On a hot Saturday afternoon at Glastonbury, while many are nursing halfway-point hangovers, the Dublin garage punk quartet Sprints whip up a jubilant mosh pit with their charged tune Descartes, Irish tricolour flags bobbing above them. As summer speeds on, at Japan\u2019s Fuji rock festival, new songs from Galway indie act NewDad enrapture the crowd. Travy, a Nigerian-born and Tallaght-raised rapper, crafts a mixtape inflected with his Dublin lilt, the follow-up to the first Irish rap album to top the Irish charts. Ef\u00e9 transcends Dublin bedroom pop to get signed by US label Fader, and on Later \u2026 With Jools Holland, George Houston performs the haunting Lilith \u2013 a tribute to political protest singers everywhere \u2013 in a distinctive Donegal accent.<\/p>\n
From Melbourne to Mexico City, concertgoers continue to scream to that opening loop on strings of Fontaines DC\u2019s Starburster, and CMAT\u2019s viral \u201cwoke macarena\u201d dance to her hit single Take a Sexy Picture of Me plays out in festival pits and on TikTok. You might have heard about Kneecap, too.<\/p>\n
Leading the charge \u2026 CMAT performs at Norway\u2019s Bergenfest 2024. Photograph: Per Ole Hagen\/Redferns<\/p>\n
Ireland has always had a fair few punks, ravers and big indie acts, be it the Cranberries, Ash or Bicep, but it\u2019s never had an alternative music scene quite as robust or diverse as today\u2019s: Lankum, Gilla Band, Pillow Queens, For Those I Love, John Francis Flynn and Chalk are some of the other acclaimed names, alongside a thriving underground rap scene. It\u2019s now so successful that it is redefining what \u201cIrish music\u201d even is, as doors open to musicians once left out of the country\u2019s cultural conversation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been an Irish renaissance,\u201d says Karla Chubb, Sprints\u2019 singer and guitarist. The group are now midway through a UK tour, with US shows next year; they are the first Irish band signed to US indie label Sub Pop. She cites Fontaines DC and CMAT as \u201ca blueprint\u201d for making it internationally. \u201cAs a Dublin band, you\u2019d once have hoped to play Vicar Street\u201d, a mid-sized venue. \u201cNow we have the drive to go bigger.\u201d Music, she says, is no longer an \u201cunpaid internship\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u2018A universal understanding\u2019 \u2026 Gurriers. Photograph: Joshua Mulholland<\/p>\n
Uniting today\u2019s acts is a spirit of rebellion, quick wit and vulnerable lyricism, with recurring themes of solidarity and marginalisation, made by a youth still emerging from the Troubles and the legacy of the Celtic Tiger (the Irish property boom, 2008 crash and subsequent recession). Sprints lit up a banner for trans rights during their Glasto set, while Dundalk act the Mary Wallopers had their set at Portsmouth\u2019s Victorious festival cut after they voiced their support for Palestine. Irish Artists for Palestine recently facilitated an Irish tour for the all-women Palestinian choir Daughters of Jerusalem. \u201cThis understanding of oppression and colonialism we have is generational,\u201d says Dan Hoff of Dublin five-piece Gurriers.<\/p>\n
Sprints\u2019 second album, released in September, is \u201cinspired by the disparity of finally realising our dreams and doing music full-time, against the homeless crisis in Ireland, the war in Gaza, the cost of living,\u201d says Chubb. \u201cThey\u2019re issues all across Europe<\/a>, so on an international stage, we\u2019re shining a light on a shared struggle.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe songs are written about Ireland, but I wanted to write them in a universal understanding,\u201d says Hoff. His band Gurriers released debut album Come and See in 2024, supported Fontaines DC and landed a track on EA Sports FC 26. The band are vexed about the far right\u2019s rise in Ireland and beyond, and their spitting protest song Approachable was written in the voice of an online rightwing edgelord; Dipping Out is about the Irish emigrating, but expands, Hoff says, \u201clike an Adam Curtis documentary, critiquing the zeitgeist.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople feel isolated and let down by those in power \u2026 the situation isn\u2019t just an Irish one. I try to avoid any Irish idioms in my lyrics,\u201d Hoff adds.