#kneecap

their website says it best. "Through bold reinterpretations of at-risk Irish language songs, Huartan’s mission is to connect contemporary audiences with the oral singing tradition and native language of Ulster." they call their genre 'tradtronica' and I desperately want to see them live ive heard they're incredible. their music is so fun and energizing and the blend of electronica and trad instrumentation is sublime. also they're very firmly and demonstrably pro-Palestine (éist le Fiáin nó Dorn San Aer / listen to Fiáin or Dorn San Aer!)

IMLÉ is a pretty prominent collective in the Irish language music scene, their stuff is like pop / hip hop / indie and for the most part their singers have Connemara Irish i think. some of their songs annoy the shit out of me lol and im not a huge fan of what James Shannon brings to the table but i LOVE Róisín Seoighe and overall theyre fun!

Róisín Seoighe's individual stuff is brilliant as well, i really love this song of hers.

Amano is a Japanese-Irish singer songwriter from Kerry who released an EP last year, Thread, comprised of 4 incredible songs in Irish. her voice is beautiful and her music energizing and the EP weaves together so many disparate threads 😉 its such a joy to listen to!

Síomha's stuff isn't on spotify anymore but her tunes are so effortlessly stunning and graceful. her website describes her genre as 'cosmic, folk-informed, jazz-tinged, post-pop' lol and her debut album Infinite space is so dreamy. And ofc you only have to listen to Spéir Rua to fall in love with it.

i just love Kíla. theyve been around for a few decades, theyve a wealth of albums and their newest one, Raise the Road, is a collaboration with an 8-piece brass brand ‼️ They're described as 'Contemporary Irish World Music' and their sound is sublime, theyve such palpable energy. ngl tho Rónán Ó Snodaigh is a phenomenal bodhrán player but i find it very hard to understand his irish, idk if its just the dublinness or what lol

and ofc the ogs of using irish to make (not so) contemporary music, Na Fíréin! founded in 1984, they were an attempt at a rock band whose songs were entirely through Irish. Their song Tír na nÓg is genuinely one of my favourite songs ever, i love it so much. Sin Mar a Bhíonn is also great. give them a go! they are very 80s but its nice to know that something like them existed and that the Irish language was a part of the rock scene in Ireland back then.