A&R Department: 49th & Main, Loshh Aje, a boy in cords, Love Command 0 and more

We’re loving ‘Guilty (Release The Wolf)’, the debut electro stomper from Love Command 0 who’ve signed to Berlin independent BIGWUPP.

The first taster from their debut Integration album which follows later in the year, it was written during lockdown when former Fight Like Apes man Fox and his wife Bex embarked on their “psychoanalytical musical examination of married life, toxic masculinity, Jungian psychology and the rebirth of love.”

Meanwhile, Rubyworks have announced the September 9 re-release of the Fight Like Apes And The Golden Medallion album as a limited 750 red/white splattered 12” vinyl run with a bonus 7” of favourite B-sides.

MayKay and Podge are also playing a March 24, 2023 reunion show in the Dublin 3Olympia, which sold-out in double-quick time. They’re adamant it’s for one-night only but you never know…

These are exciting times for Kilkenny duo 49th & Main who follow up their Longitude and Glastonbury appearances with the July 22 release of the Must Be Nice EP, which has a touch of the Two Door Cinema Clubs about it.

Taking their name from the intersection where they lived while J1-ing in Vancouver, Patrick King and Ben O’Sullivan’s twenty million-plus streams have led to a deal with Ninja Tunes imprint Counter Records whose big name act is Tiga.

Next up for the chaps on July 29 is a Cork Indiependence set.

They only formed late in 2021, but Dun Laoghaire indie poppers No Photos knock it out of the park with their self-titled debut album.

Standouts include the Wet Leg-ish ‘Every Single Day’ and ‘Time Today’, the breeziest of summer anthems, which features Ailish By Myself and Zach Okay as its guest vocalists.

Having previously enjoyed success with the likes of James Vincent McMorrow, Sorcha Richardson and Jape, Dublin independent Faction Records have snapped up Morning Midnight, an alt. folk-inclined duo whose ‘Paradise’ debut trails their Happy Hour album, which follows in October.

Taking their cues from the likes of Phoebe Bridgers, Justin Vernon and the late, very great Scott Hutchinson, Liverpudlian singer-songwriter Jordan Scott and H will doubtless be meeting their public soon.

Having previously played with the likes of The Devlins and Def Nettle, a boy in cords (possibly not his real name) opens his solo account with ‘Stupid Like That’, a dreamy slice of ambient pop, which has already popped up on Made In Chelsea.

Hailing from Wicklow, the boy previously lived in New York and San Francisco, cites Aztec Camera and Prefab Sprout as key influences and is the nephew of the bloke who founded the Royal Showband.

Loshh Aje ups the ante with ‘o’, his genre-bending new single, which runs the musical gamut from blues and Afrobeats to highlife and post-punk. The Face, Pitchfork, The Guardian, The Boiler Room and Fader are among those joining Team Hot Press in saying nice things about the Nigerian-Irish singer who’s relocated to London and last year released the brilliant Ifarada seven-tracker.

With a family background that includes juju, fúji and gospel music, it’s impossible to know what u-turn he’ll take next.

Having to return home from Sydney due to Covid had an upside for Lisburn songstress Suzy Good when she ran into an old musical acquaintance Jon Wilson.

Bonding over a Finneas cover she’d posted on Instagram, they’ve started making music together as Good Thing with new single, ‘24’, having a timely indie Kate Bush vibe about it.

Along with its ‘Love Like That’ predecessor, it marks them out as genuine contenders.

The prodigiously talented Dora Gola makes it four killer singles in a row with ‘Dance With Danger’, a lush gospel/techno fusion, which finds the Clare resident switching again between English and her native Polish tongue.

The title-track from her debut album which follows in the autumn, it makes sense of the Shakira and Enya comparisons that have come Dora’s way.

Jessica Hammond is causing quite the stir with ‘Girl Got Game’, the female empowerment anthem which is the official Northern Ireland team song as they prepare to do UEFA Women’s Euro battle this month.

Self-produced by the Belfast singer, who started her musical career alongside Demi Lovato on Disney’s My Camp Rock, the slick rap/R’n’B workout is likely to add to her 225,000 monthly Spotify listening audience.

Variously releasing on Dublin independent Paragon Records and European dance labels Chill Your Mind and Loudkult, Hammond has also worked with Ed Sheeran’s Grammy-nominated writing partner Amy Wadge and Ollie Jacobs who’s supplied many a hit for The Saturdays.

Self-proclaimed hyperpop singer Ria Rua lives up to the billing with ‘i don’t care’, a reflection on how “our society is kind of totally fucked and scary and unfair, but also that there are people out there we love and they keep us connected to society, for better or worse.”

Billie Eilish, Aimee Mann and Dua Lipa are the names we jotted down in our notebook, but the Dubliner brings lots of her own to the musical party.

Read the full round up of music news in our 45th anniversary issue, out now!