Irish Albums Preview: Homegrown releases to look forward to in 2026

John Blek leads the 2026 New Irish Albums charge with the January 16 release of The Midnight Ache, a fully DIY affair assembled in the Leesider’s home studio.

Recorded under the influence of Sea Change-era Beck and Sparklehorse, it can be ordered direct from johnblek.com.

Out the same day is Belgica 1898, a solo album from former Whipping Boy guitarist Paul Page who’s new nom de studio is Polaroid Ghost.

Comprising of “18 short, ambient/drone pieces”, it’s inspired by Julian Sancton’s Madhouse At The End Of The Earth documenting of a harrowing Antarctic expedition.

Van Morrison remains as prolific as ever with the January 23 release of Somebody Tried To Sell Me A Bridge, a homage to his blues heroes which includes guest turns from three of them – Taj Mahal, Buddy Guy and Elvin Bishop.

As has no doubt come to your attention, Van and his band are taking part in the Hot Press: History In The Making extravaganza taking place on February 6 in the 3Arena.

You can read all about it here.

Album number twelve from Ben Reel, Spirit’s Not Broken, is out on January 23 and nods to the likes of Johnny Cash and Bruce Springsteen.

January 30 is super-busy with the release of Next Of Kin, the latest from Dani Larkin, who Gary Lightbody reckons to be “one of the finest songwriters of our time”; Ye Vagabonds’ All Tied Together which the Carlow/Dublin folk outfit would love you to order from their Bandcamp; Ailbhe Reddy’s Kiss Big which was written on both sides of the Atlantic and is a breakup record “but not the tidy, acoustic kind”; and Wintering, the first offering from Paul Noonan and Brian Crosby under their new PILGRIMS guise.

We’re loving Take Me Back To Nowhere, the Nick Cave-esque fourth album from A.S. Fanning which is out on February 6  and was recorded in Berlin where the Dubliner is now exiled.

Out on February 10 is The Place Where We Live, Derry DJ Eamon Harkin’s sonic tribute to the legendary Brooklyn club night of the same name.

Fresh from featuring on the House Of Guinness soundtrack, Cardinals release their Masquerade debut on February 13 on the unspeakably hip So Young Records.

The album was recorded under the influence of Kevin Barry’s City Of Bohane novel, which explains the gothic re-imagining of their native Cork.

February 20 is D-Day for the Big Sleep’s debut, Holy Show, which is indie rock of the superior variety and available in a tempting array of bundles, and Sleeping With The Lights on, the latest from Dublin psych rockers THUMPER who play a moshtastic hometown headliner on March 4 in the Academy.

The Donegal-based Rosie Carney returns on February 27 with Doomsday… Don’t Leave Me Here, which is co-produced by FKA twigs man Ed Thomas and The 1975’s Ross MacDonald.

“The bigger sound almost worked as a shield while I was writing,” she reflects. “It felt safer to dig deep and explore themes of grief, heartache and isolation. The album is like a body of armour and the softness lives protected within it.”

Seamus Fogarty, who includes Cillian Murphy among his admirers, returns on March 6 with Ships, the Mayo singer’s first new music in three years which features Pulp strings arranger Emma Smith.

Out the same day is Seven, the first LP from Waterford’s Carrie Baxter who’s been on Hot Press’ radar for a while now and is the real neo soul deal.

The gorgeous 12” version is being pressed by Anthem Vinyl in Kildare who have a very busy 2026 in front of them.

Having teased us in November with the title-track which is metal as fuck, The Scratch release their very eagerly awaited third album, Pull Like A Dog, on March 13.

Recorded with engineer Thomas Donoghue and producer John 'Spud' Murphy, it’s on the revived Music For Nations label which released early classics by the likes of Anthrax, Exodus, Megadeth and Metallica.

Dropping on March 20 are It’s Not Going To Be Okay, the latest from Joshua Burnside which was written and recorded in the wake of the death of his closest friend, Dean Jendoubi and Belfast hardcore/techno/gothy/industrial duo Chalk’s Crystalpunk debut.

Following on from last year’s delicious ‘Twinkle’, Dubliner Goodtime John releases its parent album, Good As Gold, on March 23.

Hit goodtimejohn.bandcamp.com up for the limited-edition cassette version.

How I Became A Wave opens his solo account on March 27 with a self-titled album that’s trailed by the sumptuous piano-driven ‘05:00’.

Known to Revenue as Pat Carey, he was previously part of Cork hopefuls The Hard Ground.

The big competition that week comes from Dermot Kennedy who returns with The Weight Of The Woods.

Trailed by the fab ‘Funeral’, it’s described as: “The organic cultural intersection between Dermot’s native Ireland and Nashville, home to the album’s producer Gabe Simon (Noah Kahan, Lana Del Rey). Simon stole away to Ireland for six weeks tapping into an uncanny collaborative energy with Dermot, where most of the album was written and recorded in a studio down the road from Dermot’s home. As part of the process, Kennedy and Simon also decamped to Gabe’s studio in Nashville.

“The end result is Dermot’s most self-assured work to date, with deeply poetic lyrics and authentic musicality drawing inspiration, energy, and strength from his Irish roots.”

So now you know!

There’s no date or title yet, but Kneecap have confirmed that the follow-up to Fine Art will be with us at some point in 2026, as will the full-length debut from Wicklow hotshots Florence Road who were all sorts of wonderful this month at Eurosonic in Groningen.

We’ve predicted a new My Bloody Valentine album before and been left with egg on our faces, but with more mega-shows this year the looooooong overdue follow up to 2013’s m v b might just be imminent(ish).

We’re told that there’s no shortage of new material in the can, but will Mr. Shields give it the green light?

Also expect new records from Loah (March), Aisling Logan (spring), Dea Matrona (early summer), Boa Morte, Gurriers, SOAK, Pebbledash, Sorcha Richardson, Cliffords, Ryan McMullan, Shobsy, Curtisy, Robert Grace, Cable Boy, KiiKO, Ria Rua, I Dreamed A Dream and Niall Horan who revealed before Christmas that the follow up to The Show is incoming.

“I’ve had a really fun year in the studio,” he Instagram-ed. “It feels like the album of a 32-year-old, which I haven’t felt like I’ve done before. It’s got that kind of maturity to it.”