THERE'S plenty to be excited about this week on Northern Winds, with the NI Music Prize returning for another year of celebrations, plenty of new music and fresh opportunities for young and developing artists.

Translink have teamed up with the Oh Yeah Music Centre and Q Radio for another year of talent development and prizes for a young artist or band. Following several years of lambasting the lack of late-night transport and its harmful impact on the creative sector, the public transport company is putting its money where its mouth is in an effort to support our young musicians. With a call-out to all unsigned local acts, the competition will feature a public vote on who the Sound of the Summer will be.

After applications, a selecting comittee will create a shortlist of acts who will be offered the chance to perform a busking-style gig in one of Translink’s local stations in August, as well as a place in the line-up at the grand finale event on August 30 at the Oh Yeah Music Centre.

With prizes including studio time, professional mentoring and £1000 in cash to be spent on advancing their career, any act interested in applying must submit an original piece of music online. Charlotte Dryden, CEO of the Oh Yeah Music Centre, said: “It’s a really exciting time to be involved in new music in Northern Ireland and we are delighted to work with Translink once again to support local musical talent and promote the industry to a wider audience. There is a lot of undiscovered talent out there and Translink Sessions is a great opportunity to help kickstart someone’s career in music. The finale event will also be a fantastic opportunity to enjoy new, local music, so we expect tickets to be in demand.”

Also this week, the Northern Ireland Music Prize opened its doors for applications. Full details can be found online, but the important thing to note is that anyone who released anything in the past year is eligible – more on the awards as the month's progress, but for now get nominated.

In live news, we have two local festivals to be excited about. Whilst the vestiges of Stendhal still hang over us, there are plenty of other opportunities to check out some excellent local culture over the summer. 

COASTER, the north coast music festival programmed by artists, announced its return later this year. Pulling in aspects of street and skate culture, street art, food and music, it's one of the best examples we have of the strength of our creatives at home. Taking place on August 12 in Station Square in Portrush, a musical line-up of veterans – Axis Of, Good Friend and hotly-tipped newcomers TRAMP and WOHN – will make this a day to tweak the schedule for.

As always, we like to shine a spotlight on some of the hottest new releases from our independent artists, and as the summer continues, there's plenty to get excited about.

Readers may remember us tipping singer Becky McNeice as an artist to watch this year. Well, she has certainly delivered with the release of her new single 'Flatline'. Once again made with collaborator and producer Eulogy, the singer describes the track as a way of "encapsulating the raw emotions and vulnerability of seeking closure, especially when it is too late to repair the bonds that were once cherished."

She continues: "Ending cycles is something that is unavoidable in our lives but, with this song, I wanted to touch on the consequences of leaving emotions unexpressed and how it can possibly change you forever.”

Expect lo-fi vocals, trap pop beats and sublime harmonies.