Last week, a host of Ireland's brightest young bands - including Sprints, Kneecap, NewDad and Gurriers, all tipped for future greatness in the '10 new Irish artists you should be listening to right now' feature we posted this time last year - withdrew from the internationally-renowned SouthBySouthWest music festival in Austin, Texas. This decision was taken in solidarity with the Palestinian people upon discovering that the event took sponsorship from the US Army and various defence contractors who supply Israel with weapons.
“We cannot in good conscience attend an arts festival that has 'The US Army' as a 'Super Sponsor' and and is platforming RTX (formerly Raytheon), Collins Aerospace, and BAE Systems, the very companies selling the weapons that have murdered 31,000 Palestinians, over 21,000 of them women and children,” Kneecap stated when announcing their decision to scrap their scheduled appearances at the event.
The stand taken is emblematic of a more conscious, principled, bold and fearless emerging generation of Irish musicians making waves on both sides of the Irish border. Here are ten of the best new artists on the island worth your support.