<\/p>\n \u201cThe world is pretty much on fire \u2026 and against this rise in AI-generated music, people want something real and grounding. This is something Ireland does incredibly well,\u201d says Nikki MacRae, music officer at Belfast city council. \u201cIrish songwriters have always championed authenticity, and audiences crave this more than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIrishness has become a thing people covet,\u201d agrees Julie Dawson of NewDad, \u201cwhich is mad, because not too long ago it was something people scorned.\u201d For years British listeners would mostly reach for mainstream acts (Westlife, U2, the Corrs, B*Witched) or trad folk. Meanwhile, radio in Ireland has long been dominated by British and US acts, or otherwise limited to domestic acts Snow Patrol and Hozier, with most Irish artists deemed niche. \u201cAbout nine years ago, a local artist once had their track turned down for radio play because they\u2019d already played an Irish track that week,\u201d says MacRae. \u201cWhat makes Irish musicians class is that in the face of such challenges they double down.\u201d<\/p>\n Trad metal outfit the Scratch\u2019s Cathal McKenna recalls 2011\u2019s Oxegen festival, held not far outside Dublin, and hosting almost exclusively international headliners. \u201cWe took our influences from them \u2026 Now, seeing Ireland\u2019s festivals filled with Irish acts feels powerful,\u201d McKenna says, from All Together Now to Electric Picnic. \u201cPeople have their own stories, languages and cities represented by amazing artists. We\u2019re naturally confident now in a way we just weren\u2019t back then.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018We\u2019re naturally confident now in a way we just weren\u2019t back then\u2019 \u2026 the Scratch. Photograph: Evan Doherty<\/p>\n As well as the music itself, there are some clear forces behind this shift. A generation of gen Z and millennial artists are reckoning with what it meant to come of age through recession, austerity and the tail end of the Troubles. The music pulsates with the sense of promises made and withdrawn: CMAT pricks the economic bubble and its devastating aftermath on her song Euro-Country, symbolised by her dancing around her soulless hometown shopping centre<\/a> in the video. But there is a defiant call-to-action too. \u201cI know it can be better if we hound it,\u201d she sings.<\/p>\n In Northern Ireland<\/a>, noise-punk band Enola Gay\u2019s track PTS.DUP addressed a sectarian attack on guitarist Joe McVeigh that left him with a fractured skull. Meanwhile, on their thrashing Stiff Little Fingers-influenced song I Think You Should Leave, queer DIY punk band Problem Patterns still find hope in building community in Belfast: \u201cEverything always comes back to the Troubles,\u201d the song goes, \u201cwe\u2019ve got to release the dead hand of the past.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think artists from Northern Ireland are thriving right now because we\u2019ve all grown up with generational trauma and that makes for some excellent art,\u201d says the band\u2019s Beth Crooks. \u201cThe song is about how we love living here, in spite of the mass emigration that we see from our peers. If the right people stick around and push for change then it\u2019s bound to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018The music scene is at a really exciting place\u2019 \u2026 Spider. Photograph: Camille Alexander<\/p>\n James Robinson, founder of Belfast\u2019s Craic magazine, says the renaissance is partly down to local media outlets such as the Thin Air, Yeo, Nialler9 and District documenting these scenes before the British or international press caught on, alongside conferences such as Output and AVA festival, all of them \u201cencouraging more acts to start up and keep the momentum going\u201d. The British media\u2019s recent embrace of politically vocal Irish artists, he adds, suggests a \u201csomewhat British fragility\u201d about overlooking this scene in previous generations; a move past the shamrocks\u2019n\u2019Guinness fetishisation of Irish culture to instead really listen to Irish voices.<\/p>\n Numerous people I speak to say another chief reason for such a thriving scene is Ireland\u2019s growing cultural diversity. \u201cArtists are shouting loud in the face of attempts to narrow the perception of what is Irish,\u201d says MacRae, as xenophobic and racist unrest has gripped the country in recent months.