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
49th & Main – Happy Tears
The Kilkenny indie-electronic duo release their debut album on Counter Records. 49th & Main have built their rep on a stream of poppy indie and dance tunes, while core member Ben O’Sullivan has navigated a rare blood disease throughout the band’s ascendency.
The milestone debut features 21 tracks – “a coming-of-age album” informed by the members’ experiences in their twenties, with nods to UKG, jazz-sax, chillout pop, house, ambient and R&B.
Irish Instores this week:
- 13 Jun – Tower Records (Instore event) – Dublin, IE
- 16 Jun – Steamboat (Instore event) – Limerick, IE
- 17 Jun – Music Zone (Instore event) – Cork, IE
- 18 Jun – Luca Records & Decks (Instore event) – Waterford, IE
They play Vicar Street in February.
The Cure – Mixes of a Lost World
A remix album of the recent Cure fourteenth record, and first in sixteen, features reworks and reimaginings from Four Tet, Orbital, Paul Oakenfold, Daniel Avery, Sally C, Mogwai, Chino Moreno, Mura Masa and more.
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Phantom Island
Aussie psych rock band continue their full pelt recording schedule with their 27th album. Strings and horns and woodwind are featured prominently.
A.Smyth – Hello Goliath
The second album from Irish singer-songwriter Aaron Smyth.
Hello Goliath is a record about taking a step back – about feeling overwhelmed, looking at the giant before you and stopping to greet it. It is a record that pauses to find power and joy in the simplicities of life.
The record is inspired by the simplicity of singing late night nursery rhymes to his son and was made with producer Darragh Nolan (Asta Kalapa), and features his bandmates Dara Higgins (bass), Dennis Cassidy (drums) and Ryan Hargadon (Piano / Organ) who also contributed to the recordings.
Smyth sings plays Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar and Synthesizer.
Queens of the Stone Age – Alive In The Catacombs EP
The audio EP of the band’s performance in the Paris Catacombs, to coincide with the release of the film.
Practically that means – Joshua Homme, Troy Van Leeuwen, Michael Shuman, Dean Fertita and Jon Theodore augmented by a three-piece string section, employing chains and chopsticks as makeshift percussion instruments, recorded live in a complete take with no overdubs or edits.
Annahstasia – Tether
Los Angeles alt-folk singer-songwriter pens intimate songs full of soul and shade, and arrives at this debut album on the drink sum wtr label having thoroughly road-tested these songs to audiences, friends and family.
The album was recorded as live in Valentine Studios in LA with producers Jason Lader (ANOHNI and the Johnsons, Frank Ocean, Lana Del Rey), Andrew Lappin (Cassandra Jenkins, L’Rain, Luna Li), Aaron Liao (Liv.e, Moses Sumney, Raveena) and a range of musicians, including featured guests aja monet and Obongjayar.
Joe Armon-Jones – All The Quiet (Part II)
The South London jazz pianist, songwriter, bandleader and producer Joe Armon-Jones is a founding member of the Ezra Collective, and All The Quiet is his first solo record, with the conceptually linked part two following on June 16th.
Part I was released in March and Part II features Greentea Peng, Wu Lu, Hak Baker and Yazmin Lacey.
FaltyDL – Neurotica
Drew Lustman aka FaltyDL returns to releasing on Planet Mu after ten years away, and the music has changed as has his personal life – he runs his own label Blueberry Records, is in-house producer for Mykki Blanco and has become a dad.
Lustman credits playing with his young daughter for bringing out a playful side of his music, which practically means more high-BPM joyful sounds, bouncy sugar-rush synths, and Europop inspirations.
Shampain – Catching Up With Myself EP
Track by track: Shampain takes us through his debut EP Catching Up With Myself
The Galway DJ and producer has released his first ever collection of original music is out today.
After 10 years presiding over parties and DJing all over the world, Shampain has released his debut mixtape Catching Up With Myself, the first of more to come in the next 12 months.
Polygonia – Dream Horizons
I loved the Munich producer Lindsey Wang aka Polygonia’s 2024 EP of bubbly electronics and the latest album on Dekmantel, features kinetic rhythms, downtempo, deep techno and bright polychromatic sounds.
Dream Horizons is an instructive title — Wang approached her new album as a collection of different dream scenarios, with all the creative freedom the concept implies. From oceanic calm to artful propulsion, she was free to shift gears from track to track while relishing the strange and beautiful atmospheres her inspiration pointed towards. A multi-instrumentalist as well as a producer, Wang recorded her own voice, saxophone, flute, violin and percussion to inject organic, human vibrancy into the surreal spaces she was shaping out, capturing the uncanny sensation of alien and familiar that hangs over the places we visit when we sleep.
Maiya Blaney – A Room With A Door That Closes
New York City-based producer, songwriter, and vocalist Maiya Blaney releases an album on Lex Records “a love letter to, and personification of, my anxiety and depression (or my ‘blue’ as I refer to it on the album).”
The record draws on neo-soul, R&B, drum & bass, rock glitch and jungle.
“It’s an elegy to these feelings that feel too big to hold — derealisation, trauma, PTSD — and how I go about holding myself anyway when I experience them. I wanted to put a more 3D context to those feelings — to that light body I found myself in, and that shadow I felt. And the attempt resulted in this record.”
Kaja – Paths
Kaja (pronounced KHI-YA). is the Swedish-based Irish artist also known as comte and Goodtime John and J Cowhie and Paths is his debut release on Wicklow label Remote Town Recordings.
Blending delicate yet driving rhythms with sub ambient and dub textures, the album weaves a personal story of curiosity, growth, and experimentation. Fusing live digital precision and analog warmth, PATHS layers dreamy synths, organic beats, and field recordings that reveal a unique sound design that is both intimate and expansive—as the subtle beats propel the tracks forward the organic textures create a meditative, vast, open soundscape. Introspective and exploratory, PATHS unveils hidden sonic worlds on repeated listens, that blur the lines between sound and negative space, leaving behind echoes of contemplation and the endless pursuit of exploring new terrain.
Katie Phelan – Blues and Greens EP
Irish singer-songwriter Katie Phelan releases a six-track EP of lush acoustic folk songs, inspired by vulnerable songwriters Billie Marten, Adrienne Lenker and Niamh Regan.
It represents a pivotal moment in the artist’s life, capturing the balance between missing her hometown in Ireland, and embracing new experiences in this next stage of life. “It’s about being scared of change, but being grateful to have experienced something you’ll miss so much,” Katie says.
The title, Blues and Greens, is a nod to the soothing coastal tones of the ocean tide that she grew up with, and reflects the narrative of longing for home comforts one previously took for granted that’s interwoven throughout the insightful EP. It’s a collection of songs that hold space for homesickness, gratitude, fear, and growth.
Gaba Zoo Cat – Menageries
Alex Moore here from Acid Granny and Spudgun releases a solo album which features jazz-funk, psychedelia and soul reveries, with Moore channeling a Mac Demarco-esque vocal delivery.
The album features an extensive cast of players on violins, violas, sax and backing vocals among others.
Also released today
- AJ Tracey – Don’t Die Before You’re Dead
- CIVIC -Chrome Dipped
- Leikeli47 Lei Keli Ft. 47
- Lyra Pramuk – Hymnal
- Madonna – Veronica Electronica
- Neil Young – Talkin To The Trees
- Patrick Wolf – Crying The Neck
- Pip Blom – Grip
- Pixel Grip – Percepticide: The Death of Reality
- Sorry Girls – Dreamwalker
- The Bug Club – Very Human Features
- The Swell Season – Forward
- Witch – Sogolo
- Woodkid – For Death Stranding 2 On The Beach
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.
