April A&R Department: Holly Munro, GNS, Dubh Lee and more

Holly Munro ups the ante with ‘’Big Kids’, a superlative slice of indie folk which draws inspiration from the likes of Julia Jacklin, Adrienne Lenker, Clairo and Joni Mitchell and drops on April 24.

Having previously worked with Luka Postashnick whose CV also includes James Blunt, Paloma Faith, One Direction and Marina And The Diamonds, it’s produced by Saint Sister and Skinner man Rían Tench who does a stellar job.

Layered into the song are voice memos from former housemates Ali, Brendan, Eva, Meg, Oisín and Tadhg who sound like a bunch of sounders.

Something of a Gaelgoir, Holly’s 2025 Domsa, Duitse, Oscailte EP is available from her Bandcamp and is equally beguiling…

Little birdies chirp, strings are plucked and voices manipulated on ‘Not3book’, the title-track from the new EP by GNS, a Malawian singer, writer and producer who makes the most ambient of hip hop.

Inspired by the likes of Frank Ocean, Chance The Rapper and Tyler, The Creator, it was recorded in VisionLab in Dublin which has become quite the hub, and is already having love shown to it by BBC Introducing.

Vision Lab’s resident engineers – Wale Lawal, Michael Ward and McJordan Amartey – have collectively worked with the likes of Selló, Digga D, Tebi Rex, Slevo and Qbanaa.

We’re also loving ‘FUFO’, the latest from Dubh Lee which conveys the feeling of “being lost at sea without prospects.”

Inspired by the likes of Eliott Smith and Peach Pit, its instrumentation it features wooden chair percussion and slide guitar played on a makeup bottle.

As you can see from the accompanying video, she has a big personality and a talent for sitting on top of moving cars…

Shaping up to be the next big Irish trad thing are The Wran whose instrumental single, ‘Fear Dearg’, is out now and very nearly tore the roof off earlier this month at the Grand Social launch gig.

Comprising brothers Tommy, Danny, Seán and Stephen Dunford, the Waterford/Tipp outfit are currently running round the UK with The Scratch…

Its parent album, The Stone Man, is out on October 9 following what we imagine will be a very busy festival season…

We’re getting serious summer vibes from Wallfella and hikii’s suitably addictive ‘Drugs’ single.

It follows on from the former’s The Coop Is Full album which got somewhat lost in the Christmas rush and the latter’s House On The Liffey mixtape hook up with Demlot, AKA Dublin spitters SubRhyme and Scaldy who also have a close A&R Dept. eye being kept on them…

There’s a major buzz surrounding skilfeugo, a 16-year-old Belfast freestyler who’s come up through the TikTok/Insta ranks.

Accompanied by 630G, his new ‘My Dargs’ single has a woozily narcotic feel and lyrics which ain’t going to get him played on the radio anytime soon.

‘Paris’ and ‘Nagasaki’, which can both be found on his SoundCloud, demonstrate  that there’s plenty more where that came from…

Also falling into the blissed out category is ‘Angel’, the title-track from the new EP by Dublin shoegazers SYGH who are fronted by the Hole and Twenty One Pilots-loving Symone Ashley Bowers.

Originally from Tipperary, she’s now based in Dublin where she’s joined forces with bassist Adam Grogan and drummer Aaron O’Reilly…

TV People return with ‘Concrete Cage’, a song “inspired by the surreal energy of Martin Scorsese’s After Hours” – that’s the 1985 neo noir film starring Griffin Dunne and Rosanna Arquette – and which puts us mind of White Lies and the late, extremely great Cathal Coughlan.

Dublin-born and London-based, Paul Donohoe and Brendan Clarke have some cracking merch available from tvpeopleofficial.bandcamp.com

If it’s something in yer face you’re after, Soft Rules’ new Violence EP lives up to the billing – and then some!

Officially launched on April 12 when they play Upstairs @ Whelan’s, the Dublin quintet describe their work as “music to dance to mid-breakdown” which is the perfect summation of lead track ‘EASY’ and its menacing half-sung/half-spoken vocals.
IDLES, CHALK and Meryl Streek fans will love ‘em…