Cíara Byrne joins to talk about Glastonbury 2025, in particular CMAT, Bob Vylan and Kneecap, favourite albums of the year (so far), album news, new track recommendations, gig news and more. Preorder For Those I Love - Carving the Stone: https://forthoseilove.terrible.group/Pot-Pot - Warsaw 480km - https://potpot.bandcamp.com/album/warsaw-480kmThrow…

Texas-born, Laois-raised, London-based artist Kean Kavanagh returns to talk about his debut album The County Star. An introspective work, it finds him examining all those sides of his being: USA, Ireland, and London as he adopts the dual persona of a cowboy county star/GAA county star. Kean, who many will know as a close collaborator of Kojaque (th…

Eoghan and Cíara chat about their weekend at Beyond the Pale and the difficulties the music festival faced in the week preceding it. There's also music news, review of Kean Kavanagh's debut album The County Star, and new track recommendations. 0:00 Intro and Beyond the Pale review18:51 Music News21:00 TPOE Album Club: Kean Kavanagh - The County Sta…

Eoghan is joined by Stevie and Jake Lennox of Belfast’s Junk Drawer, who released their second album Days of Heaven on June 6 via Pizza Pizza Records. Formed in 2015 alongside Brian Coney and Rory Dee, Junk Drawer blend Weezer-esque riffs, shoegaze and indie rock. Fresh off an eight-date tour of Ireland with Cola and M(h)aol, the brothers reflect o…

Eoghan and Cíara return to chat about the music news, including new albums by Altered Hours, Big Thief and Cate Le Bon, discuss Pulp and Iggy Pop coming to Dublin, dive into our first TPOE Album Club with post-punk band M(h)aol's second album Something Soft, discuss new albums coming out this week, and finish with two track recommendations. 04:34: …

Cíara Byrne (Golden Plec, The Thin Air, Irish Examiner) joins to run through music news (Grizzly Bear are back, Basic Income for the Arts, Sufjan Stevens), recent gigs by Morgana and CMAT, new releases and our favourite Irish festival sets as festival szn 2025 kicks offBy The Point Of Everything

Limerick artist Laura Duff released her debut album Sea Legs on May 23. A meditation on grief, it sees her confront the death of her father and the fallout in the following months and years. “I was setting out to write Sea Legs in my dad’s memory,” she says. “It was very intentional in that way. All of the lyrical context is based around that, and …

Dublin-based traditional Irish duo Varo (Lucie Azconaga and Consuelo Nerea Breschi) released their second album The World That I Knew on May 9. A collaborative album produced by John 'Spud' Murphy (Lankum), it features some of the most acclaimed names in the Irish folk music world in 2025: Ruth Clinton (Landless, Poor Creature), Cormac Mac Diarmada…

Dublin rapper Curtisy released his debut album What Was The Question on May 3, 2024, and releases his new project, a mixtape made with producer Hikii called Beauty in the Beast, on May 30, 2025. We talk about both releases - marking a year of the debut album - and everything in between as Curtisy won a whole host of new fans with his searing and ho…

Dublin-based artist Danny Groenland (fka Danny G and the Major 7ths) released his third studio album Burning Rome on April 25. He says: "The issues I focus on with this album - climate disaster, war, genocide, division, homelessness, inequality, mental health, police brutality, institutional racism - all stem from the same root cause. Our economic …

Paddy Hanna released his fifth album Oylegate on April 11 via Strange Brew Records and returns to the podcast for the first time since TPOE 90 in 2018. That was around his second album Frankly, I Mutate. In between, there have been two albums, The Hill in 2020 and Imagine I'm Hoping in 2022, which Paddy himself says flopped. While he's got married …

French-American musician and composer Zoé Basha released her debut album Gamble on April 17. Blending storytelling traditions, Appalachian mountain songs, Irish traditional music, and American blues and ragtime, the album is a woozy melange. We talk about her life journey, travelling around the US, joining the Occupy San Francisco protests, moving …

Daniel McIntyre aka Lullahush released his second album Ithaca on April 11 via Future Classic. Having collaborated with the likes of AE Mak in the past and attended the Red Bull Music Academy, Lullahush released his debut album A City Made of Water and Small Love in 2022, an ode to his home town Dublin. He's developed a complicated relationship wit…

