High Llamas: Hey Panda – Proof that it’s never too late to stop taking creative risksLeft turns and a sense of fun abound on Sean O’Hagan’s latest askew pop effortThu Mar 28 2024 - 05:15
Declan McKenna: ‘Victoria Beckham went to the same school as me. That’s quite funny’The artist’s latest album is the most innovative and buoyant so far, having the feel of something like a new eraMon Mar 25 2024 - 05:15
Beyoncé country: How a shy girl from Texas became a cultural icon The singer’s pivot into country music, via her hit Texas Hold ‘Em and her new album, Cowboy Carter, is the latest smart move in a glittering careerSat Mar 23 2024 - 05:30
Niamh Bury: ‘I was really shy as a kid. But performing always came easily to me’Niamh Bury is about to release her debut album, but her talent is fully formed, thanks to years of community folk singing and inspiration offered by artists from Mary Black to PlanxtySat Mar 23 2024 - 05:00
Elbow: Audio Vertigo - Guy Garvey and co’s best album in years The Manchester band have discovered the sense of experimentation that informed their early materialThu Mar 21 2024 - 05:30
Jim Reid of The Jesus and Mary Chain: ‘I’m not saying we’re all lovey-dovey: we still scream at each other’The famously fractious Reid brothers return with their eighth album, Glasgow Eyes, and a tour that includes dates in Dublin and BelfastSat Mar 16 2024 - 05:15
Norah Jones: Visions – From contentment to melancholy, but all in the same dreamy toneAnd a lovely tone it is, too, but overall it makes for forgettable listeningThu Mar 14 2024 - 05:15
‘We sat down, with the fire burning, and sang face to face for the first time’: Marry Waterson and Adrian Crowley on their new album The English singer, one of the Waterson-Knight-Carthy dynasty, and her new Irish collaborator have made Cuckoo Storm togetherMon Mar 11 2024 - 05:00
Bleachers: Bleachers – Not even the help of Jack Antonoff’s starry friends can stop this album from petering outA disengaged vibe, unnecessary sax solos and a heavy leaning on influences weight this album downThu Mar 07 2024 - 05:00
Marti Pellow: ‘Let’s not walk around on eggshells. We’ll talk about what you want to talk about. So, addiction?’The former Wet Wet Wet singer returns to the band’s first album, from 1987, on his new tour. It’s a chance to reflect on the highs and lows of life since thenSat Mar 02 2024 - 05:15
Danny Carroll: I Am the Cheese – Not just some mopey guy with a guitarThis debut solo album is filled with charmingly well-rounded songs, proving there is more to this Dublin indie musician than meets the eyeThu Feb 29 2024 - 05:00
Nadine Shah: Filthy Underneath – Musician pours her pain into her best album so farA thought-provoking and poignant musical exploration of the light and shade of lifeThu Feb 22 2024 - 05:00
Jason Lytle: ‘I’ve always felt like an underdog, through every period of Grandaddy’The songwriter on the band’s sixth studio album, Blu Wav; overcoming inner turmoil and substance abuse; and learning to relaxMon Feb 19 2024 - 05:00
Cherym: Take It or Leave It – Derry LGBTQ+ trio tackle weighty issues with sparky energyLed by the vibrant vocals of Hannah Richardson, this debut album is packed with boisterous power-pop songs steeped in emo and grunge influencesThu Feb 15 2024 - 05:30
Spider: ‘I want to be the biggest rock star in the world’ Her parents wanted her to stay home in Tallaght, but Jennifer Irabor overcame their scepticism to follow her dream in LondonSat Feb 10 2024 - 05:15
Benjamin Francis Leftwich: Some Things Break – Tender folk pop riddled with eye-rolling lyrical platitudesMatty Healy playing Benjamin Francis Leftwich’s song New York may be closest he has come to international hitThu Feb 08 2024 - 05:00
