Remarkably we find ourselves at the start of a new year but before we rush headlong into 2025, we wanted to reflect on the year just passed.
Despite the numerous social and economic challenges which made working in the creative industries such a challenge, it seems no-one told our musicians. Across the twelve months of 2024, we were inundated with quality release after release which made curating our monthly Fresh NI playlist a real joy.
The flip side of coin is that with so much brilliant music, condensing nearly 500 releases (we were aware of) down to only 50 was torturous. Part one of this list covers tracks 50 through 26, and now we can reveal our top 25 Northern Irish Songs of the Year.
If you’d like to get straight to listening, our full top 50 can be found in our playlist.
Words & selections by Addison Paterson, Aaron Cunningham, Ben Magee, Jonah Gardner & Robert Brown.
25. Esmeralda Road – I Think
Belfast’s party band find their groove on their third track of 2024. Vintage symbolism and imagery meld with indie, funk and groove songwriting. Esmerelda Road rode the wave of this track to high powered support slots and national headlines this year, and one would believe they’re only getting started.
Ben Magee
24. Parker – Generic Indie Bands
Another busy year for Parker on the touring front but it was their trio of singles where they really dazzled in 2024. ‘Punk rock anthem ‘Generic Indie Bands’ was the pick of the bunch and found the Derry trio throwing shade at the likes of The Courteeners and Oasis across a rollicking tongue in cheek diss track.
Robert Brown
23. Becky McNeice – All My Love
Belfast’s Becky McNeice continued to defy genre labels in 2024, with five singles and a remix all showing something different. The more ephemeral alt-pop romance of ‘All My Love’ is one of her best with subtle production enveloping McNeice’s vocals.
Aaron Cunningham
22. PORTS – Wait Forever
The wait for the follow up to PORTS’ debut full length goes on but the Derry band did give us a taster in ‘Wait Forever’. To the surprise of no-one, it is a rich, multi-layered effort with beautiful harmonies and offers us that rather unnecessary assurance that the album will be worth the wait.
Robert Brown
21. beat up car – you need help (but you have to want it)
Matt Irwin has plenty of form for crafting memorable indie rock anthems (see Hello Casanova – Jet Black and Foreign Affairs – Houston) and his team up with Oisin Jayat has struck further gold. ‘you need help’ is a delicious emo rock earworm that kept us coming back for more.
Robert Brown
20. Córas Trio – Jackie Fitzpatrick’s
A track that builds itself as it plays out, ‘Jackie Fitzpatrick’s’ is the expert improvisation of Córas Trio, who are undoing the perceived boundaries of traditional practice. Electronics and percussion unconventional to the genre feel like they belong, sitting below traditional melodies with a 21-century vision.
Addison Paterson
19. Huartan – Bean Udaí Thall
The first ever sounds from founding parents of Tradtronica, Huartan, are unlike any others this year. A contemporary revival of an ancient Irish murder-ballad, ‘Bean Udaí Thall’ is as trance-like as it is -inducing; melding history, mythology, ancient traditions and language with unrelenting, mesmerising electronica production values. Run to see them live.
Addison Paterson
18. Morgana – I’ll Cry When I’m Dead
Morgana was selling out shows and impressing audiences long before her debut solo single appeared in mid-October. ‘I’ll Cry When I’m Dead’ hits that pop sweet spot with its slow, simmering verses moving into a big shimmering chorus. A fresh sonic start from her Saint Sister days.
Aaron Cunningham
17. Martha Greer – Mary
A new sonic direction for Martha Greer rewarded us with her most sophisticated and mature record to date. Powered by melodies that would be equally comfortable on a wallowing dream pop record, and accompanied by chunky indie and singer-songwriter sensibilities.
Ben Magee
16. Makeshift Art Bar – Bedwetter
Fast-rising noise merchants flip expectations on their head in their strongest track to date. The discordant wall-of-sound and alternative electronica of their debut tracks are replaced with tight structures, tightly wound guitars and (dare I say it) hooks. Glorious hooks. If this is where they are now, sign me up for the next three years.
Ben Magee
15. Sasha Samara – Simmer
‘Simmer’, Sasha Samara’s sole release of 2024, saw her delve further into synth-pop production and away from the ukuele accented sound from her emergence. An affecting, sensual vocal hook leads off under a bed of smooth synth as Samara leads her craft in a new direction.
Aaron Cunningham
14. Conchúr White – 501s
Released via Bella Union, White’s debut album Swirling Violets was one of the records of 2024 and marks a highpoint in his career to date. From the album, ‘501s’ tells of childhood infatuation and taps into the deep wells of nostalgia. One of the true gems from the album & we are quickly running out of superlatives for Conchúr.
Robert Brown
13. TRAMP – The Birds (Lowered Suspension)
New music from one of the North’s best live acts has been long anticipated with ‘The Birds (Lowered Suspension” delivering. Smart, tongue in cheek lyrics delivered through Sianna Lafferty’s distinct rasp are matched by the stop/start verses and a chorus that really kicks into gear. A band that continue to match their promise.
