February A&R Department: Somebody's Child, hotgirl, Theatre and more

As revealed in last month’s bumper Hot Press New Irish Albums preview, Somebody’s Child have confirmed the March 28 release through Frenchkiss Records – ooh la la! – of When Youth Fades Away.

The rousing first taster, ‘Last Night I Held Your Hand’, sounds like a three-way The The, James and The National mash-up and might just be the song that helps them achieve commercial lift off.

“If our first album was about running away, this one is about staying put and reflecting,” says mainman Cian Godfrey. “It’s about letting people in and letting ourselves out”...

CHALK limber up for a lengthy European tour, which concludes with respective April 10 and 12 visits to the Ulster Sports Club and Whelan’s, with ‘Afraid’, a serious headfuck of a single which reminds Team Hot Press’, ahem, more mature members of Underworld’s ‘Born Slippy’.

CHALK

Also nodding (frantically) to The Prodigy and Idles who they opened for in 2024, it’s lifted from the Belfast post-punk trio’s Conditions III EP, which follows on February 21 via-UK independent Nice Swan Records who also look after English Teacher…

Also from Belfast and generating similar levels of noise are Broncos, whose ‘Lights Out’ single, we’re told, is “a metaphor for second chances, missed opportunities and remedy situations.”

Along with previous 45 ‘Erode’, its USP is frontman Shane’s falsetto, which juxtaposes nicely with the guitar mayhem going on around him…

Fresh from making it into our Hot For 2025 list, Ten Hail Marys further underline their credentials with debut six-track EP Faults I May Have.

We’re particularly taken with the lead track ‘America’, which has a big guitar sound, lots of Mary Chain-esque feedback and stoner vocals.

The Dublin sextet, who were Radio Nova’s 2024 A New Local Hero pick, play a big March 8 show in Whelan’s with the also much-talked about Theatre and Bleech supporting.

It appears that good old fashioned rock ‘n’ roll is back with a vengeance…

Ten Hail Marys

We’re loving Waiting Room, the sophomore album from West of Ireland singer Maria Kelly who cites boygenius, Daughter and Laura Marling as inspirations but has her own indie-folk-pop thing going on.

Lead track ‘His Parents’ House’ was inspired by Maria and her partner being forced to move in with his folks because they couldn’t afford to rent a rabbit hutch on their own.

Another of the standouts, ‘Drive’, last year helped to soundtrack the Robert De Niro and Whoopi Goldberg film, Ezra.

Catch her live on April 11 when she headlines Dublin’s Unitarian Church which, if you’ve not been before, is a glorious venue…

Altara demonstrates why he’s a rising star of the Irish dance scene with ‘pleasedontleave’, a vocoder-ed banger which suggests he could be heading in the same chartward direction as Jazzy and Belters Only.

As talented a singer as he is a beatmaker, he’s following up last November’s The Lobby EP which received plenty of media support on both sides of the Irish Sea…

Also heading to a dancefloor near you soon is ‘Good Time’, a hypnotic drum-heavy house ‘n’ gospel workout from Dublin’s Poser who also answers to the name of Adam Kelly.

With an accompanying Wu-Tang Clan-inspired video shot in the Workman’s, its retro feel is redolent of early electro trailblazers like Bomb The Bass and S-Express…

Drogheda outfit hotgirl impress – again! – with ‘On The Brink’, the first song to be lifted from their Blast Off EP which will be with us on April 11 courtesy of Cartoon Records

The song addresses lead singer Ashlee Abberdeen’s “sadness, insecurities and my past trauma in a way I’ve never been able to speak out.”

It’s got a great Pixies go rrriot girl vibe and explains why 1). We invited Ashlee to be part of our Christmas Round Table Summit and 2). hotgirl’s inclusion in that Hot For 2025 list we were talking about earlier…

Kilkenny indie rockers Another White Lie give it maximum sockage on ‘(and) This Is Why’, a Biffy Clyro meets Pearl Jam taster from their debut in secret, break up album, which was recorded in JAM Studios with former Little Palace man Martin Quinn producing.

The duo comprises Tom Hoyne and John Coady who previously played together in Von Bismarck and covers band Pulp Fiction who soundtracked many a beery Marble City night out…

To Cork next where Hannahbella has struck glitchy hyperpop gold with ‘Dainty Fae’, which is billed as “a haunting exploration of isolation, yet wrapped in an unexpected, playful sonic package” - and duly delivers.

HANNAHBELLA. Photo Credit: Mollie McKay