The Last Dinner Party: Prelude to Ecstasy – Offbeat and accomplished, this is a killer debut albumThe London band burst on the scene trailing accusations of being manufactured, but these well-crafted, thoughtful songs will quieten the naysayersThu Feb 01 2024 - 05:45
The Devil’s Spine Band: Arrows of the Golden Moon – Undeniably ambitious but ultimately disjointedThe album, inspired by Oscar Wilde’s trip to Colorado, features luminaries of the Irish independent sceneThu Feb 01 2024 - 05:00
James Arthur: Bitter Sweet Love – Former X Factor winner should stick to the jaunty popThe ballads on this album, in contrast, are sloganeering and uninspiringThu Jan 25 2024 - 05:00
NewDad: ‘Suddenly we were playing sold-out shows and people were singing our music back to us’The young Galway alt-rockers have come a long way since they got together to avoid having to perform solo for their Leaving Cert music examsSat Jan 20 2024 - 05:15
Sleater-Kinney: Little Rope – An angsty, downbeat collection that does not rank among their bestA decent offering informed by tragedy after Carrie Brownstein’s mother and stepfather died in a car crash in 2022Thu Jan 18 2024 - 07:04
Green Day: Saviors review - Pop-punk survivors in dire need of rejuvenationThere is room for redemption in a band who are not yet past their sell-by date but are clearly in dire need of rejuvenationThu Jan 11 2024 - 05:30
Marika Hackman: No Caffeine is an early highlight and whatever her inspiration was, it worksThere is a definite 1990s indie and grunge influence to this album alongside the classical piano leanings, but Hackman is not bound by itFri Jan 05 2024 - 05:00
Bunkhouse: My Reptile Brain – Lo-fi screwball pop and absurd lyrics that include a nod to RIP.ie There are catchy melodies and glimmers of greatness amid the sillinessFri Dec 29 2023 - 05:00
Comedian Peter McGann: Christmas dinner can do one, as far as I’m concernedComedian Peter McGann would rather eat beans than turkey and has no work next year but, on the upside, he’s in Chris O’Dowd’s new showSat Dec 23 2023 - 05:00
Moya Brennan: Nollaig Gaelach - The first lady of Celtic music corners her marketBetter songs and better production would have allowed Brennan to use her voice to more potent effectFri Dec 22 2023 - 05:00
Hozier in 3Arena: A sleek, polished and powerful performance from the Wicklow man‘Very good to be home’: Hozier returns to Dublin as a conquering heroWed Dec 20 2023 - 09:48
Mairead Doyle-Heffernan’s Christmas: There’s no place like townThe comedian, podcaster and star of Channel 4′s Selling Super Houses shares her festive plans and habitsWed Dec 20 2023 - 05:00
Car Seat Headrest: Faces from the Masquerade – Live album captures an exceedingly tight band with memorable tunesThe Seattle-based band’s third live album is an enjoyable documentFri Dec 15 2023 - 05:00
Bill Bailey: At 91 years old my dad is headed to London to make his fortuneComedian and Strictly Come Dancing champion Bill Bailey wasn’t a fan of Christmas – until he wasTue Dec 12 2023 - 10:00
The Killers: Rebel Diamonds – Proof that they have never bettered their early hitsHearing the Vegas rockers’ biggest songs pulled together illustrates their tendency to recycle motifs and melodiesFri Dec 08 2023 - 05:10
Laurita Blewitt’s Christmas: My uncles fill me up with whiskeyWhat do Tommy and Hector buy for Laurita Blewitt? And is she on cousin Joe’s Christmas card list?Fri Dec 08 2023 - 05:00
KhakiKid: ‘The 2000s in Ireland was a horrible place. You’d get called the P-word every single day’Distinctive Dublin hip hop artist KhakiKid is making serious waves. He talks about growing up with dual heritage, democratic technology and his ambitions to go all the way to the topTue Dec 05 2023 - 05:00
Ice Cube in Dublin: ‘Conor McGregor invited us to his restaurant, to hang out and have dinner. It’s going to be cool’ Rap pioneer, whose work with NWA helped earn him a place in the pantheon of greats, plays 3Arena on the High Rollers TourSat Dec 02 2023 - 05:30
