Big year ahead for Irish acts: We preview the key albums

2008 is shaping up to be another extremely busy year for Irish acts with a whole slew of major releases including U2’s eagerly awaited follow up to How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb, which is likely to emerge in October.
Also hoping to make cash registers ring are Director who are currently recording their second album in Grouse Lodge Studios with Jacknife Lee’s right-hand man Tom McFall. Following on from the domestic success of their We Thrive On Big Cities debut, the collection will be given a major international push by Warners and include live favourites ‘Moment To Moment’, ‘Singing Without A Tune’, ‘Play Pretend’ and ‘At What Point’.
Fresh from two sellout Christmas shows in The Ambassador, The Blizzards are about to start work on their own sophomore collection. Sticking with a winning formula, they’re reuniting with Korn, Aerosmith and Marilyn Manson producer Michael Beinhorn and are eyeing up a late spring release date.
Hitting the racks next month is the second Oppenheimer album, Take The Whole Midrange And Boost It, which is being released independently here and in the States by Bar-None.
There’s already plenty of interest in the Belfast duo on the other side of the Atlantic, with tracks from their self-titled debut soundtracking episodes of Ugly Betty and How I Met Your Mother.
Due on February 15 is Carry The Meek, the debut set from Kells popsters Ham Sandwich, which finds them being marshaled in the studio by Fred Kevorkian of The White Stripes, The National and Ryan Adams fame.
Dropping in late March/early April is the Faction 02 compilation, which features a track apiece from the likes of Television Room, Dark Room Notes, Stragglers, Johnny Flynn & His Sussex Wit, Black Soul Strangers, James McMorrow, The Flaws and La Rocca who’ll also be giving a domestic release to the album they had out last year in America, The Truth.
Busy boys, they’ve already started assembling the follow-up in Texas with Spoon and And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead producer Mike McCarthy.
Also pencilled in for March is Christie Hennessy’s posthumous The Two Of Us, which features guest appearances by Moya Brennan, Paul Brady, Christy Moore and Luka Bloom, and Pugwash’s Eleven Modern Antiquities. A veritable pop masterpiece, the latter’s supporting cast includes Neil Hannon, XTC’s Andy Partridge, Michael Penn, Jason Falkner and Eric Matthews. In addition, an earlier Pugwash track, ‘Anyone Who Asks’, appears on the soundtrack to the new Ed Norton and Jon Voight movie, Pride And Glory, which is released on March 14.
As reported in hotpress before Christmas, Gemma Hayes has completed a new album, which will be in the shops as soon as she finds a suitable label to release it.
Judging by the three tracks she’s put on her MySpace – ‘Home’, ‘Out Of Our Hands’ and ‘This Is What You Do’ – it could be the record that finally wins the Tipperary singer a mainstream audience.
We’re also expecting great commercial things of Laura Izibor’s Let The Truth Be Told, which receives a spring release through Atlantic Records. The omens are extremely good with the Dubliner already featuring on The Nanny Diaries, When Will I Get Married and PS I Love You soundtracks.
Also in the can and awaiting a release date is album number two from Humanzi, which was recorded in Berlin and includes ‘Shorter’, ‘I’m In Control’, ‘Trying To Make You Feel’, ‘Black Sunrise’, ‘Baby I’m Burning’ and ‘Amsterdamaged’ among its punky stand-outs.
On the indie front, there are albums due from The Infomatics (February), The Aftermath (February), Giveamanakick (April) and Fight Like Apes (September) who are hoping to line-up a big name producer.
Autumn is the provisional release date for Lisa Hannigan’s debut solo collection, although there’s a chance she might wait until spring 2009 for the eagerly-awaited collection to come out.
There are no firm details yet, but also expect records in ’08 from Jacknife Lee and Gary Lightbody’s Listen...Tanks! side-project, Dirty Epics, BellX1, The Frames, The Answer, The Walls, Mark Geary, Hal, Kharma 45, Concerto For Constantine, Red Organ Serpent Sound, Therapy?, Pony Club, The Rags and loads more.