In 2026, we intentionally spotlight the label through guests of honour, such as james K, feeo, Lankum offshoot One Leg One Eye and Olan Monk. 

Coincidence or not: Pitchfork recently catapulted the label to Label of The Year 2025 and hailed it “one of the most interesting, unpredictable, and ambitious record labels working right now”. And also: “Daring, heartfelt, and unpredictable, AD 93 has released some of the best music of the year. AD 93’s diverse roster is something more like an ethos: a shared spirit of adventurousness, disregard for convention, and raw emotion.”

Olan Monk presents Songs for Nothing (AD 93) 
Behind the moniker Olan Monk (IE), you’ll find Irish performer and experimental artist Olan Andrew Stephens, also the co-founder of record label C.A.N.V.A.S. (see Elvin Brandhi and AD 93 act Alpha Maid). 
With their latest album Songs for Nothing, their electronic approach takes a back seat and they move more toward “vaporised dream pop, caustic shoegaze, and aspects of Ireland’s sean-nós singing tradition”. Although the latter refers to ‘old-style Irish songs’, a song like Drón Feadóige (read: ‘whistling drone’) leans more toward “Sunn O)))'s molasses-slow, bass-heavy drones” according to Boomkat. 
Olan Monk was assisted on Songs For Nothing by countrymate Maria Somerville. In exchange, Monk played on her acclaimed 4AD debut Luster. Want more listening pleasure? Monk can also be heard on the album You Never End by labelmate Moin, as well as on the debut of (the illustrious supergroup) Princ€ss.