About this Event

Duke Special's 4th studio album ‘Look Out Machines!' was released on 6 April 2015 on Stranger Records. The Ulster born singer songwriter and gramophone impresario, has superbly crafted this new collection of catchy, rousing and lyrically poignant tracks. ‘Look Out Machines!' sees Duke exploring new musical ground with collaborators including Iain Archer, Phil Wilkinson and Gary Clark and heralds the return of an artist back at the very top of his game; a major difference between his recent output and this album is that, for the most part, Duke has placed himself in the first-person with these songs. ‘Look Out Machines!' is an epic album from a unique artist. It's a grand gesture of a record that displays a rare and timeless quality and speaks with a refined eloquence.



Those who know Duke Special for the platinum album ‘Songs From The Deep Forest', and the hit song ‘Freewheel', may be surprised by the cultural breadth of his work. His immense creative talents have seen him involved in projects as diverse as writing the theme tune for the Irish Sesame Street to writing the music for and appearing in Deborah Warner's critically acclaimed 2009 production of Bertolt Brecht's ‘Mother Courage and Her Children' at London's National Theatre.



From presenting a documentary on the life and times of 50s megastar Ruby Murray to being commissioned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York to write a series of original songs based on photographs for their exhibition of the photographers Stieglitz, Steichen, and Strand. From performing with orchestras such as the Ulster and RTE Concert orchestras, to finishing an unfinished musical by Kurt Weill based on the novel Huckleberry Finn.

Dynamic, musically ambitious & bracingly eccentric, with his inimitable style and lush musicality. Hailing from Belfast with a sound that is self-confessed "hobo-chic", Duke Special - AKA the endlessly inventive Peter Wilson - is once heard, never forgotten.