It may have been raining cats, dogs and several other domestic pets outside, but nothing could dampen the enthusiasm of this year’s Hot Press Christmas Summit participants as they gathered for chats, beers and nibbly bits in our bijou Capel Street headquarters.

Despite – or perhaps because of – some of the horrible things that have been going on around the world, Ireland’s musicians have seriously knocked it out of the park this year with as fine a selection of releases and gigs as this veteran scribe can remember.

The problem being: how do we squeeze it all in?

Time being of the essence, let us introduce you to this year’s selection-box of musical talent…

Lyra: The Cork singer celebrated the April 11 release of her self-titled debut album with a poptabulous Windmill Live show curated by Hot Press. The champagne corks were popping again a week later as it debuted at number one in Ireland. As well as being a musical force of nature, Ms. McNamara is the public face of the ‘Safe Home, Safe Pathways’ campaign, which aims to curb domestic violence in Ireland.

Róisín Barrett: Bassist extraordinaire with Dundalk rowdies The Mary Wallopers who took both Glastonbury and Electric Picnic by storm this year. They were also active in standing up to Ireland’s far-right, shared a stage in Limerick with Liam Gallagher and robustly responded to John Sheahan and Phil Coulter when they questioned their musical chops.

Curtisy: The straight outta Tallaght rapper stepped it up a gear with What Was The Question, his second album which featured some seriously dextrous wordplay and cracking colabs with the likes of Walshy, Lonely Chap and his bestie Ahmed, With Love.

Ashley Abbedeen: The lead singer with hotgirl, the Drogheda post-punk combo whose days of flying under the radar ended with the October release of the stomping ‘In Your Head’, which makes sense of the Bikini Kill and Juliana Hatfield comparisons. Following some choice supports – SPRINTS, The Libertines, Fat Dog, Pillow Queens etc. – expect the prodigiously talented Ms. Abbedeen and her bandmates to become major headline turns in 2025.

Gurriers: Having survived supporting Kneecap – more of whom anon – during the summer, the Dublin quintet rocked the Later… With Jools Holland studio to its foundations in October with Queen legend Roger Taylor looking on in awe/fright. They also managed to sneak into Aras an Uachtaráin, participated in the artists boycott of SXSW and gave the Gallagher brothers a serious pummelling on Steve Lamacq’s BBC Radio One show. Hearing that there’s free Guinness and fancy biscuits, Charlie, Pierce and Dan have all turned up.

Stuart Clark: Jeremy Paxman having retired – we’ll never forget you, Paxo! – the Hot Press Deputy Editor is channelling his inner Victoria Derbyshire to ensure that there’s no wriggling out of questions.

Stuart: Thanks to everybody for braving Storm Darragh! We’ll start with an easy one – your tracks and albums of the year?

Lyra: Hozier’s ‘Too Sweet’ has been my track of the year. We share a manager, Caroline, who sometimes sends me a juicy little treat before it comes out. This one, though, I heard for the first time on the radio like everyone else and thought, “This is special!” Chappell Roan’s had an amazing year too. The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess has such a vibe and authenticity. You know it’s her pulling the strings, no one else.

Stuart: It’s been a glory year for pop…

Ashley: And for women!

Lyra: Finally! I think we’ve all read the Chappell Roan story – the knockbacks and everything – so fair bloody play to her.

Ashley: I’m still having my Brat Summer! Like Chappell, she’s been grinding away for years and is only now getting her flowers. I would kill to support her next year at Malahide Castle.

Stuart: Hello, Garda Confidential Line, I’d like to report a crime…

Curtisy: There’s an American called El Cousteau I’ve been listening to a lot. His album, Merci, Non Merci, came out last month so it’s fresh in my mind. It’s kinda mumbly-rappy but saying some stuff. Read the lyrics. I go through an artist every three months – binge on them until they feel like they’re my best friend.

Stuart: Who would be your alltime most binged acts?

Curtisy: Earl Sweatshirt, Boldy James and Mariah Carey, speaking her truth.

Stuart: What was floating Team Gurriers’ collective boat?

Pierce: Nothing. We’ve had so many arguments in the tour van about different records: “This is great!” “Fuck off with that, out the window it goes!” Personally, I really liked the Cardinals EP. Great band, they’re going to be huge. Obviously the Fontaines D.C. record is up there.

