Mull It Over 037: Albums of the Year

A run through of the 13 records shortlisted for Best Album at this year's Northern Ireland Music Prize. Plus, the Mull It Over pick for Album of the Year.

Oct 30, 2024

Welcome to issue 37 of Mull It Over. Our end of the year series on the Northern Ireland Music Prize rolls on this week with a run through of the thirteen records shortlisted for Best Album at this year’s awards. If you tuned into the radio show last week on Belfast Built you will have heard me natter on about all of these albums as I picked out my favourite tracks from each and chatted a not unreasonable about of shit in between. If that was the oral exam then consider this the written counterpart. It is a sadistic man who gives himself coursework to do for fun, but alas, here we are. The final piece in the series will be my field report from the awards show itself, live from the Ulster Hall in November. Until then, peruse the below list of exceptional albums at your leisure, but listen with intent - and read the whole way to the bottom to find out the Mull It Over pick for Album of the Year. Or if you can’t be arsed - just scroll to the bottom to find out. Or if you can’t be arsed even to do that, just hit subscribe and leave.

Blue Whale - Last Immediate Images

A difficult, fun and intensely chaotic listen at times, Blue Whale’s second album cements their status as Belfast’s preeminent left field noise makers. Sounding like what would happen if you took Boards Of Canada’s Geogaddi and The Libertines’ Up The Bracket and put both in your NutriBullet on the highest setting, the results offer (some kind of) catharsis by the end.

Standout Track: Otic Brawl

Brand New Friend - Grandstand

Brand New Friend’s third offering Grandstand finds a band sounding very comfortable in their own skin. The indie pop hooks are here but they are far more refined, buoyed in no small part by the mature lyrical themes explored throughout the album. Talk It Out, the first lyrical offering from keyboard player Lauren Johnson is a triumph.

Standout Track: Dino

CHERYM - Take It Or Leave It

Pop-punk prowess from these three who make absolutely no apologies for who they are and what they represent on their debut album, Take It Or Leave It. Legitimately the most fun I’ve had listening to an album in a while, even gaining some societal knowledge along the way. A near perfect first release and never boring.

Standout Track: Taking Up Sports

Conchúr White - Swirling Violets

An album that feels like it exists on a completely different plane at times, Swirling Violets, the first full length offering from Conchúr White is a beautiful soundscape that doesn’t eschew the beautiful melodies in place of lo-fi ambience, it instead marries them perfectly. A considered debut album from an artist just getting started. A contender for the Best Album award on the night.

Standout Track: 501s

Dana Masters - Real Good Mood

North Carolina native Dana Masters has set up shop this side of the Atlantic among the bright lights of County Down. And how lucky we are to have her. A jazz singer by trade, cutting her teeth singing alongside local legends such as Van Morrison and Linley Hamilton, Dana has taken her own path and in the process gifted us a soulful, jazzy, poppy record in Real Good Mood, surely to soundtrack any Saturday night kitchen disco worth its salt.

Standout Track: Rising

David Holmes - Blind On A Galloping Horse

A legend, to put it bluntly. Returning to his native Belfast after presumably growing tired of the mundane existence of scoring movie soundtracks and producing records for the likes of Primal Scream and Noel Gallagher - Holmes, here, has offered up his most quintessentially Belfast album yet. Let’s Get Killed, this isn’t. On Blind On A Galloping Horse we are all participants, willing or less so, to his gothic-protest opera. A winner on any day. And great to have him back.

Standout Track: Necessary Genius

Gareth Dunlop - Welcome To The House Of I Don’t Know

A troubadour by his very nature, Gareth Dunlop has nearly done it all in this game. When you have a song featured in iconic 2000s teen drama One Tree Hill where else can you go? To the synths it seems. Channelling The War On Drugs in its very best moments, Gareth sounds like he’s having an absolute blast on Welcome To The House Of I Don’t Know - employing 80s textures throughout and not shying away from the big hook. One of the most fun records on the shortlist by far and too many earworms to mention.

