Irish music is having a moment.
We’ve always celebrated our own musicality in a big way, but in recent years the world has really started to take notice.
Acts like Hozier, Kodaline and The Script have shined a brighter spotlight on Irish acts and consolidated our place on the map on a global scale – and a quick glance at the teenage powerhouses coming up reassures us that the future of Irish music is in good hands.
We’ve rounded up our top five female acts who are so good, it’s reason enough not to emigrate.
Roisin Murphy
Dubbed the “Irish Grace Jones” by Vanity Fair, Wicklow native Roisin got her start as one half of electro pop music duo Moloko (responsible for Sing It Back). She went our on her own in 2004 with her debut album Ruby Blue, followed by her second solo album Overpowered in 2007 and then took an eight-year hiatus.
She is one of the rare artists who can survive a lengthy break and come out the other side undamaged – in fact she’s never been more prolific.
She is currently touring Europe with her Mercury Prize-shortlisted new album Hairless Toys – her best produced album to date. A mix of disco, house and even some country twists – her sound is completely unique, but then she has never been one to follow trends.
Video via YouTube/RoisinMurphyVEVO
Orla Gartland
YouTube sensation and self-confessed “ginger nutcase”, Orla first garnered attention for her stunning covers but soon showed off her chops as an original artist – her debut single Devil on My Shoulder went straight into the Irish iTunes chart and she has gone from strength to strength since then.
She released her second EP, Lonely People, earlier this year and embarked on her first headliner tour of the U.S. with folk pop sound that rubs shoulders with the likes of Joni Mitchell, Regina Spektor and Imogen Heap.
SOAK
Nineteen-year-old Derry singer-songwriter SOAK (real name Bridie Monds-Watson) is cleaning up on the awards circuit with her debut album We Forgot How To Dream.
She took home the prestigious Northern Ireland Music Prize 2015 for Album of the Year and __________ Mercury
She was included in BBC’s Sound Of list in January and scooped the European Border Breakers Award, following in the footsteps of Hozier, James Vincent McMorrow, Kodaline and The Script.
She appears to have exploded onto the scene, but the album has been five years in the making – she started working on it when she was just 13.
Video via YouTube/SoakOfficial
Roisin O
The 27-year-old Dubliner comes from a Irish music dynasty. Being Mary Black’s daughter and The Corona’s Danny O’ Reilly’s sister could have been creatively stifling for some – but not for Roisin.
She is well and truly forging her own path to success – she released her debut album The Secret Life of Blue in 2012 to critical acclaim and her next offering is currently in the works.
Her singles Synchronicity and You Got Love, released earlier this year, indicate a move away from the acoustic simplicity of The Secret Life of Blue towards a more electronic, synthy sound. Coupled with her folk-influenced voice, it’s something really special.
Wyvern Lingo
Karen Cowley, Caoimhe Barry and Saoirse Duane make up the Bray three-piece whose talent for crafting harmonious melodies and their vibrant live performances set them apart from the crowd.
The girls always go down a storm on the festival circuit and have spent the last year working on their new sound – a unique mix of alternative indie and R ‘n’ B evident in their latest EP Subside.
2016 is set to be their busiest year yet, with a new EP out in January and a UK tour supporting Hozier – it looks like their new record label Rubyworks got a hold of them just in time.
