Every month sees more and more great Irish music released to the world. Aaron Cunningham selects some of our favourite releases of last month, including cover artist Junior Brother. All found in our rotating playlist.
Junior Brother – Take Guilt
A new Junior Brother release is always worth a mark in the calendar, and his first of 2024 rings particularly true. Junior Brother’s idiosyncratic voice and boundary pushing songwriting tackle the guilt of privilege on ‘Take Guilt’ as he builds towards album number three.
Molly Sterling – Strong Leech
It’s been five years since we last heard Molly Sterling’s unmistakable vocals on a release of her own but September saw her release new single ‘Strong Leech’. Self-recorded and self released, Sterling’s incredible voice carries the heavy emotional weight of the track alongside stirring piano and cello.
Affection to Rent – If We Fall
A debut single from 2023 formed Dublin five-piece Affection to Rent. Blending grunge and showcase, Dreamy verses and vocals rise into a heavy hitting wall of sound in the chorus, recorded in Belfast with Start Together’s Rocky O’Reilly.
Shark School – Choose Life
Galway rockers Shark School channel Trainspotting and youthful ennui on their second single ‘Choose Life’. A call & response riff laden garage rock song that’s sharp and direct. The band play Ireland Music Week this Friday.
Ramper – If You Want A Good Dream
An alt-folk track that brings to mind the likes of Andy Shauf through the former In Their Thousands member. Musically and melodically sweet ‘If You Want A Good Dream’ is the fourth release from Donegal songwriter Ramper.
Annie-Dog – Have I Been Living?
Annie-Dog has been on a roll since her brilliant debut ‘The Pressures of the Heart’ earlier this year. Another release that marries great songwriting with her shifting alt-pop production.
echo northstar – Creatures
An artist pouring various influences into his work, new single ‘Creatures’ follows on from a fifteen minute ambient instrumental and returning to the songwriting that first caught our attention. Radiohead’s In Rainbows is the obvious influence here, with the bass and percussion laying a interesting bed for the lost love lyrical theme.
Daire Heffernan – I Have the Fear
The now Belfast based, Dublin born songwriter released ‘I Have the Fear’ last month, quickly following on the heels of May’s The Wolf Called Desire EP. ‘I Have the Fear’ adds interesting musical flourishes to her mix of bedroom pop and alt-folk.
Bricknasty – mouthy
‘Mouthy’ dropped in early September ahead of the Bricknasty’s new mixtape XONGZ አስቀያሚ ጡብ released this week. The acclaimed Dublin group throw so much into the mix of every track with elements of jazz and R&B on full show in the inventive and laid-back ‘mouthy’.
PostLast – Mizen
New duo PostLast have been busy since their first single released in April, with ‘Mizen’ single number four and appearing before a late October debut EP. Inspired by a family holiday around the coast, the track’s dreamlike ambiance echoes the track’s inception.
Sprints – Feast
Fast rising Sprints continue their upward directory as they follow on from their January debut album, and the departure of founding member Colm O’Reilly, with new single ‘Feast’. The track looks at desire and sexuality through the lens of gluttony and consumption.
Blue Slate – Beaker
‘Beaker’ apparently started life as a slow folk song, but its hard to see with the throwback alt-rock sound on display here. The band’s first single of 2024 is replete with jagged guitars and frontman John Harney’s raw vocals.
The Low Field – Gather
Hailing from Limerick, quartet The Low Field released their follow up to last year’s debut double single. Self professed quiet/loud/quiet purveyors ‘Gather’ fits the description, a contemplative track that builds in its second half. A first single from an eponymous debut album out on 18 October.
Susan O’Neill – Apparitions
Susan O’Neill opens her latest album Now In A Minute with this dramatic beginning. O’Neill describes it as a song about allowing yourself to sit in solitude and darkness, and the hope you may find there. A searching, musically rich offering worthy of the album it introduces.
Joshua Burnside – The Good Life
The second half of Joshua Burnside’s new double A side has the Belfast songwriter reflecting on fatherhood. A folk lullaby with Burnside considering day to day life and falling asleep in the backseat, full of warm vocals and lively strings.
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