First up this month are Bear Coat, an Dublin indie supergroup who play "alt-rock with a soul twist" and boast a twin sax section. Nice.

Boasting a trumpet are Familiar Creatures, who feature Irishman Brian Kelly among their ranks. Musically they take their cues from the likes of Dr John, but with singer-songwriter style vocals.

Barry Finnimore and Hazel O'Toole (above) have a new EP, She Shook Me, out on June 21st, and it's one for those who like the aforementioned singer-songwriter sound. There's no excess fat on their tracks.

I'm Your Vinyl's single No Regrets opens with the kind of foreboding whistling you'd find in a dark western, but singer Dana's gorgeous vocals soon appear to calm your nerves.

Dublin's Ghost Estates may have lost two members, but the remaining foursome are certainly not letting that get them down. In Your Dreams is epic – thanks to the driving rhythms and layers of keys.

Contour mix analogue hardware and digital software to make electronic sounds that could have been made 15 years ago – in a soulfully good way.

Will De Burca sticks to digital means to make his music, but his debut album, Tomorrow's Light and Darkness, captures the essence of 1980s electronica.

Malibu Shark Attack sees Belfast's Rocky O'Reilly teaming up with Atlanta's Tribe One. On their great synths-meet-indie-meet-rap debut album they're helped by pals such as Tim Wheeler.

A Zimbabwean Christian Shannon- based rapper called God Knows and pagan Clare man with the moniker MynameisjOhn walk into a room . . . and create one of this year's most inventive listens.

Finally, Mark Buckeridge is a man of mystery, just like the yearning, lo-fi sounds on his debut EP Talking is Good for You.