To celebrate St Patrick’s Day (17th March), we highlight some of the best Irish talent here at SJM. Catch Inhaler, Kynsy, The Academic and Mary Wallopers at Neighborhood Festival this May!
Inhaler
Irish group Inhaler’s It Won’t Always Be Like This became the fastest-selling debut album on vinyl by any band this century. It also saw Inhaler become the first Irish group to top the Album Charts with a debut in 13 years – a record previously held by The Script.
Inhaler – It Won’t Always Be Like This (Official Video) – YouTube
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Kynsy
23 year old Kynsy specialized in genre-fluid bedroom pop. She’s proud to be part of the Dublin music scene. Everyone knows each other and there’s so much love,” she says. “Everyone helps each other and pushes each other forward – no one’s egotistical at all.” Before we have a chance to ask, she brings it up herself: she met the Fontaines DC boys when they were all attending the British and Irish Modern Music Institute a few years back. “I played a gig with them when I was 17 and they were 19 or something, and it’s just mad to see how successful they are now,” she says.
Kynsy – New Year (Behind The Scenes) – YouTube
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The Academic
Forming in their early teens, The Academic are Craig Fitzgerald, Dean Gavin and brothers Matt and Stephen Murtagh. In late 2014 word started spreading throughout the flatlands of Westmeath, a small county in the middle of Ireland about these 4 young kids who played really fast and short sets that sometimes just fell apart but sometimes was pure magic to witness. No frills just short, sweet and straight to the point.
The Academic – Smart Mouth (Live At The Grouse Lodge) – YouTube
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Mary Wallopers
The Mary Wallopers are a folk group from Dundalk, breathing new life into both well known & rare ballads. Travelling the length & breadth of the country singing & collecting songs, they exude a raw energy that could be described as the Clancy Brothers meet John Lydon.
The Mary Wallopers | BYOL – YouTube
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Imelda May
Born and raised in The Liberties area of Dublin, Imelda has become one of Ireland’s most famed female artists in history. Discovered by Jools Holland, who asked Imelda to go on tour with him, Imelda has gone on to perform duets with artists including U2, Lou Reed, Sinead O Connor, Robert Plant, Van Morrison, Jack Savoretti and Elvis Costello and has featured on recent albums and live tours with Jeff Beck, Jeff Goldblum and Ronnie Wood.
Imelda May – Should’ve Been You (Official Video) – YouTube
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CMAT
Born in Dublin and completing a short but sweet 6 month stint at Trinity College Dublin, CMAT is another Irish gem. The invention of CMAT came about after Ciara strong-armed her way into a private songwriting masterclass hosted by Charli XCX, who played unreleased music to assembled hopefuls. Ciara was the only attendee to offer a critique of the demos; afterwards Charli sought her out, heard her story and advised Ciara to “blow my entire life up”. She knocked Manchester on the head and went back to Dublin.
CMAT – Every Bottle (Is My Boyfriend) [Behind The Lyrics] – YouTube
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The Script
The Script’s career-spanning greatest hits collection Tales From The Script has gone straight to #1 on the Official UK Album Chart. This is their sixth album to achieve that feat, following ‘The Script’ (2008), ‘Science & Faith’ (2010), ‘No Sound Without Silence’ (2014), ‘Freedom Child’ (2017) and ‘Sunsets & Full Moons’ (2019). The accomplishment means that The Script have equalled the number of UK #1 albums achieved by iconic artists such as Arctic Monkeys, Pink Floyd and Radiohead.
The Script – Breakeven (Official Video) – YouTube
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Rejjie Snow
Dubbed by Vice as the ‘best rapper to ever come out of Ireland’, Rejjie Snow is back. After receiving acclaim from taste-making publications worldwide and hitting 6.4 million plays on his Rejovich mixtape, Rejjie released his highly anticipated second full-length album, Baw Baw Black Shee’ last year. The album was described as “a cinematic soundtrack full of colour and joy”, with Rejjie working alongside Cam’Obi (as executive producer) and frequent collaborator Dee Lilly. It also features the singles “Cookie Chips” [feat. MF DOOM, Cam O’bi], “Mirrors” [feat. Snoh Aalegra & Cam’Obi] and his latest track “Disco Pantz” [feat. grouptherapy and Tinashe].
Rejjie Snow – All Around the World (Official Video) – YouTube
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Sinead O Brien
Since 2020, O’Brien has garnered international critical acclaim from titles like Rolling Stone, DIY, Dazed, Dork, Loud & Quiet, NME, Paste, Stereogum, The FADER, The Guardian, The Quietus, and AnOther Magazine, among others. O’Brien has also been consistently supported on national radio: she counts Jack Saunders at BBC Radio 1, and Steve Lamacq and Amy Lamé at BBC Radio 6 Music as champions of her music, with the latter station giving two tracks a spot on their B List.
Sinead O’Brien – GIRLKIND (Official Video) – YouTube
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Maverick Sabre
Platinum-selling, BRIT-nominated artist Maverick Sabre is the voice of a generation. Previously collaborating with the likes of Jorja Smith, Joey Bada$$, Bugzy Malone, Chronixx, Rudimental, Vintage Culture and George The Poet – Maverick has a flair for working with the best artists, producers and tastemakers in the scene. His most recent album, Don’t Look Up, received sterling reception from press and fans alike.
Maverick Sabre & Chronixx – Her Grace | A COLORS SHOW – YouTube
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