Bog Band Tell Us 5 Irish Artists to Check Out

Dublin duo bog band—Stephen Sorensen and Isaac Clarke—have been making waves with their off-kilter, heart-on-sleeve take on alternative pop, affectionately dubbing it Laptop Soul. Following the success of their debut EP Vanity Project, which drew praise from The Quietus, The Fader, and NTS, they’re gearing up for a big year of new music and live shows.

But before that, they’re shining a light on the next wave of Irish talent. Here are bog band’s top five Irish artists to watch this year—ones who, much like themselves, are carving out their own unique spaces in the scene.

Henry Earnest

Isaac: His devotion to his vision is very inspirational and his albums have an almost prog-bent to them in how cohesive and well thought out they are. Check out his most recent album ‘big blue’ for a wonderful and wild ride. Fun fact, he has been a close friend to me and Ste for years and years and years now. We have never all three of us made music together out of fears it would be TOO good.

Ste: It’s so nice watching our music evolve together over the years, ‘Big Blue’ to me is a perfect mesh of all the sprawling soundscapes and playful songwriting I know and love from Henry. ‘Forever 2’ is a personal favourite from that album.

Nashpaints

Isaac: Full disclosure: Finn, or Nashpaints, is in the bog band live outfit. However, he really doesn’t want to be, so I can safely recommend his stuff as a fan. Whenever anyone that I don’t know that well asks for a music recommendation, Irish or not, I just send them Finn's first record, Blindman the Gambler. It sounds like nothing else and the only reason he is not world famous rn is his aversion to self-promotion. 

Ste: Me and Isaac refer to Finn as “The Truth” - and although that's a ridiculous thing to call someone, if you listen to Nashpaints you will get it. His ability to nonchalantly make beautiful, singular music is something to behold.

Ellie O’Neill

Ste: Ellie is one of the best singers and songwriters I know. Her way of playing guitar is completely mesmerising, these complicated fingerstyle parts seamlessly woven together. She is a huge inspiration to me lyrically. Particularly in the way she writes her detailed and almost biblical  “portraits” of her relationships. As of now, she has just one single out on Bandcamp, “Bohemia”.

Isaac: Once in a generation talent! Always beguiling to watch Ellie rock the place with nothing more than her guitar and starpower. Me and Ste always ask her to play with us just so we can watch her work.

Isaac Jones 

Isaac: This guy is a true student of music, we always say if you want something done right, you call Isaac.

Check out his last ep, ‘GET LOST!’, it has more of a hyper-pop style. His new singles are low tempo, perfect Rnb with impeccable production that can only do so much to hide his old songwriter’s heart.

His new project is releasing one song a month until he reaches 100, like some kind of indie version of the mayan calendar.

Ste:

Isaac Jones, a consummate professional, incredibly gifted performer and writer. In 2023, Isaac took on the ambitious task of playing a gig in every county of Ireland. Naturally, he pulled it off. I got to catch him and his band performing in a pub in Meath and was completely spellbound.

Really enjoying this track “High Jump” he just released. - 

lullahush

Isaac: lullahush, or Junior as I call him, has the last word on electronic trad as far as I’m concerned. Also very possibly the first. If you recoiled at the very notion of the thought of electronic trad, let me just say that it’s a testimony to Junior’s inherent cool that the music is not at all gimmicky. He taught me a lot of what I know about production, and is no doubt disappointed to see what I've done with those teachings.

Ste: I remember lullahush instantly struck me with this totally distinct musical palette. The first song I heard of his was “Terracotta Slow Dance” which has all these wonderful swirling guitars and synths at the end. Watching him do his thing in the studio is a real treat, he’s so good at creating this kind of controlled chaos.