It's July and, as the second half of the year kicks in, it's time to round up the Irish releases that have impressed the Hot Press jury. You have to admit it's a pretty damn fine bunch...

JANUARY

Django Django - Marble Skies

On their third album, the Edinburgh-based four-piece reverted to the stripped-down shimmer of their 2012 debut, giving us all a compelling tour de force in the process...

Eden - Vertigo

Produced entirely in his bedroom, this debut LP of indie-tinted future-pop solidified Jonathan Ng's international standing. Utilising everything from the sounds of broken bottles to glitchy beats, vocal manipulations and sci-fi synths, Vertigo is a dizzying listen. Eden's star is most definitely in the ascendance.


The Academic - Tales From The Backseat

They built up their base fanbase, took their time in getting the album right, made waves on stage at Croke Park supporting The Rolling Stones, and bagged themselves an Irish No. 1 for good measure. The Academic couldn't have gotten it more right with their first album release.

FEBRUARY

Wyvern Lingo - Wyern Lingo>

A relentlessly entertaining prospect with a loudly beating heart, Wyvern Lingo proved that they're the real thing with their debut album.

Rejjie Snow - Dear Annie

Having already given us a taster of what a Rejjie Snow album would look like with his 2017 mixtape The Moon and You, Snow's first album was a boundary pushing opus which incorporated everything from hazy funk to mid-20th Century French cinema. It's been a long time since rap lyrics have been this vividly drawn.


MARCH

Paddy Hanna - Frankly, I Mutate

When Paddy Hanna unleashed his debut solo album in 2014, it was obvious that the ex-Grand Pocket Orchestra man was right to strike out on his own. His second opus, Frankly, I Mutate, sees the tunesmith take another huge stride forward, leaving behind the anti-folk vibe of Leafy Stiletto in order to embrace a lush retro-pop sound.

The Stunning - Twice Around The World

Veteran Irish rockers The Stunning – always an excellent live proposition – released their hit sophomore album, Once Around The World, way back in 1992 (the follow-up to their 1990 classic Paradise In The Picturehouse). Although it topped the charts here, the band themselves were never fully happy with the recording. Just over a quarter century later, having played the songs countless times since, they’ve totally re-recorded and refreshed the originals. This album is an absolute no-brainer for Stunning fans. If you loved the first one, then you’ll certainly appreciate this second spin.

Altan - The Gap Of Dreams

With The Gap Of Dreams, trad maestros Altan dug that bit deeper, fashioning an album that reeks of a time when music and dancing were the glue that held rural communities together; real (and reel) channels of respite from hard living. It theme is consistent throughout the record, and it all makes for an uplifting musical experience and an early candidate for critics’ year-end lists.


Finbar Furey - Don't Stop This Now

Finbar Furey’s last home-released album, Paddy Dear, has now has been re-upholstered for an assault on the British market as Don’t Stop This Now. The package is enlivened with the addition of some fresh tracks and a live concert DVD filmed last year during Finbar’s 70th birthday bash. Shane MacGowan himself has described Finbar Furey as a massive force in Ireland’s music heritage. Who’d want to argue with that?

APRIL

The Hot sprockets - Dream Mover

Say what you like about The Hot Sprockets but they always look like they’re having a good time. Putting those good vibes down on tape has, at times, proven a trickier prospect, but with Dream Mover, the third time’s the charm. The Sprockets always had it live; now they’ve got it down on wax too. Cosmic.

Marc O’Reilly - L’etre Politique

This is Waterford troubadour Marc O’Reilly’s fourth album, and his first since the beloved Morality Mortality in 2016. Here, he generally forsakes the standard singer-songwriter route to strike out for more sonically challenging territory: L’etre Politique comes on like an electro indie-pop distillation of his previous offerings. Throughout its nine tracks, O’Reilly boldly goes where others have gone before, delivering instantly accessible quality pop, while making no sacrifices on musical inventiveness.


Delorentos - True Surrender

Hometown heroes Delorentos returned earlier this year with new album True Surrender. Following 2014’s hugely acclaimed Night Becomes Light, the Dubliners have upped the ante again with perhaps their most ambitious LP yet. With less emphasis on guitar dynamics but more synths, heavier rhythmic approaches, and their most earnest lyrics to date, it's plain to see why Delorentos consider this their best work.

Paul Alwright - Hungry

Shedding his old moniker of Lethal Dialect in order to both embrace and showcase a more sensitive and socially aware mindset, Alwright can't be accused of being short of courage. Hungry is the rapper’s fourth album, but in many ways it feels like his first. Comprised of nine tracks, the record puts Alwright’s storytelling flair front and centre. All in all, it’s an impressive rebirth for the rapper.

Cathy Davey - Live At Dublin Unitarian Church

The Unitarian Church was an apt venue for Cathy Davey’s latest live offering: the music, it turns out, is nothing short of heavenly. Featuring some (fairly) stripped back renditions of old favourites, as well as two new tunes, the album, recorded in March, serves as both an excellent introduction to the back catalogue of one of Ireland’s finest artists, and an enchanting document of Davey in her element.

Brand New Friend - Seatbelts For Aeroplanes


The widely-touted Norn Iron outfit Brand New Friend went straight for the jugular with their debut LP. A punk-pop riot that lives up to the advance hype, it's got us excited for what we might hear from them in the future.

Cruachan - Nine Years Of Blood

There’s an array of metal bands across the globe that utilise Celtic themes, imagery and costumes. However, very few incorporate these elements with such passion and sincerity as Cruachan. As the founders of Irish folk-metal, they have created and defined their own genre of heavy music – and it is indisputably Irish. Their latest effort, Nine Years Of Blood, brings the listener through an odyssey of epic proportions.

MAY

Snow Patrol - Wildness

It’s been seven long years since stadium-striding, mainstream-cracking indie-rockers Snow Patrol last released a record. During that time, the world has weathered numerous political storms, lost a multitude of music legends and saw trends come and go in the blink of an eye (farewell Fidget Spinners, we hardly knew ye). For the band members themselves, there was just as much unrest and upheaval – including singer/guitarist Gary Lightbody battling writer’s block, embracing sobriety and questioning the band’s place in the current climate.

After seven years of side-projects, philanthropic ventures, collaborations with the likes of Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran and One Direction and, of course, some good old fashioned soul searching, the Bangor-born band have returned with a record which confirms that “their place” remains at the very top of the indie-rock tree. It is arguably the most ambitious opus of their 25-year career.

JUNE

Hilary Woods - Colt


Initially leaping to fame as the ice cool bass slinger in JJ72, Hilary Woods earned even more praise for a brace of haunting and hypnotic EPs over the past few years. After spending much of 2017 writing and laying down songs on an old eight-track recorder in an abandoned flat, then fleshing out her creations in Berlin with co-producer/former Altar Of Plagues man James Kelly, Woods releases her debut full length – an absorbing collection of skeletal slow burners.

Slow Skies - Realign

The debut album from Karen Sheridan, aka Slow Skies, arrives after several years sharpening her material on the live circuit, where she has supported the likes of St. Vincent and James Vincent McMorrow. For an artist still in the early stages of her career, Realign is remarkably accomplished.

Girls Names - Stains on Silence

After a difficult birthing process, Belfast quartet Girls Names have finally arrived with their fifth LP, Stains On Silence. The original mixes for the record – their follow-up to 2015’s Arms Around A Vision – were scrapped and the project shelved for six months. But overcoming a creative impasse that could have felled a lesser group, the band have now produced a noise-pop masterwork.