The New Irish Music Playlist is updated every week.
Featuring Chalk,Annika Kilkenny, F3Miii, Olive Hatake, Curtisy, Ten Hail Marys…
The best emerging tracks we’ve selected from artists from the island of Ireland this week, with more playlist additions below the main list.
For more extensive Irish and new music coverage, follow our Spotify playlist or hit up the Irish section for individual track features.
Ten Hail Marys, Curtisy
Bruises, Cuts
Dublin rapper Curtisy has already released one of the best Irish albums of the year, and here he is trying his hand as featured vocalist on Malahide four-piece indie-rock band Ten Hail Marys‘ latest track.
‘Bruises, Cuts’ is a meeting of musical minds, that make for more natural bedfellows than you might have thought.
Video by Cian Bolger, Lips2Ears shot in the Workman’s Cellar of course.
Olive Hatake
PS4
Olive Hatake, formerly OliveyOlive returns next week with a new album on October 25th, and the Boys Need Love album amps up the dynamic electronic production that was present on the 2022 debut Life in Colour.
‘PS4’ is a skittering euphoric electronic production with a soulful heart that could sit beside Fred Again.. on a playlist. The difference is Olive’s music is more reflective and inward-looking.
Boys Need Love is informed by recent developments in Olive’s life and the world around him – “the growing right wing movement in Ireland, the conflict of masculinity, the nature of relationships, faith and a journey into the world of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu that lead him to compete in the European championships in Paris earlier this year. “
Olive makes UK debut with two shows at Other Voices Cardigan in November.
“The song is a realisation of errors made in my past love encounters, finally stepping into the shoes of the opposite person. I’m also understanding that those errors were caused due to big obstacles I had to face this year – including losing one of my best friends. Yet we must keep moving on and keeping the faith that all will be good….”
Live shows:
Crwst, Cardigan (Other Voices): Nov 1st
Angel Upstairs, Cardigan (Other Voices): Nov 2nd
National Gallery, Dublin: Nov 7th
Workman’s Cellar, Dublin: Nov 10th
Chalk
Tell Me
The Belfast post-punk electronic industrialists Chalk are continuing their run of EP releases under the Conditions banner.
Conditions III, the final in the trilogy is released on February 21st on Nice Swan Records, with lead track ‘Tell Me’, dark arpeggio chords lead to agitated noisy crescendos buoyed by whispered vocals, synth stabs and kickdrums.
“For this track, we conjured up a world in which the song’s protagonist is running away from a dark past into unknown territory, encountering an unsuspecting new acquaintance on their journey. It’s a song that dives head-first into themes of the unknown, breaking norms, and a feeling of running away and never wanting to return again. It explores the idea that life is moving rapidly around us and the lack of belonging, confusion, and disassociation one experiences on their journey, growing older in an increasingly discouraging and bleak urban landscape. These are themes of which we’ve scratched the surface with ‘Conditions’ and ‘Conditions II’; but we want to delve even deeper into their grittier sides as we continue to figure ourselves out along the way.”
Chalk is Ross Cullen (Vocals), Benedict Goddard (Guitar, Synth), Luke Niblock (Drums)
Lots of live gigs upcoming too:
Live Dates
27th Feb 2025 – King Tuts, Glasgow
28th Feb 2025 – Band on the Wall, Manchester
1st Mar 2025 – Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
4th Mar 2025 – Bodega, Nottingham
6th Mar 2025 – Village Underground, Village
7th Mar 2025 – Strange Brew, Bristol
8th Mar 2025 – Concorde 2, Brighton
9th Mar 2025 – Heebie Jeebies, Liverpool
12th Mar 2025 – Paradiso, Amsterdam
13th Mar 2025 – Trix Bar, Brussels
14th Mar 2025 – La Lune des Pirates, Amiens
15th Mar 2025 – Maroquinerie, Paris
17th Mar 2025 – L’Astrolab, Orleans
18th Mar 2025 – Marché Gare, Lyon
20th Mar 2025 – Artteater, Cologne
21st Mar 2025 – Kantine am Berghain, Berlin
22nd Mar 2025 – Turmzimmer, Hamburg
26th Mar 2025 – Locomotiv, Bologna
27th Mar 2025 – Arci Bellezza, Milan
29th Mar 2025 – M4music Festival, Zurich
10th Apr 2025 – Ulster Sports, Belfast
12th Apr 2025 – Whelans, Dublin
Annika Kilkenny
Out In The Garden
We’ve introduced the Kilkenny singer-songwriter before on her debut single ‘Look Mom I Made It’, and what drew me to that song – its concise and economical melodies, its bright orchestral production,is very much present here.
“Out In The Garden plays on the idea of planting oneself, like one would a flower, in hopes that they will grow differently. It’s a song about clean slates and wanting to start again but then realising that might not be necessary as our mistakes and our past shape who we are, and it’s best to not forget those things when growing into new versions of ourselves. It’s about accepting the past and using it as a tool to shape us into the people we want to be.”
Annika Kilkenny plays a headline show at The Workman’s Cellar on Saturday, December 14th.
F3Miii
Say My Name
‘Say My Name’ is a beguiling track drawing on the DNA of Timbaland-chart club R&B and dance atmospherics that has been reappearing on my rotation for its repeatable simplicity and short running time (1 minute 38 seconds).
F3Miii’s releases have consistently piqued my ears lately so another feature was long overdue.
For more extensive Irish and new music coverage, check into the Irish section for individual track features…
For this and more Irish songs, follow the Nialler9 New Irish Spotify playlist.
New Playlist additions:
- Morgana – I’ll Cry When I’m Dead
- Silverbacks – Giving Away An Inch Of
- Skinner – Geek Love
- Biig Piig – Decimal
- Ahmed, With Love. – GeorgianFlip.
- Boy Lucid; Milu; Skip – Let’s Go
- Bricknasty; Aby Coulibaly – gas
- Villagers – Mountain out of a Molehill
- Filmore!, Twin Pumpkin – Boss Music
- D*mp – Riegrovy Sady
- Proper Micro NV – Just A Drop
- The Fae – Like Your Man
- Pebbledash – Tell Me
- Cardinals – Get It
- Jock – Joe Duffy
- shiv – defiance
- Maria Kelly – Something Better
- Long Island Sound – Warsaw
- Chris Wong – She Needs Time
- The X Collective; Senita; DeCarteret; Qbanaa – Naked
- The Ocelots – About You
- Ciaran Lavery – Everything Considered
- Scoobz – Analog Buzz
- Tosan – Online Dating
- Beano – Shark Week
- Sarah Crean – Nosebleeds
- Ahmed, With Love. – Yes, Of Course.
- single men in their twenties – dudes rock
- Sraddha – Lust
- Odd Numbers; DeCarteret – Rom-Com
- Big Sleep – Pianoland
- Ginnels – Promise to Never
- Jehnova – autumn
- Balderdasch – Homegrown Violence
