The year gone by yielded some amazing music, regardless of what genre floats your boat.
While it would be impossible to cover all the bases on this list, here is a collection of some of our favourites from 2014.
Royal Blood – Royal Blood
The Brighton duo burst on to the music scene in 2014 with this storming debut, which combined earthshattering drums from Ben Thatcher with grunge, bluesy vocals and bass from Mike Kerr.
George Ezra – Wanted On Voyage
His distinctive voice and soulful tone stood out from the rest, with Budapest becoming one of the tracks of the year.
St Vincent – St Vincent
The Her team had a collective girl-crush on Annie Clark after her appearance at Electric Picnic and this album is full of vibrant and innovative production, accompanied her trademark acerbic lyrics.
Glass Animals – Zaba
This English indie band turned heads with the release of Zaba, a collection of complicated and expertly layered tracks that are difficult to pin down but well worth the effort.
FKA twigs – LP1
An unfortunate no-show at Stradbally due to illness, Tahliah Barnett has been in the headlines more often due to her relationship with Robert Pattinson than her music this year but to dismiss her as simply a product of hype would be a grave mistake. Her eclectic and simmering debut has silenced the naysayers.
Hozier – Hozier
Andrew Hozier-Byrne has been talked about so much this year that we’re almost getting sick of him… but not quite. The Wicklow man’s debut album is simply brilliant, combining poetically macabre lyrics with melodies that seamlessly blend his blues influences with contemporary, poppy hooks. And we reckon, the best is yet to come.
Paolo Nutini – Caustic Love
To be honest, Paolo could probably sing the phonebook in that trademark husky drawl and we’d love it but thankfully he didn’t and Caustic Love is a more than worthy follow-up to Sunny Side Up.
Ed Sheeran – X
While Ed had a strong fanbase before the release of X, he definitely showed himself to be much more than a one-trick pony with this album. Hopping from the hip-hop influences of Sing to romantic ballads like Thinking Out Loud without missing a beat, there are few who would argue with Mr Sheeran’s place on the list.
Adrian Crowley – Some Blue Morning
Galway man Adrian is one of Ireland’s most interesting singer-songwriters and on his seventh album, he channels everyone from Nick Cave to The National with some of the most evocative lyrics that you’ll hear. Tracks like The Wild Boar are a rare treat.
Damien Rice – My Favourite Faded Fantasy
Rice may have been off the radar for some time but his loyal fans were ready and waiting when he delivered this much-anticipated album, which reaffirmed his place on the Irish music radar.
