Don't look back in anger

The last 12 months saw the return of a few of the heavyweights of Irish music, as well as the emergence of a number of new acts who could become the international success stories of tomorrow.

The Frames may have been quiet by their standards on the gigging front, but they were beavering away in the studio. The final product, The Cost, more than justified their absence, with long-time fans’ favourite ‘People Get Ready’ finally consigned to record.
Meanwhile, frontman Glen Hansard released the quietly arresting Swell Season with Czech musician Marketa Irglova.
Damien Rice, too, was relatively conspicuous by his absence, until autumn saw the release of his long-awaited second album proper, 9. Eschewing the popular wisdom of milking the success of his debut, instead the Kildare man and his band ploughed new musical furrows, combining whispered confessional Cohen-like ruminations with a real sense of experimentation, nowhere moreso than on the distortion-fuelled ‘Me, My Yoke And I’.
David Kitt proved the doubters wrong by delivering his most confident record yet in the shape of Not Fade Away, perfectly evidenced by the stirring lead single ‘Say No More’ and the powerful, two-fingers of ‘Don’t Fuck With Me’. Similarly, The Frank And Walters proved that rumours of their demise were greatly exaggerated with their latest LP, A Renewed Interest In Happiness, chock-full of the most life-affirming pop music the Leesiders have ever created.
Meanwhile, Snow Patrol conquered all comers with the ubiquitous Eyes Open.
Bell X1 may not have released any new material this year, but 2006 will still go down as the year when they became the biggest band on the domestic scene, a fabulous 12 months neatly bookended by celebratory concerts in the RDS and the Point. Bell X1 drummer Tim O’Donovan somehow found time to record and release the eponymous Neosupervital, an 80s-tastic synth pop masterpiece.
Of the new breed, Delorentos continue to excite. Arguably the hardest working outfit in the country, rarely a fortnight went by without the Dublin quartet treading the boards in some corner of the country. As a live act, they are getting stronger and stronger, while 2006 single ‘The Rules’ confirmed that they have the stuff to turn live form into chart success. Expect great things from their debut album early in 2007.
Elsewhere, both The Immediate and Director proved their next big thing status with stellar debut albums. The former have already started to make waves abroad with their multi-instrumental mish-mash of shimmering pop (‘A Ghost In This House’) and shouty rock ‘n’ roll (‘Lonely, Locked Up’). Director’s ‘Reconnect’ was certainly one of the singles of the year, followed neatly by their catchy-as-the-common-cold LP, We Thrive On Big Cities, which is due an international release early in the new year.
Humanzi’s ultra confident debut Tremors ticked all the right punk-pop boxes, The Blizzards’ ska-pop struck a chord with music lovers all over the country, while The Flaws’ thunderous live set marked them out as ones to watch in ’07. Donegal’s Berkley released the brilliant In Moments album, but somehow failed to really capitalise on just how good it is; this listener feels that they may have to go abroad to really get noticed.
While it was low-profile year for Gemma Hayes and Cathy Davey, Julie Feeney was doing her bit for the fairer sex. Feeney's debut 13 Songs bagged the inaugral Choice Music Prize; since then, it has been one success after another for the Galway chanteuse – she signed an international record deal with SonyBMG and was commissioned to write an orchestral song-cycle for BBC Northern Ireland.
Other Irish highlights included Simple Kid’s esoteric SK2, The Ruby Tailights’ low-key pop mastery on Dressing Up, with ‘Switch’ in particular hitting all the right notes, while Fionn Regan’s beautiful debut, The End Of History, breathed new life into the singer-songwriter genre. Dublin quartet Doris proved they can do power-pop with aplomb on the seriously infectious ‘Stop’, and Ham Sandwich continue to slowly work their way towards greatness, with the male-female vocal foil working a treat. Other ones to watch include House Of Cosy Cushions, whose laid-back funk is starting to make waves, and The Chapters and Channel One, who should both be snapped up by international record labels before long, while if Straglers and The Spikes keep their current rate of progress up, they could be the surprise success stories of 2007. The Mighty Stef continues to plough his unique musical furrow and with a little more direction, he could start to really reap the rewards next year.
On a slight downer, much-loved three-piece Turn decided to call it a day this year, but the good news is that singer and songwriter Ollie Cole is currently working on a solo record, which should see the light of day next year.