10 Irish Music Artists to Follow in 2025
Ireland’s diverse music scene is booming! Here are 10 music Irish music artists you need to follow. From pop-punk to shoegaze and alternative hip hop, a number of these artists have already left an indelible mark on the local music scene.
Rock and Alternative
Ireland boasts an impressive line-up of rock and alternative artists that are producing groundbreaking body’s of work that are drawing in fans from around the globe.
Cruel Sister
Faith Nico, the artist behind Cruel Sister, creates music that explores the darker aspects of life, like intrusive thoughts and uncomfortable feelings. Inspired by artists like PJ Harvey, Sonic Youth, and My Bloody Valentine, her music is raw, noisy, and captivating.
Faith grew up in a musical household that encouraged her to explore her creative talents. She started writing songs and playing guitar at the tender age of 11 and started producing her own music at 19.
She draws from personal experiences to explore universal themes, such as the turbulent emotions one experiences while growing up and falling in love. Her first single “My Forever” is a texture filled and haunting indie tune that is reminiscent of iconic noise rock and art rock acts like PJ Harvey and Sonic Youth.
Her debut album Girls My Age (2022) was more than well received by media and music peers, featuring in publications like District, Nialler 9, and CLASH.
Her next EP, Turgid (2023) showcased her distinctive sound and artistic range. The EP opens with the subdued and emotive track, As I Get Older, and transitions into her brooding and atmospheric signature sound in the track Lenny.
Faith teased new music in a post on her Instagram earlier this week, which could mean a late 2024 or early 2025 release.
Enola Gay
Enola Gay is an exciting and ground breaking Irish noise-punk band from Belfast that blends their politically charged rap-inspired vocals with electro-rock . Their sound has been described as a mixture of Joy Division and Rage Against the Machine and has earned praise from rock icons like Iggy Pop, Therapy?, and Jehnny Beth.
The 4 piece band was formed in 2019, with members Joe McVeigh, Fionn Reilly, Adam Cooper, and Barry Forsythe. The band wanted to create a sound that amalgamated all the members’ musical tastes together into one machine, with noise-punk being the engine that drives it.
Their first single The Birth of a Nation (2020), titled after the notorious 1915 silent film, introduced audiences to their brash and audacious sound. Lyrically, the song addresses systemic oppression and racism, topics that were focal at this time in the wake of the death of George Flyod at the hands of police and the protests that erupted in response to this.
Their first EP, Gransha (2021), is a visceral project with dense and distorted soundscapes that accompany Fionn Reilly’s socially charged lyrics. The song Sofa Surfing is a reflection on homelessness and mental health, while Scrappers was a song written as a defiant response to authoritarianism.
2024 saw the band release two new songs Cortana and Cold. Cortana showed the band’s versatility by creating a more mature and subdued, but equally hard hitting, sound.
Talking about Cortana, the band shared “‘Cortana’ is about the death of innocence, the reckless abandon of youth, coming of age and facing the reality of grief. The lyrics travel through different stages of life; childhood nostalgia, the tumultuous exploration of adolescence, then becoming an adult, losing those closest to you and growing through experience and consequence.”
In August, the band announced their upcoming third EP Mourns which will arrive late 2024 or early 2025. I have a feeling that there are big things on the horizon for this band.
The band has racked up an impressive following on music streaming services. On Spotify, the band attracts 30,000 monthly listeners, and songs like Sofa Surfing and Scrappers have been streamed over 600,000 times.
NewDad
This Galway-based alt-rock band is creating a buzz with their dreamy soundscapes, being added to bands-to-watch lists across Ireland and the UK.
Their dreamy sound has been categorized as indie pop and shoegaze. NewDad’s frontwoman, Julie Dawson, credits formative influences like Rodrigo y Gabriela and Spanish classical while learning to play guitar alongside her mom.
Initially, Dawson went to the University of Galway to pursue a degree in human rights and arts, but quickly realised that this path was not meant for her.
The band got together to create their first single How (2020), a dreamy post-rock shoegaze ballad that demonstrated their versatility in terms of songwriting and production. Later that year, NewDad dropped 3 more singles, Swimming, Cry, and Blue.
The following year, the band dropped their debut EP, Waves (2021). The song, Waves, is a lo-fi shoegaze ballad that conjures a melancholic feeling within the listener. The EP was well received, earning favourable reviews from tastemaker media, such as DIY and GoldenPlec.
