Every month we'll bring you five tracks by Irish bands or artists that we think are worth checking out.

This month features epic pop, hip-hop, folk and more...

LYRA – 'New Day'

You may already know Lyra from a number of her excellent previous singles including 'Falling' and 'Mother'; the Cork singer is a pop powerhouse who is surely destined for great things. Her latest single is a cover of a 1960s song by Jackie Lomax, a musician who worked with one George Harrison back in the day. Given the Lyra treatment, there's lots of rousing vocals, thumping drums and epic production values on the new version. The video – which was directed, edited and produced by Lyra herself – is worth a watch, too.

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AILBHE REDDY – 'Looking Happy'

Her long-awaited debut album isn't out until October 2nd, but you can count on Ailbhe Reddy (who's featured here before) making more than a few 'end of year' lists come December – and songs like this bristling pop-rock tune bode well for 'Personal History'. If you're a fan of jangly guitars, impeccable vocals and smart, sharp songwriting, check it out.

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GOD KNOWS FEAT. HAZEY HAZE – 'Mup I Said'

Limerick is fast becoming a stronghold of Irish hip-hop and God Knows is at its vanguard. On his latest track, the Zimbabwean-Irish MC teams up with his fellow Limerick rapper Hazey Haze for the latest single from his recent EP 'Who's Asking? Vol II'. In his own words: “Mup I Said (“come up, I said”) is a call to action. It's an observation of how things change as time moves forward. Some of the people that I started this journey with have settled down and discovered new dreams, some have deferred them, some like myself and my peers are still on job. Mup means ‘it’s not over til it’s over’. Don’t give up on yourself. Come up.”

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NIAMH REGAN – 'Save the Day'

This Galway artist has been compared to everyone from Laura Marling to Lisa Hannigan and This is the Kit, and her very impressive debut album 'Hemet' is an exercise in beautifully-pitched folk-pop. It's not all tender vocals built around piano and guitar, though: this gem of a song, driven by soft yet firm percussion, has fire in its belly and sounds like it's been culled straight from an undiscovered 1970s classic.

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TV PEOPLE – 'Nothing More'

Over the past couple of years, the Irish music seen has seen an upsurge in guitar bands with gloomy vocals, driving guitar riffs and moody, nihilistic vocals. (We have absolutely no problem with this, by the way.) Dublin's TV People are the latest to plunder from that catalogue - and their third single of 2020 is another fine slice of atmospheric, thrashy post-punk.