Songs of Murray and Keni are music to judges’ ears

Murray McDowell and Keni Brownlow, who together make up local band :ODIBAL (pronounced ‘audible’), entered two songs in the 2012 UK Songwriting Contest, one of the biggest competitions of its kind.

And to their delight, both entries were very well received by expert judges in the music industry.

One of the songs, entitled ‘Sober’, made it all the way to the semi-final stage of the competition in the Acoustic and Folk category, while the other – a solo effort by Murray called ‘24 Years’ – received a Commended Entry certificate.

Speaking about their success in the contest, the Larne duo said: “With over 6000 entries this year, this is one of the biggest songwriting competitions in the world, so we are understandably over the moon to have done so well.”

A spokesman for competition said: “The UK Songwriting Contest directors and judges include some of the world’s top Grammy, Emmy and BRIT Award winning producers who have worked closely with such artists as Sting, Paul McCartney, Elton John, Kylie Minogue, Robbie Williams, Britney Spears and many others.

“We are pleased that :ODIBAL achieved such impressive results in this year’s event and wish Keni and Murray every success in the future in songwriting.”

The pair have now released a four-track EP called ‘Sober’ on Amazon and iTunes, and also plan to spend time in the studio this month to complete a 12-track album.

For information on the competition go to http://uksongwritingcontest.co.uk