Every month sees more and more great Irish music released to the world. Aaron Cunningham and Éimear Gallagher select some of our favourite releases of last month, including cover artist AE Mak. All found in our rotating playlist.
AE Mak – Last Night You Cried to Bach
AE Mak’s artist journey has always been one of new creative steps, from the early days of forging a solo path, lockdown inventiveness and a move to Berlin. Now here in May 2026, here is the debut album Folk Songs from Mama & Papa. There’s glimpses of it all here, but it’s a largely chill and often stripped back like on ‘Last Night You Cried to Bach’ – storytelling woven around piano and Aoife McCann’s beautifully dynamic voice. A wonderful debut. AC
Becca Colley – Nicely
Released early May, ‘Nicely”, has an emotionally rich character created through powerful acoustic nuances filled with subtle chord progressions that tug at the heart. This newest release reminds me of Adrianne Lenker with a slight CMAT influenced feel. Her soft lilts, so extremely beautiful and satisfying are musically entwined with compelling metaphors of word-painting and emotion. EG
Gilla Band – Giraffe
Irish heavyweights Gilla Band are back with their first new music in over three years with new single ‘Giraffe’. In a post post-punk world, it remains difficult to define Gilla Band’s heady and heavy experimentation but once again Dara Kiely’s idiosyncratic lyrics are met with a wave of inventive guitar work and waves of brilliant noise. AC
Lemoncello – Tomorrow Nostalgia
Perfect Place, album number two from duo Lemoncello dropped early last month and it’s a fine follow up their debut self-titled of two years ago. ‘Tomorrow Nostalgia’ hits the spot for a single, their folk roots and gorgeous harmonies enhanced by new production from the soft beat to waves of texture. AC
RuntheRed- Natural Disaster
‘Natural Disaster’ is filled with evocative energy and a wistful, tender feel through their lyricism. The tune goes from rather sensitive and soft to volatile, tipped into such raw and unfiltered atmospheric intensity. The instrumental sections are chaotic and turbulent before returning to the soft surface of the beginning few bars. A track with so many different elements to it, it may be one of the most introspective tracks to come out of Ireland in recent times. EG
Gurriers – Nobody’s Coming to Save You
Another Irish band success story of recent years, Gurriers continue to push forward as they release ‘Nobody’s Coming to Save You’ and album number 2 of the same name this September. A band in good form, their music once again inhabiting a sharp, heavy and impassioned sound-space. AC
Playlist