Standout Track: Small Talk

Kneecap - Fine Art

No introduction necessary. Whether you like them or not, you can’t deny Kneecap’s indelible mark on society, in such a short period. Appearances at the Sundance Film Festival and a co-starring credit alongside Michael Fassbender to their young names, you would be forgiven for forgetting how they got here in the first place. Luckily, that is captured on their first full length release - Fine Art. Maybe the most real and tangible street music to reach the mainstream masses since Oasis.

Standout Track - Better Way To Live (ft. Grian Chatten)

Reevah - Daylight Savings

Straddling the line between thoughtful and considered singer/songwriter and indie-pop princess, Reevah asks the listener on Daylight Savings - “why not both?” Arriving with a tour de force debut album, Reevah evidently has the pedigree to back it up. A masters degree in music and the pipes to take her far, Daylight Savings is a joyous listen from start to finish. The honey in your lemon tea, every fucking night. Check out the key change in the title track.

Standout Track - Call Me Up

Problem Patterns - Blouse Club

Queerpunk? Queercore? How about just ‘punk’? Problem Patterns arrive on the scene with Blouse Club, a concept album of sorts holding archaic and institutionalised thoughts and processes to account. Fiery, angry and absolutely vital - there is nothing that sounds quite like this out there at the moment. For all its abrasiveness, there is, importantly, humour here too. For just how real this album is, it is in with a strong shout of taking home the big prize on the night. Expect fireworks, regardless.

Standout Track: Pity Bra

Dungiven’s finest, Cara Dillon has returned with an astoundingly beautiful piece of work here on Coming Home. OK, perhaps well known outside of just Dungiven - this truly global artist feels like part of the fabric now. And how wonderful that she can still stir the same emotions 20+ years after her debut. Part spoken word, part the folk you’ve come to know from Cara, Coming Home is deserving of its place on the shortlist this year after going in as the public’s choice. A vote of confidence in one of our finest exports if there ever was one.

Standout Track: Clear The Path

Virgins - nothing hurt and everything was beautiful

Flying the shoegaze flag for Northern Ireland is Virgins. All pink-hued artwork, fuzzy guitars and what can only be described as a capital letter apocalypse, nothing hurt and everything is beautiful picks up where My Bloody Valentine left off in the early 90s. Catchy, dreamy and slickly produced, this is a near perfect album from a gorgeous band. Led by Michael Smyth, the busiest man on the scene (if there were awards for sheer hard work, he would surely win it). A long odds shout for taking the award on the night, but a shout nonetheless. Glorious.

Standout Track: s l o w l y , l o n g

exmagician - Sit Tight

Mull It Over’s pick for Best Album at the 2024 Northern Ireland Music Prize

Did you ever find yourself wondering what it would sound like if Jackson Browne fronted T-Rex? Well wonder no more. Ex Cashier No.9 alumni Daniel Todd and James Smith are found here on their second album in 8 years blending 60s psychedelia and the flair of 1970s UK glam, à la The Sweet. With producing duties on the album from Chris Ryan of Robocobra Quartet, Sit Tight - for all its golden age references, sits atop all the other shortlisted albums for just how fresh and new it manages to sound in the face of those heavy influences. Similar to how I felt listening to Insecure Men’s self titled offering in 2018 - an influence, perhaps by accident, that can’t be overlooked.

A near perfect album for me and the Mull It Over pick for Best Album at this year’s Northern Ireland Music Prize.

Standout Track: Instinct

Thank you for reading issue 37 of Mull It Over. As mentioned we are rolling on with our Northern Ireland Music Prize series, and next up is a live report of the awards night itself on 13th November at Belfast’s iconic Ulster Hall. I will be there, and you’ll hear about all the goings-on right here on the newsletter in the days to follow. After that it will be back to regular scheduled programming.

If you are new to Mull It Over, firstly - buy the t-shirt. And secondly - welcome! There is a ton of stuff to dig through in the archives, and all new subscribers are greatly appreciated.

Thank you for reading,

Chris.