These primary school pals first began making waves back in 2019 with their debut single, ‘Phonecall’, becoming an unexpected streaming hit, and clocking up over half a million Spotify listens.

"Back then we weren’t sure how well it would be received and thought it would possibly fall into obscurity on Spotify," Steven and Sean explained. "Surprisingly, it picked up pace very quickly and we immediately realised that we wanted focus completely on music as our sound seemed to resonate with people with 0 marketing or promo at all. We even began to see fan made videos on YouTube for different songs and started followers on social media."

In the years that followed, they’ve continued to carve out a unique path with a string of irresistible alternative pop singles, including ‘B L I S S’, from their self-produced debut album, Doom, Gloom And Cheap Perfume - which landed in February to critical acclaim.

"With this encouragement, we began honing our alternative pop sound. We play everything instrument that you hear, produce it all ourselves and people continue to respond in the same way. We take influence from anywhere, and always try to introduce something new to each song so it’s just that extra bit unique. After a year, with a few more releases under our belts, we have just over 1.3 million streams and Spotify Editorial Playlisters seem to love our sound."

Blondmodel made their impressive debut in a packed-out Sound House two months ago. Listen to their debut album below and tune in tonight at 7pm!

Watch the Hot Press Y&E Series – supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media – live on the Hot Press Instagram (@hotpressmagazine) at 7pm each night.

Coming up on the Y&E Series...

Wednesday, April 6: Clara Tracey

There’s a big buzz around the Fermanagh-born, Dublin-residing Clara Tracey, who’s played in assorted bands with Maija Sofia, Aoife Nessa Frances and Paddy Hanna. Now concentrating fully on her solo endeavours, the title-track from her upcoming Black Forest album has dropped on Dundalk’s Pizza Pizza artists’ collaborative label. Jazzy, poppy and Motown-y in equal measure, it features Gilla Band’s Daniel Fox on bass and calls on the titular 1920s stained glass artist to melt down his Eve of St. Agnes masterpiece so that the young lovers depicted in it can be reunited.

Thursday, April 7: Lea Heart

After clocking up millions of streams over lockdown, Lea Heart will make her Irish headline debut with two nights at The Academy on April 19th and 20th. Lea Heart’s pandemic success reflects bold new changes currently underway in the music industry. As well as getting her song ‘A Million Goodbyes’ featured in an episode of Love Island, her phenomenal popularity is also largely owing to social media. Fellow Kildare act Picture This have also been early champions of Lea. The band selected her as one of the support acts for their Malahide Castle show in June.

Friday, April 8: Sinead McConville

The Wicklow musician first released her debut solo single, 'Doorstep', back in May 2020. Recorded at home in a sticky and sweaty attic with rising singer/songwriter and Y&E Series performer D. Cullen, the song is an expression of love on a summer’s day in Ireland. Previous single, ‘Running From You’, stayed on the RTE Recommends playlist for three weeks. Highlight performances for Sinéad include The Late Late Show and supporting Mundy in Lost Lane; ‘Ireland Music Week’ with ELKAE and John Barker’s ‘TILT’ with Munky in The Button Factory. The Irish folk-pop artist released her stripped back, harmony-driven piano ballad 'Break My Heart' last June.