Charlie: I listened to the Ice Spice album a lot. It’s like a head massage; a safe space where you don’t have to think for 25 minutes.

Ashley: I really like the Fontaines D.C. record as well. I’m dying to see them tomorrow because, as well as them being great, one of my favourite bands, Sorry, are supporting them. They had a single out, ‘Waxwing’, which was kinda trippy and electronic. Asha, their singer, has this really sweet voice but the lyrics are fucking dark. It just hits the spot.

Róisín: It’s kind of embarrassing because Curtisy’s What Was The Question is one of my favourites. When my manager texted me that he was going to be here I was like, “Oh god, I’ve been ripping that lad. I think it’s unbelievable.”

Curtisy: To be honest, I don’t really like it. I just want to move on to the next record.

Róisín: Really? I’ve had it on rewind. Junior Brother has released two astonishingly good songs, ‘Take Guilt’ and ‘The Men Who Eat Ringforts’. There’s a kinda punk rock band, Dumb Posh Hippies, who make a really good noise too.

Stuart: Lyra, how did you celebrate getting a number one album?

Lyra: I took five days to cry my arse off and then drunk myself into oblivion. Creating music is lovely but it’s also stressful and there was an enormous sense of release. I never thought I was going to beat Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter to the number one… but I did!”

Stuart: Did you warn your very ex-boyfriend that he was the inspiration for some of the more, er, caustic songs?

Lyra: Advance warning, me hole! He broke up with me over the phone because he told me he wanted somebody he could have an intellectual conversation with. Fuck off!

Curtisy: What’s his full name?

Stuart: And address! Prior to recording your number one album, you went to Los Angeles for a few wild weeks – and wrote about it.

Lyra: ‘Drink Me Up’ and ‘Queen’ are what I call my naughty numbers; they’re so juicy and about me being in L.A. and having my first one-night stand. I had to do it there because if I did it in Cork everybody would know about it! We’re not members but somehow me and a friend managed to get into that boojie Soho House place in West Hollywood. I stood there for half-an-hour with my jaw to the floor staring at Naomi Campbell who actually looks like that in real life. The Spicy Margaritas are overpriced and blow the arse off you in the morning, but as a one-off it was fun.

Stuart: Moving swiftly on, your gigs of the year – as both punters and performers.

Lyra: Taylor Swift in Wembley Stadium was a big one although – I’ll get killed for saying this – Beyoncé’s Renaissance tour last year was better.

Stuart: You might just want to nip off there and deactivate your Twitter account before the Swifties come for ya!

Lyra: They’re both amazing, just Beyoncé a little more so! I’m a massive Sting fan too, so supporting him and Blondie in Malahide Castle this summer was insane. It was my first time seeing him live and he didn’t disappoint. Neither did Debbie Harry who came on in these 6” heels and slayed it. I was like, “C’mon girl, what are you drinking? Give me a bit of the juice!”

Stuart: Did you get to meet her?

Lyra: Not up close but she did shout “I love your catsuit!” from the side of the stage during one of my songs. My mum, of course, got photos with them.

Curtisy: I saw Kojaque eighteen times, the most recent of which was last month at Other Voices in Dingle. His set was unbelievable.

Stuart: Did you enjoy your Dingle experience?

Curtisy: It was crazy! I was there from Wednesday to Sunday and didn’t want to leave. One of many highlights was meeting Maverick Sabre. He’s a really sweet guy and a trailblazer who’s done a lot for musicians here.

Pierce: Our first year at Other Voices, this guy turned round to me in the bathroom and said, “Hi, what are you doing here?” I said, “I’m in a band, Gurriers” and he was like, “No way, I love Gurriers!” It turned out to be Paolo Nutini who I was drinking with till six o’clock in the morning!

Stuart: How many gigs have the Gurriers played this year?

Dan: Seventy or eighty probably. Supporting Kneecap at the Galway Arts Festival was a big one. They’d been tipping away, doing reasonably well, for years and then suddenly it all blows up. I wasn’t sure how well it’d travel but they had fields full of people going crazy to ‘Get Your Brits Out’ at Reading and Leeds.

Ashley: We had some brilliant supports but The Libertines was the best. Usually imposter syndrome kicks in and you’re like, “I don’t deserve this” but that was the one day of the year where I went, “I’m a rock star and I’m going to revel in this!”