The Corrs: Best Of – A nostalgia-trip reminder that the Dundalk siblings sure knew their way around a pop songTheir multimillion-selling greatest-hits compilation from 2001 is getting another run, with gold vinyl and bonus tracks, including three more Fleetwood Mac coversFri Dec 01 2023 - 05:00
CMAT at 3Olympia: A triumphant spectacle from one of Ireland’s best entertainers‘Pop music’s answer to Charlie Haughey’, CMAT’s self-confident stagecraft is a joy to beholdThu Nov 30 2023 - 11:33
Pink Pantheress: Heaven Knows – A TikTok talent in need of serious shapingThe Kent native’s debut album struggles to sustain itself over a meagre 34 minutesFri Nov 24 2023 - 05:05
Nealo: November Medicine – soulful, soul-baring Irish hip-hop at its finestNeal Keating’s second album is filled with ultrapersonal tales of life in suburban Dublin, but it never feels like a therapy session or cathartic vanity projectThu Nov 16 2023 - 06:00
Rachael Lavelle: I was on the Luas and I heard her voice. It was, like, ‘Okay, light-bulb moment: she’s perfect’When the singer wanted to tie her excellent debut album together, she went to the woman whose voice is used on Dublin’s tram systemTue Nov 14 2023 - 05:00
The Prongs: Theme from the Now Now Express – A Dublin soundtrack of sophisticated melancholy and dissatisfied vitriolVocalist John Fleming’s lyric sheet is littered with references to his hometown and the Irish emigrant experience in 1980s LondonFri Nov 10 2023 - 05:00
Rockstar proves that charm counts for a lot when you are Dolly PartonRockstar is a waggish nod to the mild controversy that engulfed her last yearFri Nov 10 2023 - 05:00
Johnny Marr: Spirit Power – A songsmith whose mastery of melody remains intactThe former Smiths guitarist’s light has never gone out, as this compilation of solo work highlightsFri Nov 03 2023 - 05:00
Joey Burns of Calexico: ‘I was really surprised people liked this music. We’ve never been a band to have radio singles and hits’On tour to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their breakthrough album Feast of Wire, the frontman of the Tucson band reflects on how far they’ve comeThu Nov 02 2023 - 05:00
Belters Only on selling out 3Arena: ‘We’re proving to kids growing up in our areas that you can do this’After topping the charts and festival bills, Robbie Griffiths and Conor Bissett plan to turn Belters Only into what they call a collective, including a record labelSun Oct 29 2023 - 06:00
DJ Shadow: Action Adventure – An undoubted sense of nostalgiaThis album is a reminder that DJ Shadow still has plenty to offerFri Oct 27 2023 - 05:00
The Streets in Dublin review: ‘Don’t put this on Instagram,’ Mike Skinner warns as he offers tequila shots to the throngThere may have been trepidation around the middle-aged dad-of-two’s ability to perform songs about the tribulations of youth, but he pulls it offTue Oct 24 2023 - 12:29
Blink-182: One More Time... – Exactly what it says on the tinThe ageing punk-pop trio play it safe but the joke is getting oldFri Oct 20 2023 - 06:00
Kojaque: ‘I’ve never felt more Irish than when I moved to London. I felt positively f**king Fenian’ Leaving his hometown has brought Kevin Smith’s musical lens into sharper focus on his new album, Phantom of the AftersSat Oct 14 2023 - 05:15
CMAT: Crazymad, For Me - Second album expands upon the Dubliner’s pop vision and confirms her as a starCiara Thompson nails it on this wiser, sadder and just as enthralling follow-up recordFri Oct 13 2023 - 06:00
Ed Sheeran: Autumn Variations – The news is not goodReview: This is not so much a companion piece to Subtract, from just four months ago, as an ugly stepsisterFri Sept 29 2023 - 09:57