<\/p>\n Belfast-based rapper Emby brought dance music festival AVA its first ever grime set. After competing against Beyonc\u00e9 and the Weeknd at the 2025 Grammys, another Belfast boy, Jordan Adetunji, continues to blend quickfire rap with trap, post-punk guitars and African dance. Spider, the Tallaght-born, now London-based producer, grew up on 90s riot grrrl acts such as Bikini Kill and Veruca Salt. Like McKenna, she had few Irish references (save, she says, for the Cranberries), and even now, \u201cthe scene can be very white and male-dominated\u201d, she says. \u201cBut it\u2019s at a really exciting place. We\u2019re seeing more Irish people of colour, women and queer people come up, and the music is only getting better.\u201d<\/p>\n Monjola is the co-founder of Dublin\u2019s five-year-old Chamomile Club label and collective. Their slogan is BKDI: Black Kids Doing It. \u201cWe\u2019ve established an ecosystem,\u201d says Monjola. \u201cWe\u2019re musicians but also videographers, graphic designers, producers, stylists.\u201d Chamomile act Moio crossed over with 2024 single Moments, topping Spotify\u2019s Viral 50. \u201cThe Black Irish experience is super unique,\u201d Monjola adds. \u201cWe don\u2019t have a blueprint, so we\u2019re following our gut \u2013 and that\u2019s resonating.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Ballymun-founded rap group Bricknasty blend hip-hop, neo-soul, rave and garage with lyrics in Gaelic \u2013 their single Is \u00e9 a Locht a Laghad is a stark track about heritage and hardship. Frontman Fatboy says he was \u201ceating curry-paste wraps because I couldn\u2019t buy chicken\u201d \u2013 until they supported Coldplay at Dublin\u2019s Croke Park as the backing band for Irish singer Aby Coulibaly, and put together their recent mixtape Black\u2019s Law. They\u2019re now getting ready for their first US headline tour in February. \u201cYou get a false sense of being class playing in Ireland, because the crowds are so deadly [good],\u201d Fatboy says. \u201cSometimes what you need is to get ribbed. That\u2019s how you learn.\u201d They\u2019ve won plenty of audiences over, though: \u201cSeeing people elsewhere respond because they\u2019ve gone through similar things is magical.\u201d<\/p>\n Breakthroughs such as theirs<\/a> are far from being a given, and artists from bigger cities tend to get more opportunities, but arts centres such as the Duncairn in Belfast encourage cross-border collaboration, creating fertile ground for agents and labels to scout.<\/p>\n \u2018We\u2019re following our gut\u2019 \u2026 Monjola perform at Cork Opera House, 2025. Photograph: Kieran Frost\/Redferns<\/p>\n Another huge boost came in October, when the Irish government announced that a pilot basic-income scheme for artists would become permanent. Public support has been strong, and an independent study<\/a> from Alma Economics found it improved recipients\u2019 creative productivity and mental wellbeing. With artists receiving \u20ac325 (\u00a3286) a week, the pilot scheme cost \u20ac25m<\/a> a year, a relatively small investment to keep an entire arts scene thriving. Daniel \u201cLango\u201d Lang of the Scratch says high youth unemployment once drove them to music: \u201cThe big challenge for young artists now is the cost of living, but a thriving scene breeds confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n That confidence isn\u2019t just firing up this new generation of acts \u2013 it\u2019s changing the way Irish people think about themselves. \u201cAs a people, we are very self-effacing,\u201d NewDad\u2019s Dawson says. \u201cWe feel sincerely thankful \u2013 and even surprised \u2013 that people show up for us. I never thought a band formed by a bunch of teenagers in Galway would one day stand up on a big stage in Japan.\u201d<\/p>\n Everyone I speak to has someone else to hype up, be it dream-pop and the Cure support act Just Mustard, folk collective Madra Salach, ambient artist Saoirse Miller or alt-rapper Khakikid. \u201cWe\u2019re so proud of ourselves,\u201d Dawson says. \u201cWhich is hard to say as an Irish person.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On a hot Saturday afternoon at Glastonbury, while many are nursing halfway-point hangovers, the Dublin garage punk quartet…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":304842,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[88,216],"class_list":{"0":"post-304841","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-music"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=304841"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304841\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/304842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=304841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=304841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=304841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}