Stuart: Did you get to meet Mr. Doherty?

Ashley: Oh man, he was so sweet. He watched our soundcheck and commented on the lyrics and stuff. We chatted for a bit and I got some piccies. I was like, “That’s just so cool!”

Stuart: Strangely enough, Carl Barât is a leading authority on The Wolfe Tones who were perhaps 2024’s most unlikely stadium-fillers. Do we have any other members of their fan club here?

Charlie: Yeah, I had a great time watching them at Electric Picnic. The banjo-player (Brian Warfield) with his arms outstretched saying, “We beat Elvis, The Beatles, Frank Sinatra, U2…”

Stuart: To top the BBC World Service Best Song Ever In The World poll with ‘A Nation Once Again’.

Charlie: Right, it was an amazing victory lap. Also the fact that they’re running the whole show off a midi keyboard!

Pierce: It’s so funny how they were tipping about playing in pubs. They were in my da’s GAA club two weeks before doing the Electric Arena at EP and were buzzing to get a thousand people in South Armagh. The committee were like, “Let’s book ‘em again for next year” and I said, “You haven’t a hope there.” They’ve been plugging away for years and finally got there in the end.

Stuart: They have a lot to thank Joe Duffy for…

Pierce: For years the idea of being openly Republican was kinda frowned upon. It was for when you were drunk on holiday and having the craic. But now people are a lot more comfortable and open about that kind of thing. Kneecap is another example of that. And, y’know, nobody’s glorifying violence or anything like that.

Ashley: I had no job and was broke at the start of the year but I really loved The Prodigy at Altogether Now. We had a good aul dance!

Pierce: Best gig I saw all year was Fontaines D.C. at Glastonbury. It felt like a proper moment. I saw Gossip that night as well, which was amazing.

Stuart: How did the Wallopers get on in Limerick with Liam Gallagher?

Róisín: That was class! Bonehead, the guitarist, is one of the biggest legends in the world. He was so supportive. He streams whoever’s doing the support on his Instagram so that you get better known. We also did Liam’s Malta Weekender which was really good craic.

Stuart: Did anyone spend a week on hold trying to get Oasis tickets?

Pierce: I spent a lot of money getting three. I was financially comfortable at the time… but not anymore! I’m going to Heaton Park and Wembley Stadium but will have to sell my ticket for the second night in Cardiff because we’ve agreed to do a festival that day.

Stuart: You did a barnstorming Oasis cover for Steve Lamacq’s BBC Radio One show…

Charlie: Yeah, ‘Columbia’ because it’s the loudest. I intentionally squeezed in the bassline from Blur’s ‘Girls And Boys’ as well.

Stuart: Which is quality trolling! Lyra, what’s the best ticket purchase you’ve ever made?

Lyra: I didn’t buy ‘em but I got to see Michael Jackson in Pairc Ui Chaoimh. Still have the poster; he’s in the gold jacket. I remember being on my dad’s shoulders and him popping up on this spaceship thing! That’s my massive claim to fame gig.

Stuart: There have been stories circulating about you being fast-tracked by RTÉ to do Eurovision next year. Are they true?

Lyra: No, that’s a massive fake news thing. I went into an interview and they were like, “Congratulations!” And I’m like, “On what?” So, no, they’re not true.

Stuart: You’re a Bandon girl and Bambie Thug’s from just down the road in Macroom, so do you know each other?

Lyra: Cork’s a small old place but, no, we’ve never met. The only connection is that my brother was on a date with Bambie’s sister!

Stuart: Róisín, I hear the Wallopers have made some rather unlikely new friends.

Róisín: Yeah, we were out in California, heard Cypress Hill were playing and went to the gig. After the show, we started chatting and this friendship started to naturally grow. We mentioned that we had a big show of our own coming up in Vicar St. and they flew over specially. They’re such cool dudes! I never in my life thought that my dad would be standing next to members of Cypress Hill. Sen Dog took Charles to one side and said, “Our bands might look and sound different, but we’re both spreading the message of freedom within communities who’ve been pushed down and not allowed to express themselves. We’re trying to heal the social issues that come from all of that.”

Stuart: Is there any talk of a collaboration?