Early 2024, they released their debut album MADRA, demonstrating their maturation as an act. The album gave fans everything they loved about the act, dreamy shoegaze guitar walls and soothing dream pop vocals.
The band’s hard work has paid off, having a large following across all music streaming platforms. On Spotify, the band boasts over 600,000 monthly listeners, and some of their more popular tracks, like Angel, have racked up 7 figure listens. Definitely keep tabs on this band
Spider
This London-based, Dublin born, alternative rock singer has been making a buzz on the music scene. She boldly explores themes of sex, shame, objectification, intimacy, and self-worth in her music.
Spider was born and raised in a strict Catholic household that wasn’t supportive of her creative aspirations and banned her from attending live gigs. She found solace on online pop forums. Artists, like Lorde and M.I.A, inspired her to follow her dreams, and at 18 the fledgling artist left home to pursue stardom in London.
She is a self-taught songwriter, producer, and visual artist that has honed her craft, creating unique and unabashed brand of pop. Her debut EP, C.O.A (2022) blends elements of emo, electronica, bedroom pop and punk through compelling themes: from fighting for your rites of passage to astrology, toxic love, and growth.
Earlier this year, she released another EP, An Object of Desire, which Spider says is all about “The unholy trinity of young adulthood”. Tracks on this EP could be described as a gritty blend of pop punk, riot grrrl, and grunge.
Spider is steadily building up a following on Spotify, having nearly 25,000 monthly listeners. A couple of her most popular songs, like Typical and I’m Fine! I’m Good I’m Perfect! have 7 figure stream counts.
Sprints
The Dublin based four-piece garage-punk band is led by singer, guitarist, and songwriter Karla Chubb. Her lyrics often confront inner turmoil, as heard in their single “Shadow of a Doubt”. Their debut album, Letter to Self, was released in January earlier this year on City Slang, a label that represents artists like Caribou and Lambchop. Their energetic live shows and tours in Europe, Ireland, and the US, have garnered them a global fanbase.
Their debut album, Letter to Self (2024), marries alt-rock with explosive intervals of noise-punk and grunge. It is a fresh and frantic album that is perfect for somebody that wants to thrash in a mosh pit or add a soundtrack to a personal crisis.
In September, the band released the single, Feast, a track that veers towards glam-punk and makes for an intense and intoxicating listen. While I write this article, SPRINTS are on a lengthy European tour.
The band has garnered impressive numbers on digital streaming platforms, like Spotify, boasting nearly 150,000 monthly listeners, and popular tracks, like Heavy, are sitting at over 1.6 million streams.
Electronic and Experimental
For those that are looking for niche electronic sounds, or acts that are trying to create genres of their own, Ireland boasts a couple of notable artists that are turning heads around the world.
Chalk
The Belfast based group classify their sound as “trauma techno.” Chalk creates intense and hard-hitting electronic post-punk that draws comparisons to A Place To Bury Strangers and HEALTH. Besides creating some truly unique music, the group are also award winning filmmakers.
Formed during the lockdown, the members met while studying film at Queen’s University in Belfast. Signed to Nice Swan, they released their EP, Conditions II, in March 2024 and are currently touring the UK.
The band has been called an amalgamation of the boundary breaking band, Death Grips and Irish electronic breakbeat sensations, Bicep. Chalk released the EP, Conditions II, earlier this year with tracks that live up to their branded sound of tension, techno, and high-octane guitar rock.
Their tracks are interwoven abrasive soundscapes with walls of industrial noise and hints of climactic techno and guitar-punk.
Chalk is getting a decent amount of buzz on digital music streaming services. They have over 63,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, and their most popular track, Static, is just shy of 500,000 streams.
In 2025, the trio are set for their biggest tour yet, in the UK and other European countries. Check their Instagram for tour updates.
YARD
This Dublin-based quartet delivers an “intense and immersive sensory experience” inspired by bands like SUUNS, Gilla Band, Death Grips, and Nine Inch Nails. Their sound falls within the noise rock-techno realm.
The meat of their sound could be classified as electro noise. Their sound is a full-front pleasurable assault on the senses.
The band has released singles since 2022. Their first single, Lawmaker, is a grimey club anthem that I could see being blared through the speakers of a claustrophobic Dublin basement rave. It has a hard hitting tech beat which is accentuated by industrial guitar riffs.
