Mick Flannery has debuted at No.2 on the Official Irish Albums Chart with his acclaimed new album Goodtime Charlie.

It's Mick's first release since signing to Oh Boy Records, the independent label co-founded by John Prine in Nashville in 1981.

"...this is Mick Flannery – eight albums in, with almost two decades of relentless gigging and enthralling audiences under his belt," Will Russell wrote in his review of Goodtime Charlie for Hot Press. "He is more than battle-hardened and a master craftsman to boot...

"‘Machine’ mines Prine, which is ace, while ‘Someone To Tell It To’ moves the dial a notch or two in the direction of poppier Springsteen," he continues. "Again, it’s marvellous. ‘Give Me Up’, meanwhile, treads Petty. You see where I’m going – yes, Flannery sizes up well against the great American masters. This was no Oh Boy gamble. Artistically a sure thing – now let’s hope it sells, or streams, by the bucketload."

The Cork singer-songwriter was held off the top spot by Olivia Rodrigo's globe-conquering second album, Guts – released earlier this month via Geffen Records. Her debut album Sour, which came out back in 2021, is also at No.3 on the chart.

Elsewhere on the Official Irish Albums Chart, Shania Twain's Greatest Hits has re-entered at No.35, following her lauded two-night run at the 3Arena in Dublin last week.

On the UK's Official Albums Chart, meanwhile, Ash have debuted at No.14, with their new album Race The Night.

"Seconds into the opening, title track on Ash’s eighth long-player and it’s clear that the Downpatrick trio have lost none of the vim, vigour or verve that propelled them to the upper echelons of the charts as teenagers," John Walshe wrote for Hot Press. "Now the wrong side of 40, there’s thankfully no sign of Tim Wheeler, Rick McMurray and Mark Hamilton slowing down...

"There’s something wonderfully reassuring about the fact that 27 years after their debut album, Ash still sound like pissed-up teenagers crashing the party, and having an absolute blast."

You can read interviews with both Mick Flannery and Ash in the current issue of Hot Press – out now: