Instead, the Dubliner’s output has remained unpredictable yet always honest, encompassing a thrilling blend of pop, electronica and rock. Richie Egan could have become a footnote in Irish music history, best-known for one song: Floating. A playlisting with BBC 6 Music comes ahead of a debut album, Personal History, this October. Momentum is building for the Dublin singer whose music blends the clear-eyed earnestness of folk with the bustle and hustle of electro-pop. As a bonus, they’re signed to the most credible label on the planet, Ninja Tune, and have been championed by Mixmag and Resident Advisor. – EPīloggers-turned-house sensations, this Belfast duo pack their music with references to Big Beat and EDM. But from the ashes of that group has now risen the spiffing Soda Blonde, led by Faye O’Rourke, whose knack for heart-shredding pop has, if anything, grown even sharper. Little Green Cars never quite fulfilled the early buzz. Cavan’s finest purveyor of contemporary folk songs is a once-in-a-generation kind of artist, as her four excellent albums have proven. Her voice undoubtedly has a Marmite quality to it, but Lisa O’Neill simultaneously has the rare ability to stop you in your tracks. Lisa O’Neill: once-in-a-generation kind of artist.
Who have we scandalously omitted? What triumphs of hype-over-substance have we fallen for?įeel free to leave your own recommendations in the comments, please don’t take it too seriously, and promise us you won’t have a breakdown on Twitter. In other words, our list is best approached not as a definitive statement but as a conversation starter. You will have your own Top 50 and it is just as valid as ours (you can put Dermot Kennedy in first, second and third place if you wish). The countdown that follows is also, and needless to say, subjective. And that was just the debate over whether Hozier’s ponytail merited its own separate entry. There were blunt words, tears and slammed doors. Such is the outpouring of talent that narrowing our selection of essential artists to just 50 was a huge challenge.
The industry here used to be 50 shades of glum. A new generation of rappers, free thinkers and pop stars-in-training has risen in their place. Gone are the glum old days of blokey singer-songwriters and earnest indie bands as far as the eye could see. These are thrilling times for Irish music (the pesky matter of a once-in-a-century pandemic aside). the dreary male with Guitar is being replaced and a wave of multicultural and multifaceted performers are taking centre stage.
This is an exciting time for Irish music.