Róisín: I hope and pray every day that The Mary Wallopers x Cypress Hill will happen!

Stuart: Can anybody match that for a random pairing?

Curtisy: You know TrapMoneyBenny who produced Drake’s ‘In My Feelings’? He just texted me one day and said, “Love your work, kid!” So me and him are going to do a mixtape, which is pretty cool!

Stuart: Very cool! I was going to ask you, “Which side of the Drake/Kendrick beef are you on?”

Curtisy: I’m Team Kendrick every day. Capital ‘K’.

Stuart: Are there any big Dublin beefs?

Curtisy: I could start one with Gurriers! No, everybody in Dublin is in love and just wants to hug and kiss.

Ashley: There’s a big Drogheda/Dundalk beef – especially when it comes to football. We won the derby and the FAI Cup whilst they got relegated, so we’re feeling pretty smug at the moment! We’re going to squash the beef for one night, though, and play a Christmas gig with Negro Impacto who are from Dundalk.

Stuart: Have Drogs invited you to play at half-time yet, like they did Offica who turned out for their reserve team as a teenager?

Ashley: No, but it would be whopper to have hotgirl on the pitch! I knew Offica growing up but had no idea he was into the music and stuff. The whole A92 Drogheda drill thing is sick! He was working in JD Sports, left and I took his job. A few months after that he started blowing up in the UK with millions of streams and a single in the charts. That was a real, “Wow, if he can do it, we can!” moment.

Stuart: Pierce, you’re up at Dalymount Park tomorrow for the launch of the new Bohemians third-kit which Carlos from Fontaines D.C. has designed. Will you be dazzling the press corps with your footie skills?

Pierce: I had a very, very short spell playing underage for Castleblayney but that was about the height of it. I’m going to the launch to show solidarity with Medical Aid for Palestine, which the shirt’s raising money for, and because they’ve promised me a ticket for the Fontaines gig in the 3Arena! The Bohs stuff is interesting because it’s not that long ago they were totally skint. They think outside the box with all the different jerseys. The fact that it raises money for different causes is really, really cool. It’s not dissimilar to the Fontaines shirt they did five or six years ago with the pinstripes and stuff, but this time the colours pop way more. The shorts and socks are baby blue and pink and luminous green, so it could look crazy as a full kit!

Lyra: For someone who’s always bate into sparkly outfits, my life is pretty dull but I did go on tour with Westlife for three months and became friends with them. When you go to the show it’s just the four lads on stage but behind it there’s like a hundred million people. They’ve got their own chefs and, when they arrive at the venue, wheel the kitchen in. I swear to god, I started the tour one size and had to get all my outfits extended because of the free food.

Stuart: Morbid obesity aside, did you enjoy the tour?

Lyra: Yeah, it was wild! Their fans are legit. They love them to death. Like, they were fainting – and they’re not thirteen anymore. The amount of forty year-old women leaving in wheelchairs that didn’t arrive in one! In the UK, especially, they were like, “Who is this young one with the funny accent? We just want to see the lads.” I was mortified and had to tone it down a bit.

Stuart: Róisín, we were talking earlier about beefs. The Wallopers had some choice words for Phil Coulter and John Sheahan after they were dismissive of you.

Róisín: If you’re going to say something, we’re going to say something back! The Mary Wallopers are hugely influenced by John Sheahan and the rest of The Dubliners, so it’s kind of their fault we exist. We’re trying to do what they’ve done in the past, which is promote Irish unity and empowerment. What he said is grand, it’s just hot air, but we’re the people who grew up listening to them and Planxty and are Republicans because of that. We want to inspire our generation, the same way they inspired theirs. We connect so well with Cypress Hill but John Sheahan wants to give out about us.

Stuart: Gurriers were part of what turned out to be the successful boycott of the South By Southwest showcase festival in Austin, Texas because of its commercial links to the US Army. How did that all unfold?

Pierce: We were travelling over on the Monday morning and late Sunday night got a call from somebody in the Kneecap camp saying they were pulling out. I think Soda Blonde were second. We’d already checked in for our flights, as had some of the other bands going to SXSW as part of the Music From Ireland contingent. It very, very quickly became obvious that the rest of us wanted to pull out. I thought it was important to do it together and issue a joint statement, so that nobody would be accused of only pulling out because the others had. I wanted to get everybody together, so on the Tuesday morning we found ourselves sat in the boardroom of this massive twenty-floor hotel in downtown Austin. The Minister for Arts, Catherine Martin, came in during the middle of it and said that she couldn’t pull out – I really don’t get why but there you go. So, instead of showcasing at SXSW, we all went on the piss for the week!

