Whenever I leave Ireland for extended periods and spend time around different accents, I notice how aware I become of Irish voices. Particularly when on my semester abroad, if an Irish accent emerged amongst the sea of Californians, I would immediately try and locate it. At this point, a conversation would start which always had a tone of familiarity, regardless of what we had in common. The comfort I would derive from exchanges such as this resembles the feeling I have when I see an Irish artist breaking into mainstream music. I tend to feel a sense of pride and recognition when an Irish voice emerges in this way as there is someone more identifiable in a music industry that is otherwise dominated by British and American voices.
In the past year particularly, Irish musicians have garnered a wider listenership in the mainstream, with BBC6 Music naming Fontaines DC, Kneecap, and CMAT as part of their Artists of the Year 2024 list. In years previous, it was a common occurrence to spot one Irish artist, such as Hozier, at awards shows or billed on international festival lineups. This year, however, it has become the case that when you spot one Irish name, it will likely be closely followed by another. For instance, already CMAT and Fontaines DC are set to perform at Primavera Sound in Barcelona, whilst Kneecap and CMAT are headliners for Wide Awake in London. These artists co-exist in the sphere of mainstream music as in the past year it appears a space has been carved for these Irish artists.
This recognition extends beyond performance bills, as many Irish musicians have been receiving critical acclaim and nominations for esteemed awards. For next year’s Grammy awards, Fontaines DC secured two nominations for Rock Album and Alternative Music Performance. Belfast rapper Jordan Adetunji was another artist nominated for his song ‘Kehlani’ which is up for Best Melodic Rap Performance alongside names such as Beyoncé, The Weeknd, and Erykah Badu. When speaking to the BBC, Adetunji commented, “Having a song that I made in my bedroom in Belfast be up for a Grammy is crazy.” ‘Crazy’ is the appropriate word to describe the situation, as it is unusual to see any Irish musician on this type of stage. With the Grammys being regarded as the most prestigious of awards in the music industry, to receive a nomination signals the outstanding achievements of an artist. Historically, it is not an awards ceremony that favours Irish artists, with there being a total of four Irish nominations in the past twenty years. This means that next year’s ceremony is only one nomination short of the total number of nominations for Irish artists that have been culminated in the last two decades.
This critical acknowledgement is not limited to the Grammys either, with CMAT receiving a nomination for The Artist Award for the Rolling Stone UK Awards 2024, as well as having her album, Crazymad, For Me, shortlisted for the 2024 Mercury Prize. Beyond musical endeavours, Kneecap have had immense success, with their biopic becoming the first ever Irish-language film to screen at Sundance, winning the Audience Award, and being submitted as Ireland’s entry to the Oscars for International Feature Film. The list of achievements made by Irish artists over the past year appears endless, but none of this success occurred overnight. Rather, each of these musicians have been releasing music for at least five years. All this begs the question, why now?
There has been a growing appetite for Irish talent in mainstream cinema in recent years also, with younger Irish movie stars such as Barry Keoghan, Saoirse Ronan, and Paul Mescal gaining critical attention on the worldstage. It appears that Irish musicians are therefore next in line as people around the world are receiving their art with enthusiasm and excitement. There is an innovative quality to each artist’s discography which justifies this reception, as they all contribute to the music scene in engaging ways which demand the attention of wider audiences. NME describes CMAT as “one of the most bracing pop acts of the 2020s”. Pitchfork notes the “frisky unpredictability” of Fontaines D.C., whilst the Irish Times called Kneecap’s debut album “intimidatingly brilliant.”
The momentum that these artists have gained in 2024 forms part of the Celtic Revival that we are witnessing in the 2020s. Artists in Ireland are interested in pushing the boundaries of what it means to be Irish and they are allowed to experiment without the expectation from their home country to uphold Catholic values in their work. This liberation signals a new era for Irish culture, and the world seems to recognise this reinvigoration. It seems unlikely that this mainstream attention will fade, as Irish musicians have established their place on the world stage, determined to have their voices heard.