Alan Duggan Borges, the guitarist in Gilla Band, released his debut self-titled EP as The Null Club on April 4. Comrprising three tracks, 'Frameshift' features the rapper ELUCID (one half of Armand Hammer), '14 Hours' features Faris Badwan (The Horrors), and 'Slip Angles' has vocals by Valentine Caulfield (Mandy, Indiana). We talk about how the Nul…

Matthew Xavier Corrigan, an artist who splits time between Cork and Dublin, released his debut solo album Beast of Changing on March 21. Written in reflection of a tempestuous season of change across Irish coastlines, centred on Ballinskelligs in Co. Kerry, Myrtleville in Co. Cork and Clare Island in Co. Mayo, Beast of Changing follows a story of g…

Declan McClafferty aka Ramper released his debut solo album Loner on March 7. Formerly a member of the award-winning Donegal band In Their Thousands, along with his brother, Declan is a session musician who plays as part of Ryan McMullan’s band. He says of Loner: "It’s about lots of things. About my childhood growing up and feeling the wheel go aro…

Maria Kelly released her second album Waiting Room on February 28. The followup to 2021's The Sum of the In-Between, the title is a very real place as Maria found herself stuck in sterile clinics hoping for answers to inscrutable chronic pain, and a dream-like, surreal space representing her own inner world. “This album is an exploration of the roa…

Julie Feeney won the inaugural Choice Music for her debut album 13 Songs in 2005. Ahead of the 20th anniversary of the Choice on March 6, Julie talks about what it was like to win the award and the impact it had on her career. We also talk about how she made 13 Songs; playing all of the instruments, including a clock, across the record; self-financ…

The Choice Music Prize for Irish album of the year 2024 will be announced at Vicar Street on Thursday, March 6, 2025. Ahead of the show, John Barker from new Irish music show Tilt (Dublin City FM) joins to run through the 10 nominated acts and help predict a winner. The 10 nominees: A Lazarus Soul - No Flowers Grow In Cement GardensCurtisy - What W…

Mayo harpist Alannah Thornburgh talks about her debut album Shapeshifter, released February 12. She is inspired by the traditions of fairy folklore and mythology from rural Ireland. The project began when Alannah was commissioned to compose a piece for the Linenhall Arts Centre’s New Music in Mayo series, curated by traditional musician Emer Mayock…

Mark Chester aka Ginnels released their first album in a decade, The Picturesque, on February 7. He talks about what he's been up to (becoming a dad of two, mostly), playing with Autre Monde and why they've come to an end, songwriting, nostalgia, Popical Island, and lots more. Buy The Picturesque: https://ginnels.bandcamp.com/album/the-picturesque-…

London-based industrial noise pop trio Tayne (Matt Sutton, Tom Hancock, Paul Traveller) released their debut album LOVE on January 31. Frontman Matt talks about moving to London, how the band started, the influence of his dad on the lyrics, Matt's tattooing career, and art.Buy LOVE: https://tayneband.bandcamp.com/album/love…

London-born, Donegal-based singer-songwriter Anna B Savage released her third album You & I Are Earth via City Slang on January 24. Calling it a love letter to a man and to Ireland, the record features Irish musicians Anna Mieke, Kate Ellis and Caimin Gilmore (Crash Ensemble), Cormac Mac Diarmada (Lankum), and Lankum producer John 'Spud' Murphy'. O…

Aaron Corcoran aka Skinner released his debut album New Wave Vaudeville on January 7. He talks about playing open mic nights when he was in his mid-teens, his DIY ethos, his creative process and influences, and discusses making some of the tracks on the album. Buy New Wave Vaudeville: https://skinner97.bandcamp.com/album/new-wave-vaudeville----Pres…

It's the end of the year - we made it! And that means it's time to look over our favourite music moments of 2024. Nicole Glennon, assistant editor of the Irish Examiner Weekend magazine, and Cíara Byrne, a music writer with bylines in the Examiner, Golden Plec and the Thin Air, join to talk through our favourite live shows, best albums, best tracks…

Peter Lawlor aka Polytunnel, a producer and DJ, releases his debut album The Word for World is Forest via Alien Communications on December 13. He says: "The Word for World is Forest is an album influenced by the city of Glasgow, showcasing Polytunnel’s love of classic detroit-inspired electro along with nods to the techno and house that has influen…

SIlverbacks (Daniel O'Kelly, Kilian O'Kelly, Peader Kearney, Emma Hanlon, Gary Wickham, Paul Leamy) released their third album Easy Being a Winner on October 18 via Central Tones Records. Scattered around Dublin, Drogheda, Kildare and Paris, Silverbacks have really found their groove on this album. It sounds like an effortless progression. I talked…

His Father's Voice (Ash O'Connor, James Reidy, Laya Meabhdh Kenny and Cian McGuirk) released their debut album Black Poison Morning on September 6. Frontwoman Ash talks about how the band have developed over the years, making the record with Micheál Keating (Bleeding Heart Pigeon), the Limerick scene and Féile na Gréine, and lots more. Buy Black Po…

Dublin singer-songwriter Daniel Anderson aka Anderson released his second album Some Rain Must Fall on November 1. It's nine years since he released debut album Patterns (2015), after going solo following his band The Rags. Named after Karl Ove Knausgaard's book Some Rain Must Fall, Anderson says of the record: “This album was a long time in the ma…

Cork artist Yenkee aka Graham Cooney released his long-awaited debut album Night Golf via Soft Boy Records on October 25. He talks about making the album, being inspired by labelmates Kojaque and Kean Kavanagh, life in London, the dream of owning a house, the housing crisis, songwriting, and lots more on this episode of TPOE.Yenkee tour dates:Decem…

HousePlants are Paul Noonan and Daithi. They released their second album Half Known Things on October 18 and talk about its creation on this episode of the TPOE podcast. Buy Half Known Things: https://wearehouseplants.bandcamp.com/album/half-known-thingshHousePlants tour dates: December 27: Roisin Dubh, GalwayDecember 28: Cyprus Avenue, CorkJanuary…

Cork singer-songwriter Stephanie Rainey has had an interesting year, appearing on America's Got Talent over the summer. She talks about that experience, why she felt like she wanted and needed to do it to shake things up, and her new EP The Highs and Lows of It All, due out next month. Stephanie Rainey tour dates:November 14: Button Factory, Dublin…

Cork producer Ruairi Lynch aka Bantum and Listowel-based rapper as Gaeilge Séamus Ó Súilleabháin aka Súil Amháin are the guests on this episode of the TPOE podcast. Bantum has just released his third solo album, which is self-titled, and he also produced, mixed, and mastered the debut album by Súil Amháin, which is called athPhORT. They talk about …

Gemma Hayes, from Tipperary and now living in West Cork, released her sixth studio album Blind Faith on September 27. It's her first album in 10 years - Gemma says she has reasons for the break: she simply lost the urge to write and was busy raising two children. We talk about all that - how she literally locked away her guitars and subsequently lo…

Susan O'Neill released her second album Now in a Minute on September 20. Recorded with brothers Cillian and Lorcan Byrne, it was produced by Christian Best at Monique Studios in Midleton, Co Cork, and follows the 2021 collaborative album In the Game with Mick Flannery. On this episode of the TPOE podcast, Susan talks about the past couple of years …

Landless are Lily Power, Méabh Meir, Ruth Clinton and Sinéad Lynch, a vocal quartet coming out of the same Dublin scene as Lankum, Lisa O'Neill and ØXN. They sing centuries old ballads as well as more recently penned folk songs. Lúireach (out now on Glitterbeat) is their second album and as with their acclaimed debut Bleaching Bones (2018), it was …

Bill Shanley is a guitarist from Clonakilty, West Cork, who has played and made music with, among others, Gilbert O'Sullivan, Ray Davies, Mary Black, Eleanor McEvoy, and Paul Brady. He got lessons with Noel Redding of the Jimi Hendrix Experience as a youngster and ever since has had a fascinating career. We talk though as much of that career as we …