Charlie: It was like $6 for twenty cans! Greg Abbott, the Governor of Texas who was angling at the time to be Trump’s VP, tweeted: “We’re proud of the US military. If you don’t like it, don’t come here.” Anyway, South By Southwest has now ended its partnership with the US Army and we’ve been invited back, so see you next year, Greg, you prick!

Stuart: Róisín, in July you helped run the far-right out of Dundalk, direct action that we’re seeing more and more of across the country.

Róisín: Multicultural Ireland is a beautiful thing but you have to be on the streets saying, “You are welcome here, you are part of our community.” As sad as the overall election result was, none of the racists got in. Hate is often louder than love but these people don’t have the hold on our communities that we might think they do.

Stuart: One of the biggest things that can happen to a young band is getting on Later… With Jools Holland. How did Gurriers manage it?

Pierce: Bribery… No, we were playing in a pub at Other Voices. The guys from … Jools Holland were meant to have gone home but, for whatever reason, were still there and heard us soundcheck. They stayed and really enjoyed the gig, so we were on their radar.

Charlie: We got a text from them about a week beforehand so we didn’t have much time to get nervous. The weirdest bit was picking a good spot next to Jools to watch the other bands and this old lad walking over and planting himself between us. I looked down and he was wearing arch support cheetah print shoes. I was like, “I love your shoes!” He said “thank you”, looked me in the eye and I realised it was Roger Taylor. You’re stood there shooting the breeze with the guy who played drums on ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and thinking, “How the fuck is this happening!?”

Dan: I was watching Laura Marling and started bawling my eyes out. She walked up to me at the end of the show and said, “You were really good!” and I started crying again. It was the sheer emotion of being on the show because, like you say, it’s a big deal. We went out for pints afterwards with Blossoms so we also made some new friends!

Stuart: Did your phones start exploding after your performance?

Dan: We were in Berlin and one of the first texts was, “Pretentious drivel, woke nonsense.” That was great!

Stuart: We’re currently compiling our Hot For 2025 list of 75 new Irish artists to look out for, which could easily be the 150 new Irish artists to look out for. What are your own tips?

Pierce: Theatre opened for us in Limerick and blew everybody away. Some of them I think are at BIMM. Madra Salach are really folky and cool as well.

Charlie: Stratford Rise from Belfast. It’s like Black Midi without having to listen to Geordie Greep. Sign me up!

Ashley: Child Of Prague are really good. It’s very Black Country New Road with the sax. Burglar are on the up too.

Dan: Off the top of my head, Bold Love and The Cliffords, but there are dozens.

Stuart: How you are all planning to spend Christmas Day?

Lyra: We’re like the Brady Bunch and have these massive family singsongs. Cringe me out but we always do ‘Magic Christmas’. I know it’s my own song but the kids love it. My niece gets the table runner, makes a dress out of it and does abstract movement around the place. We love it!

Róisín: I wake up at nine o’clock. Me and the father hit the drink then. At about half-eleven, we’ll have the first nap of the day. Then it’s dinner, a few more drinks and a second nap on the couch. Wake up again, have a turkey sandwich and, even though we’re on the same side, me and him will start arguing about the IRA. My mother will come in and break us up, a bottle of something stronger than we had earlier will be opened and then we’ll go to bed.

Stuart: You’ve painted such a picture of Yultetide bliss that I think we’ll end there. Happy Christmas, everybody!

Everybody: Happy Christmas!

As Christmas and New Year hurtle ever closer – capping off another phenomenal 12 months of Irish music, sport, film, literature and more  – we're thrilled to present the brand new Hot Press Annual!

Inside, you'll find captivating conversations with Fontaines D.C., KNEECAP, Jazzy, LYRA, The Mary Wallopers, Gurriers, Daniel Wiffen, Irish Artists For Palestine and more – all taking us through their highlights of the year. Plus, the HP critics deliver their verdict on 2024 – including all the top albums, tracks, movies, books, quotes, photos and events...