Their single, Bend (2024), takes more of an industrial route, it has grinding guitars, walls of distorted bass, and gruff aggressive vocals.
The band is slowly building a cult following in Ireland, but with the upcoming tour, their monthly listener numbers should go up. I’m excited to see what 2025 has in store for these gents.
Hip-Hop and R&B
If lyricism or soulful sing over easy listening sampled beats is your jam, Ireland has a number of up-and-coming hip-hop and R&B acts that are generating buzz in the local and global music scene
Jordan Adetunji
Jordan Adetunji is breaking genre boundaries with his blend of rap, R&B, and post-punk. This Belfast artist has grabbed the world’s attention and is building an impressive brand, pulling in some serious numbers on digital music streaming platforms.
His tracks have been featured on Spotify playlists such as Alternative Hip Hop, Chillmatic, New Punk Tracks, Rap Uk, and Fresh Finds Rock. Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol has even tipped Adetunji as the “next star”. In October 2023, he released the nine-track album ROCK ‘N’ Rave.
His latest single, Options (2024) features Lil Baby, another breakout Rapper that recently released a track with Kendrick Lamar.. Jordan delivers his trademark smooth and seductive raps. Lil Baby delivers an equally suave verse. The track is also doing impressive numbers on Spotify, already generating over 4 million streams.
His most popular track, KEHLANI (2024), showcases his versatility as rapper, demonstrating smoothe cadence and melodic bars over a dream-like and bass heavy beat. Released in June this year, the track has over 288,500,000 streams, a staggering number that reflects a dedicated global fanbase.
Jordan boasts over 12 million monthly listeners on Spotify, a figure that I feel will grow substantially by the same time next year.
Kneecap
This Belfast rap trio seamlessly blends Irish and English in their music, creating a bold and fearless sound. They’ve collaborated with Fontaines DC frontman Grian Chatten on their single “A Better Way To Live”.
They seamlessly blend dance with Hip-Hop, and in terms of rapping, they maintain the expressive modulation and pronounced rises and falls in intonation of the Irish accent. The act demonstrates their fierce patriotism by intermingling Irish with English, a bold move that has garnered them a legion of loyal Irish fans.
Earlier this year, they released the album Fine Art (2024), which contains a catalogue of high energy anthems that are fused with commentary about contemporary Irish society. In essence, a thoughtful collection of songs that could easily be blasted through the speakers of a packed Irish nightclub.
Talking numbers, they are pulling some impressive figures. With over 450,000 monthly listeners and each of their most popular songs garnering 7 figure streams. This authentic Irish act is going places, far beyond the shores of The Emerald Isle.
Across Genres
Bricknasty
Emerging from Ballymun as a lockdown studio project, Bricknasty has evolved into a full band. Signed to FAMM, a label that also represents Maverick Sabre and Jorja Smith, they released their 10-track album INA CRUELER in the summer of 2023, for which they received critical acclaim
Their signature sound is a blend of 2000s R&B, jazz-rap and street poetry – carving out a unique and mature sound.
Fronted by the masked and anonymous guitarist/vocalist Ballymun native, Fatboy (at least in public), the act have quickly gathered some strong connections, opening and gaining tips from one of Ireland’s most successful exports in their niche, Maverick Sabre.
Earlier this year, Bricknasty dropped their album Xongz (2024), which was released to very favourable reviews. The project was envisioned as a mixtape, rather than an EP or an album. This nine-track collection of songs were already in the pipeline while touring for their 2023 album, Ina Crueler.
The band explicitly tried to take a more experimental approach to this album, by trying different keys and time signatures, and playing around with flavours ranging from Latin to house and even folk.
The band performed at this year’s Guinness Cork Jazz Festival, wowing crowds with their distinctive and fresh sound.
While this band is still in its fledgling years, they have managed to attract over 60,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, and most of their popular songs have six figure streaming numbers. Definitely keep your eyes on this band, big things are coming.
Lend an Ear
This is just a glimpse of the vibrant and diverse music scene emerging from Ireland in 2024. From politically charged punk to dreamy shoegaze and innovative hip-hop, these artists are pushing boundaries and creating music that is both exciting and thought-provoking. Keep your ears open for these rising stars, as they are sure to make waves in the years to come.
