The Point of Everything

Irish/Portuguese Kraut/psych rock band pôt-pot released debut album Warsaw 480km in September 2025. It's nominated for Irish album of the year at the Choice Music Prize which takes place at Vicar Street tomorrow, Thursday March 5.

In this episode of the TPOE podcast, Mark Waldron-Hyden, the brainchild of pôt-pot, talks about his journey from Cork to Lisbon, the creative process behind the band, and the personal stories that influence the music - and what it was like to get the news - and the recognition - of the Choice nomination.

pôt-pot tour dates:
May 21: The Workman's Club, Dublin (presented by Enthusiastic Eunach)
May 22: Luca, Waterford
May 23: The Kino, Cork (presented by DOSE)

Buy Warsaw 480km: https://potpot.bandcamp.com/album/warsaw-480km

Cork band Cypress, Mine! released their second album pulling all the clouds apart on February 13, 2026 - nearly 40 years after their debut Exit Trashtown. The current lineup is Ian Olney (guitar), Ciarán Ó Tuama (vocals), Mark Healy (bass), and Morty McCarthy (drums).

They say the songwriting on the new album has changed significantly, focusing on themes of strong women, struggles of physical/mental pain and societal issues such as coercive control, intimidation and violence. Second single Safe Highway, meanwhile, draws from a 1997 poem by Ciarán's father, Seán Ó Tuama.

On this episode of The Point of Everything, Ciarán and Ian discuss the spark behind the comeback, reasons for the original breakup, memories of 1980s Cork (including catching The Smiths live at the Savoy), the enduring legacy of Exit Trashtown, their personal growth, and how pulling all the clouds apart marks a fresh chapter.

Buy the album: https://cypressmine.bandcamp.com/

Exit Trashtown: https://prettyoliviarecords.bandcamp.com/album/exit-trashtown-in-pieces

To Here Knows When: https://www.paulmcdermott.ie/episode-52

London-based, Dublin-born singer songwriter Ailbhe Reddy released her third album Kiss Big via Don Giovanni Records on January 30. Kiss Big unfolds as a breakup record - but not the tidy, acoustic kind. It lives in the messy middle: the disorienting period when the life you built with someone collapses, and you’re left trying to figure out who you are on your own. Written between Dublin, London, New York and the American Midwest, Kiss Big traces the cycle of love, loss, and renewal. It’s raw and wry: the sound of coming apart and gluing yourself back together.

Ailbhe Reddy tour dates:
April 21: The Lexington, London
May 5: The Deer's Head, Belfast
May 7: Roisin Dubh, Galway
May 8: Button Factory, Dublin

Buy Kiss Big: https://ailbhereddy.bandcamp.com/album/kiss-big

Paul Noonan and Brian Crosby aka Pilgrims release their debut album Wintering on Friday, January 30. Built around hushed piano and an intimate vocal, the album prizes space and atmosphere. Over nine track,s it moves from tender stillness to shimmering moments of euphoria. Paul and Brian were in Juniper together in the 1990s before continuing with Bell X1 into the 2000s - Brian left the band in 2008, going on to become an acclaimed film composer. Meanwhile Paul has had solo projects over the past year, including Printer Clips and HousePlants as well as performing shows with Gemma Hayes and Lisa Hannigan - all while Bell X1 continue to inspire.

Buy Wintering: https://pilgrimsireland.bandcamp.com/album/wintering

Pilgrims live dates:
January 30: Ballincollig Winter Music Festival, Cork
February 1: All We Have Are Days, Limerick
February 5: Riverbank Arts Centre, Kildare
February 6: Whale Theatre, Greystones, Wicklow
February 7: The Social, Gaoth Dobhair, Co Donegal
February 8: Hawk’s Well Theatre, Sligo
February 12: Spirit Store, Dundalk
February 14: Solstice Arts Centre, Navan
February 15: Watergate Theatre, Kilkenny
February 19: Connolly’s of Leap, West Cork
February 20: Live at St Luke’s, Cork
February 21: Green Acres, Wexford
March 1: Róisín Dubh, Galway

Dublin artist Ian Nyquist is a composer who released the album Gilded in September 2025. It's focused on the bodhrán, pushing the instrument 'beyond its ordinary confines' channelled through modelling software. During this conversation, Ian talks about his upbringing, how he came to the bodhrán (only about three years ago), why limitations on music-making can be revelatory, the Irish artists interesting in taking 'traditional' Irish music to new places, the urban environment, the Complex whose future is in doubt as a music venue, and we discuss the creation of Gilded.

Buy Gilded: https://iannyquist.bandcamp.com/album/gilded

The beating heart around which 'Gilded' is woven is the bodhrán, a native Irish frame drum with which Nyquist uses innovative techniques to push the instrument beyond its ordinary confines. Mirroring the instrument's sound through modelling software, the album's title itself nods to a theme of transformation, suggesting something familiar burnished to a new brilliance, giving it new life. The result being a truly unique unfurling of the harmonic, hypnotic and rhythmic potential of the bodhrán.

This spirit of transformation is most vividly realised through Nyquist's collaborations with some of Ireland's most evocative voices. On a version of 'Leis a'bháta Dhubh Dharaich (The Black Oaken Boat)', Edinburgh-born, Dublin-based singer-songwriter lona Zajac lends her haunting vocals to an old Gaelic rowing song, her voice holds the track in a timeless tradition even as Nyquist's arrangement swirls around her; an anchor in a storm- tossed sea.

Similarly, on 'Úna Bhán (Fair Una)', Cork's sean-nós singer Lorcán Mac Mathúna brings a sacred and ethereal quality to the 18th-century love song, his voice floating assuredly over Nyquist's sparse, shimmering arrangement.

An original composition by Laucan, 'What Else Am I For?', marries introspective, dream-washed vocals with an impressively fine-tuned production style. Once again, Nyquist demonstrates his ability to connect diverse genres and musical traditions.

Ireland's music scene continues to branch out and evolve, spurred on by the artists-like Nyquist; with 'Gilded', he melds the sound worlds of old and new, of technique and heart, of heritage and reinvention. His work resists neat distinctions and rigid genre typologies, while retaining a sense of where he calls home.