Aaron Cunningham
12. Lord Jane – Harmonia
A hot name on lips and line-ups across the city, Lord Jane’s ‘Harmonia’ sees a band coming to their potential. With members hailing from familiar outfits (think Ferals, Big Daisy) to inform their genre-bending instrumentation, the track hits at their core: at times math-rock and often post-punk – but always melodic, atmospheric, and just a slice of what’s to come.
Addison Paterson
11. VERA – No Help From You
Falling together after a redirection, rebrand, and return from LDN, 2024 saw VERA establish themselves as the band that was always meant to be. Of their very well-received offerings this year, ‘No Help From You’ demands its place with determination and scuzzy guitars, showing off the sum of their parts: a handful of the North’s tightest musicians, and the live-wire vocals & lyrics of Sarah Toner. Some pairing indeed.
Addison Paterson
10. Buí – Reset
A single that flew criminally under the radar this calendar year. A ramshackle blend of midwestern emo, indie, and lo-fi country, the sum of ‘Reset’ is greater than it’s parts. Instead of channelling artists, Buí mainline VHS-grained nostalgia and violet, late-night drive skylines into the acoustics of ‘Reset’, and tie it all together with fuzzy DIY production. Bliss.
Ben Magee
9. Franklin – Bebby
You only get one opportunity to make a good first impression and Franklin understood the brief perfectly. ‘Bebby’ is an indie rock anthem that has stadium sized aspirations. A huge chorus and a level of swagger unusual in a debut release, belies the fact that it is a love song at heart.
Robert Brown
8. Chubby Cat – Got Hope
During a huge year globally for alt-pop, it’s safe to say Chubby Cat had her own moment. ‘GOT HOPE’ preceded the Cork-born, Belfast-based artist’s debut EP, snuck out just before 2024 wrapped up. The track shows a softer side than previous recent releases, with electro-pop grooves cut through by Cat’s unmistakable, pristine vocals; sometimes soaring, sometimes whispered. Long past the stage of one to watch, we can’t keep our eyes off where she’s going.
Addison Paterson
7. Ciaran Lavery – Oh My God (No, Your God) ft. Morgana
Lavery has been prolific in recent years, writing incredible songs for not only himself but a host of other musicians. ‘Oh My God’ is one of his best and see the Aghagallon native combine with Morgana for a moody & captivating examination of the impact of growing up in Northern Ireland with our unique religious and societal divisions.
Robert Brown
6. exmagician – Keep Your Nose Clean
The standout track from one of the top albums of the year, ‘Keep Your Nose Clean Has It All’. A throwback record that prizes melody above all, it pulls from Beatles-esque 60’s pop and Beck-informed 90’s alternative. Flush with vibrant synth and sculpted, radiant acoustics, it’s been on repeat since release.
Ben Magee
5. Joshua Burnside – Ghost of the Bloomfield Road
Burnside is a remarkable storyteller and ‘Ghost of the Bloomfield Road’ puts us through the emotional ringer. The narrative lands us in the period following the birth of his first child where he deals with the anxiety & fear that come with becoming a parent.
“Well, I am a father now God help us all, I said to myself as I held him, And waited to find out if you were alive. Every minute a lifetime.”
I doubt you’ll find more honest and poignant lyrics on anything else you listen to this year.
Robert Brown
4. OR:LA – Chant
Released in the summer, ‘Chant’ hailed the arrival of premier Irish beatmaker Or:la’s debut (and anticipated) full-length release, ’Trusting Theta’. Nestled in at track 4, this lead single puts the Derry-born producer’s lyrics and vocals at the centre for the first time; following a rhythmic, meditative cycle — with an edge. It is, after all, “a chant about snakes in the grass”.
Addison Paterson
3. Chalk – Bliss
Amongst the blistering techno inspired tracks Chalk have put out in the last year, sits ‘Bliss’. There’s a softening of their harder edge through vocals from Fears and the themes of familiar love. Joy Division-esque guitar lines cut through the emotive moments and the late night euphoric haze.
Aaron Cunningham
2. RÓIS – Feel Love
ROIS’ Mo Lean explores ancient Irish traditions around death and keening. Sonically ROIS mixes the ethereal and otherworldly with distorted beats. On final track ‘Feel Love’ that otherworldly atmospheric quickly moves into shuddering beats and synths under the Fermanagh artist’s spellbinding vocals.
Aaron Cunningham
1. Jordan Adetunji – Kehlani
Adetunji’s sky-high ambitions and genre-fluid approach have kept him head and shoulders above his peers in recent years – and in 2024, the promises of the former belief delivered.
A chart-bursting, zeitgeist-capturing tour-de-force that channels the sexy drill of Cash Cobain and Sleepy Hallow, the hyperpop of Adetunji’s former belief and punk aesthetics, ‘Khelani’ rightfully takes its place at the top of our list.
Ben Magee
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