Eoin French aka Talos passed away on Sunday, August 11. This is a repost of TPOE 56, our interview from 2017, around the release of his debut album Wild Alee.Team Talos announced Eoin's death on social media with the following message: It is with great sadness that we let you know that our friend Eoin French, known to many the world over as Talos, …

Waterford accordion player Seamas Hyland released his debut solo album Maidin Domhnaigh on May 20. A set dancer and traditional singer, Hyland also plays with Acid Granny and John Francis Flynn and has in the past been part of the Mary Wallopers live band. He talks about all these and more on today's episode, as well as where the ideas for the debu…

A Lazarus Soul released their latest album No Flowers Grow in Cement Gardens on July 5 via Bohemia Records. Frontman and lyricist Brian Brannigan talks though all of the 10 tracks that make up the record on this episode of the TPOE podcast.---A Lazarus Soul tour datesAugust 23: Coughlan's, CorkAugust 24: Cleere's, KilkennyAugust 25: National Museum…

July 20, 2024, marks 10 years since Cork venue the Pavilion, run by Pat Conway, Stevie G and Joe Kelly, closed its doors. It left an indelible mark on me and so many music lovers. Friendships were formed there, ideas were hatched, bands were watched, and DJs filled the floors. On this episode of the TPOE podcast, a whole host of the people who love…

Niall Murphy is Oh Boland, from Tuam, Co Galway, and currently based in Dublin. They've released three albums since the band started over 10 years ago - third LP Western Leisure came out May 31. On this episode of the TPOE podcast, Niall talks through all the songs on the album, touring the US, and their journey as a band. Plus going country!Oh Bol…

John Meagher returns to the show to talk about the latest list he's compiled for the Irish Independent: The best Irish songs of all time — ranked: the definitive top 50.He talks about the work involved in putting it together, why there are three songs by Sinéad O'Connor in the top five, but no U2 in the top 10, why the Republic of Ireland team are …

Dublin singer-songwriter James Vincent McMorrow released his seventh studio album Wide Open, Horses on June 14 and talks through its 13 songs on this track-by-track interview on the TPOE podcast.--From the press release: In 2023, he brought Wide Open, Horses to life—on stage. He booked two nights at The National Concert Hall in Dublin, recorded a h…

Galway artist Niamh Regan released her second album Come As You Are on May 31. On this episode we talk through all 10 of its tracks, as well as a not-very-secret hidden track, plus some of the fun things that she's experienced since releasing debut album Hemet in 2020.--From the press release: Since its release, Niamh has embarked on headline tours…

San Francisco-based Irish musician Shane Culloty aka Winter Aid released his second album under the moniker, titled Pull the Sky Inside, on May 17. He talks through all 15 songs on the record on this episode of the TPOE podcast.--The 15-song collection, produced with Larry Crane (Elliott Smith, The Decemberists) and Chuck Johnson (Daniel Bachman, C…

Conor O'Brien aka Villagers released their sixth studio album That Golden Time on May 10 via Domino Records and talks through its 10 tracks on this episode of the TPOE podcast.----From the press release: After the band-centred sessions of its predecessor Fever Dreams, That Golden Time’s solo-centric core was not forced on O’Brien by lockdown. “For …

Dublin dance duo Robbie G and Bissett aka Belters Only are one of the hottest acts in the country. With tunes like 'Make Me Feel Good' to their name and having co-produced the Ivor Novello-nominated 'Giving Me' with Jazzy, they sold out the 3Arena in Dublin in less than 30 minutes in 2023. Over the June bank holiday weekend, they're putting on thei…

Pillow Queens (singer Pamela Connolly, bassist Sarah Corcoran, guitarist Cathy McGuinness, and drummer Rachel Lyons) released their third album Name Your Sorrow on April 19 and talk through all 12 songs on it in this interview.---From the press release: It finds the group at their most vulnerable and self-assured as they explore themes of queerness…

Dublin-born, London-based Constance Keane aka Fears released her second album affinity on Tulle Records in March 2024. She talks through the 10 tracks on the album on this episode of the TPOE podcast. One part of the post-punk band M(h)aol, she also discusses their past year and latest single 'Pursuit', the first on which Keane takes lead vocals.--…