No fuss, no questions, no problem: Fontaines DC have romped their way to the top of Ticket critics’ choices for the music of 2024, leaving a trail of other acts in their wake as they nab the gongs for best Irish album, best Irish song and best Irish group.
Now based not in Dublin but in London and elsewhere, Fontaines DC released Romance, their fourth album, in August. A taster had arrived four months earlier, in Starburster, a lead single that was a sure sign the postpunk musicians were no longer looking to Ireland for their creative bearings. If that song framed Fontaines DC “as much more than just a gang of Irish rockers”, as the New York magazine Consequence put it, then Favourite, its follow-up, was, according to lead singer Grian Chatten, “a continuous cycle from euphoria to sadness, two worlds spinning forever”.
Romance and Starburster have earned Fontaines DC two Grammy nominations, for best rock album and best alternative-music performance. The band recently played two sold-out shows at 3Arena in Dublin, and next year they embark on a global tour, headline sold-out big UK open-air events, and generally lay waste to virtually every obstacle that can be encountered on the path to worldwide success.
Following closely behind are Kneecap. The Belfast trio scored highly in our poll with their debut album, Fine Art, and trounced all but Fontaines DC and Lankum for best Irish group. If we had a category for best music biopic there’s little doubt that Móglaí Bap, Mo Chara and DJ Próvaí’s self-titled movie – now shortlisted for best international feature film (and best original song) at the Oscars in 2025 – would have nabbed the top spot. One could argue that the rappers are doing as much for Irish music internationally as Fontaines DC. We predict that the links between the two bands (already forged with Chatten’s appearance on the Fine Art track Better Way to Live) will grow even stronger.
It isn’t just the lads dividing the spoils. Our (virtual) award for best Irish solo artist goes to CMAT, whose success this year has been staggering, if perhaps underappreciated. Her 2023 album, Crazymad, for Me, was nominated for the Choice Music Prize, the Mercury Music Prize and no less a music-industry accolade than an Ivor Novello Award. This time last year Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson was also on BBC Radio 1′s Sound of 2024 longlist, quickly followed by her inclusion in the Brit Awards’ best-international-artist category.
As well as including the welcome returns of Gemma Hayes, Mary Coughlan, Gavin Friday and Sack, each of whom released a superb album, 2024 saw established younger Irish artists providing much-needed leg-ups to emerging acts. Take a bow, Pillow Queens (whose winter tour introduced the likes of Hotgirl, Patricia Lalor, Annika Kilkenny, Adore and Shark School to a wider audience) and Gurriers (whose recent gigs had Puck and I Dreamed a Dream as support acts). Along with the likes of Hayes and Sprints, they do it (without any PR palaver) because they remember what it was like to be on the same unpredictable career trajectory.
Dermot Kennedy joins them in 2025 with Misneach, a touring St Patrick’s Day festival that he’s curating. The first is in Sydney, in Australia, on March 16th, followed by two nights in Boston, in the United States, on March 18th and 19th. The second headliner on the bill will be Glen Hansard (fronting The Frames and Swell Season); he and Kennedy will be supported across the three shows by acts including Amble, The Scratch, Fynch, Susan O’Neill, Cliffords, Mick Flannery, Sorcha Richardson, Ye Vagabonds, Florence Road and Nell Mescal. Misneach is sponsored by Culture Ireland in partnership with Ireland Music Week; irrespective of the benefits of sponsorship, more big Irish acts should start to think along similar lines.
The bands, singers and songwriters keep on arriving, after all: in 2024 Irish artists released more than 250 albums. The blend is intoxicating. From Fontaines DC to Lankum, from Kneecap to Niamh Bury, from CMAT to A Lazarus Soul, from NewDad to Curtisy, from Bricknasty to Oisín Leech, and from Hozier to Pillow Queens, the profusion of excellence shows zero signs of stopping.
Best Irish album
- Romance by Fontaines DC
- Fine Art by Kneecap
- Madra by NewDad
- That Golden Time by Villagers
- No Flowers Grow in Cement Gardens by A Lazarus Soul
- Name Your Sorrow by Pillow Queens
- Cold Sea by Oisín Leech
- O Avalanche by Fionn Regan
- Easy Being a Winner by Silverbacks
- Live in Dublin by Lankum
Best Irish song
- Starburster by Fontaines DC
- Too Sweet by Hozier
- Like a Lesson by Pillow Queens
- Fell Through a Crack by Sack
- When the World Was Young by Gavin Friday
- The Flower I Flung into Her Grave by A Lazarus Soul
- Aw, Shoot by CMAT
- Repeat Rewind by Mary Coughlan
- Favourite by Fontaines DC
- Kehlani Remix (feat Kehlani) by Jordan Adetunji
Best Irish solo artist
Best Irish group
Best gig
- Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds at 3Arena, Dublin
- Taylor Swift at Aviva Stadium, Dublin
- Lankum at In the Meadows
- Chappell Roan at 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin
- Iron & Wine at Vicar Street, Dublin
- Hozier at Marlay Park, Dublin
- Ezra Collective at 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin
- Jessie Ware at Beyond the Pale
- Liam Gallagher at 3Arena, Dublin
- Kneecap at Vicar Street, Dublin
Best festival
- In the Meadows, Dublin
- Another Love Story, Co Meath
- Beyond the Pale, Co Wicklow
- Forest Fest, Co Laois
- All Together Now, Co Waterford
- Galway Folk Festival
- Quiet Lights, Cork
- Electric Picnic, Co Laois
- Night and Day, Co Roscommon
- Sea Sessions, Co Donegal
Best international album
- Patterns in Repeat by Laura Marling
- All Life Long by Kali Malone
- Woodland by Gillian Welch & David Rawlings
- Night Reign by Arooj Aftab
- Hit Me Hard and Soft by Billie Eilish
Best international song
- Good Luck, Babe by Chappell Roan
- Joy by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds
- Not Like Us by Kendrick Lamar
- Don’t Get Me Started by The Smile
- Girl, So Confusing by Charli XCX (feat Lorde)
Best international solo artist
Best international group
- The Smile
- Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds
- The Cure
- Gillian Welch & David Rawlings
- Vampire Weekend
These categories were voted on by Pat Carty, Tony Clayton-Lea, Joe Breen, Siobhán Kane, Una Mullally, Lauren Murphy, Siobhán Long, Nadine O’Regan, Ed Power, Éamon Sweeney and Philip Watson
