Here’s a rundown of new albums and releases, including new albums and EPs on DSPs and physical releases in record shops this week.
Nialler9 keeps a rolling list of Irish album releases for 2025.
New Albums and Releases
New Albums
Turnstile – Never Enough
My most anticipated album of the year.
Four years on from Glow On, the Baltimore hardcore punk band Turnstile release Never Enough, an album that continues the band’s expanding vision of punk rock music, while drawing on classic rock sounds, gilded bright synthesizers, bleeps, house music, 80s soft rock, a poppy sheen, TV show The Wire, phaser effects and some awesome rock drumming.
The pre-release singles have all been epic in their own way, The RATM-inspired ‘Look Out For Me’, the euphoric title track, ‘Birds’ and ‘Seeing Stars’, and first listen confirms a contender for the best rock album of the year.
There’s still a full-length music video film for all 45+ minutes of the record to come.
![TURNSTILE - NEVER ENOUGH [OFFICIAL VIDEO]](https://nialler9.com/wp-content/cache/flying-press/b456a606ef53b48adfc14c4d710b4f8d.jpg)
Little Simz – Lotus
The sixth album from Little Simz marks a sea change for Simbi, who has navigated music industry turmoil and her falling out of a key creative partner in Inflo which left a million-pounds loan unpaid and aired in public.
Lotus introduces a new production crew to work on the record, with punk, jazz and afrobeat brought into the Simz sound more readily with chief producer Miles Clinton James, while still sounding like the recognisable artist that has made her name to this point – so stirring strings and Cleo Soul-esque backing vocals (from Lydia Kitto) are still present.
Obongjayar returns on two tracks and Moses Sumney, Little Dragon’s Yukimi, Sampha, Michael Kiwanuka, Yussef Dayes, Miraa May, Wretch 32 and Moonchild Sannelly also appear.
Kean Kavanagh – The County Star
Despite the release of Dog Person in 2020 (now called a mixtape), The County Star is being billed as Kean Kavanagh’s debut album with the Soft Boy artist embracing a hometown inspiration (Portlaoise) and a trilogy of Peter McGann–starring videos, for this more colloquial sounding indie and rock record with inspirations from Americana (Kean was born in Houston, Texas it has emerged) and Irish folk.
Pulp – More.
The Sheffield band’s first album in 24 years released days before their big 3Arena Dublin show and UK tour.
“This is the first Pulp album since “We Love Life” in 2001. Yes: the first Pulp album for 24 years.
How did that happen?Well: when we started touring again in 2023, we practiced a new song called “Hymn of the North” during soundchecks & eventually played it at the end of our second night at Sheffield Arena. This seemed to open the floodgates: we came up with the rest of the songs on this album during the first half of 2024. A couple are revivals of ideas from last century. The music for one song was written by Richard Hawley. The music for another was written by Jason Buckle. The Eno family sing backing vocals on a song. There are string arrangements written by Richard Jones & played by the Elysian Collective.
The album was recorded over 3 weeks by James Ford in Walthamstow, London, starting on November 18th, 2024. This is the shortest amount of time a Pulp album has ever taken to record. It was obviously ready to happen.
These are the facts.
Death In Vegas – Death Mask
Richard Fearless releases a full length under his long-running Death In Vegas project, tracking gritty unpolished techno and noise-inflected analogue rave productions, that draw from Fearless birthplace in Zamba to grief after his father passed, and heavy emotions experienced in recent times, resulting in a form of “electronic primal therapy.”
Raisa K – Affectionately
Being a member of Micachu and the Shapes’ it’s no surprise that London based songwriter and musician Raisa K’s album has some analogous sounds to Mica Levi’s warped alt-pop tones, while channeling the woozy DIY electronics of Levi’s close collaborator Tirzah, and featuring the voice of Tirzah’s vocal collaborator Coby Sey.
Affectionately is almost entirely produced on Raisa’s laptop and written in her home in London, as well as finding small pockets of time on trains and buses, during breaks at work, during the kids’ nap-times, at the playground, in the park.
Brian Eno & Beatie Wolfe – Lateral / Luminal
Two albums are released today from ambient king Brian Eno and collaborator LA conceptual artists and activist Beatie Wolfe.
United by their mutual commitment to art & the environment, the pair team up for Luminal and Lateral. Recorded in London and centred around the concept of “art, and feelings,” both albums feature original music and cover an array of genres/styles: Luminal being a vocal alternative album, and Lateral comprising of a continuous ambient work.
Junk Drawer – Days Of Heaven
Belfast alternative psych-rock band Junk Drawer have released their second album on Pizza Pizza Records.
The album was recorded over seven days at The Meadow Studios in Wicklow with producer Chris Ryan and is Junk Drawer’s “attempt to make a work of weird, cosmic Ulster music….taking inspiration from the way Gram Parsons, The Byrds, Grateful Dead and the likes created a language and pathway for cosmic American music by drinking in what came before and spitting it out via the inherited angst of growing up in a post-war world.”
Space Dimension Controller – Six Beginnings
A six track EP of analogue sound for the head and the dancefloor.
A new EP from the Amsterdam-based Belfast electronic producer Jack Hamill.
Błoto – Grzyby
Polish experimental jazz band are one I return to a lot and they’ve just dropped a new EP featuring broken jazz beats and funk-inflected trip-hop grooves three years since their last album.
Grzyby is Polish for “mushrooms” and the music is inspired by mycelium’s vast underground network—the “internet of the forest.” and maybe how it echoes musicians’ telepathically playing together, while encouraging connection in a divided world.
The album Grzyby features fungi with medicinal properties on Side A—and one parasite on Side B. These aren’t your typical mushrooms you’d throw in a culinary basket. “Wrośniak” helps fight autoimmune diseases, “Maczużnik” has antibacterial properties, “Chaga” eases digestive issues, and “Soplówka” stimulates the immune system. Side B brings “Pleśniak”—a toxic mold. Poisoning from this fungus can be dangerous, causing damage to the liver, skin, and mucous membranes. Yet even “Pleśniak” has a silver lining. It played a key role in the development of penicillin—the antibiotic used to treat tonsillitis, pneumonia, and more. Under controlled conditions, it’s even used in cheese production.
Dream Boy – Drowning In Blue EP
Dublin shoegaze band Dream Boy take us back to the ’90 with their take on the classic alt-rock sound on their debut 5-track EP one track of which has featured here previously.
The band’s EP launch takes place Thursday 26th June at The Workmans Cellar with support from Pebbledash.
Also released today
- Addison Rae – Addison
- Beoga – Phases
- Black Moth Super Rainbow Soft New Magic Dream
- Bring Your Own Hammer- My Grief On The Sea (vinyl)
- Caamp – Copper Changes Color
- Proper Monday Number – Deep clean your house EP
- Finn Wolfhard – Happy Birthday
- King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Live in Lithuania ’25
- Lil Wayne – Tha Carter VI
- MARINA – PRINCESS OF POWER
- McKinley Dixon – Magic, Alive!
- Mob Wife – ROT EP
- Queens Of The Stone Age Alive In The Catacombs (film)
- The Ting Tings – Home
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005 . He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Cara Magazine, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, founder of Lumo Club, club promoter, event curator and producer of gigs, listening parties & events in Dublin.
