March A&R Department: Rita Perry, Thanks Mom, BabyRat, Calum Agnew and more

Out on March 25 is Kill Your Darlings, the latest from Irish-Catalan singer Rita Perry who effortlessly switches between her two mother tongues on flagship track, ‘Tard pel Treball’.

Variously reminding us of  Linda Thompson, Clannad and All About Eve, the supporting musicians include her Dead Can Dance member father, Robbie Perry, DUG’s Jonny Pickett and Peter Broderick who supplies the luscious strings.

In fact, ‘luscious’ is the word that sums up all four tracks best – this really is different level stuff.

Catch Rita on April 11 in the Townhall Arts Centre, Cavan with former Strypes man Josh McClorey…

Dublin rapper Kaeyan captures the sporting zeitgeist with ‘Troy Parrott’, which compares his wordplay skills to the Ireland striker’s footballing talents.

This should definitely be played on the dressing-room boombox before the big Czechia game…

We’re also loving ‘Same Eyes’, the latest from Leigh Arthur, a Dubliner now based in London who was previously a part of lauded indie combos Extravision, Sissy and Music City.

Whilst still tinged with heartbreak, this and previous solo offerings like ‘Oh I Forgot’ – the doggy in the accompanying home movie video gets 16/10, very good boy/girl! – fall into the radio-friendly bracket…

As does ‘The Questioning Type’, the new single from Meghan O’Neill whose vocals on this deftly executed ballad are exquisite.

With soaring strings, ambient washes and a big climax, it bodes extremely well for her third album which follows later in the year…

Calum Agnew has just released Bad Boy, a five-track EP which showcases his remarkable Adele-meets-Amy Winehouse vocals.

The Meath soul popper describes it as “a collection of songs that captures my transition from late adolescence into young adulthood. It reflects my attempts to navigate desire, self-doubt, and vulnerability while exploring the relationships around me as a gay man. The EP tells a story of unresolved love in all its complexity, emotions I’m still attempting to understand.”

The winner of the 2025 A New Local Hero competition curated by Hot Press and supported by independent radio stations nationwide, Agnew’s previous three singles have amassed six million impacts and graced the Irish Breakers Chart.

It really is a case of not if but when he crosses over to the mainstream…

Thanks Mom justify their inclusion in our Hot For 2026 list – and then some! – with ‘Teenage Sacrifice’, a Belly-tastic indie anthem accompanied by an equally brilliant Claymation video.

The Kildare quartet played a blinder earlier this month when themselves and another Hot For pick, Babyrat, opened for Thumper in The Academy…

Donegal four-piece Lazember sound like a blissed out Kings Of Leon on ‘Here We Go’, their new single which has harmonies vintage AOR-sters like Christopher Cross and Michael McDonald would be proud of.

Fronted by Paul Rodgers (not The Free/Bad Company one) and including the magnificently named Ziggy Van Wallendael on drums, their rockier moments also nod at Wet Leg and Bleachers, all of which is A-OK with us…

Written by them after watching Lost In Translation, Lyterian’s glacially cool new single, ‘Terminal 2’, bodes extremely well for the Limerick electro-pop trio’s debut album.

“This track is packed with layers of texture that takes multiple replays to pick up on,” observes lead singer Sam O’Shaughnessy who credits John Lydon, The Cure, Depeche Mode and Tricky engineer/producer/mixer Mark Saunders with “bringing in the cool, robust feel of the ‘80s” which underpins the single…

The A&R Dept. is saddened that two of our favourite Norn Iron bands, Derry punks Cherym and Belfast shoegazers v i r g i n s are calling it a day.

The former have a load of cool merch awaiting your cherym.bandcamp.com/merch perusal while the latter say goodbye with one last EP, Light The Space Left Behind.

Lovely people all, we wish them well with their future adventures…

Returning to Belfast and we’re loving ‘The Animator’, the latest from Supervoid whose champions include the influential BBC Introducing… In Northern Ireland crew.

Dark, brooding and malevolent – think Muse jamming with Nine Inch Nails – the quartet also have a fearsome live reputation and are picking up loads of UK industry attention.

Bag some goodies at supervoidtheband.bandcamp.com…