Limerick follows its own tune in 2025: I Love Limerick Music lookback!

I Love Limerick Music 2025 lookback on local music features some amazing highlights from debut to established artists!

I Love Limerick reflects on an amazing 2025 of local music that had our speakers popping and our earbuds buzzing from January to now in this music lookback

Following an incredible year of music for 2024 with releases from Emma Langford, Lúila, and ARREN; Limerick did not hold back or disappoint in 2025 with releases that got the head bobbing, toe tapping, and pulled at the heartstrings in our 2025 lookback.

The year got off to an optimistic start with news that NIYL was set to represent the Treaty County Eurosong in Ireland’s search for a Eurovision representative for 2025. Performing his original song Growth, NIYL competed in RTÉ’s The Late Late Show Eurosong Special on February 7, missing out on the opportunity to represent the nation in the 2025 competition, but gaining many new fans in a year of new music for the artist.

Bookending the amazing year for the artist, NIYL‘s highly anticipated debut album, ‘Parish is Burning’, is a 10 track LP told in two movements, Autumn/Winter and Spring/Summer, capturing the cycle of heartbreak and growth through NIYL’s signature cinematic soul sound was released on November 21.

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February continued with impactful music, fresh from his success as a top-three BBC Introducing Ireland pick, Limerick-born artist Lloyd John returned with his most powerful alt-rock anthem yet. This record was born from a fearful place and centres around ‘The Morning After the Night Before’ Raw and brutally honest, ‘Took It Too Far’ explores the vulnerable intersection between celebration and regret. Originally titled “The Fear” – a common Irish term for post-party anxiety – the track was born from a deeply personal experience.

2025 was a big year for SASP records, founded by Limerick veteran Musicians, SASP Records (Street Angel, Studio Psycho) aims to support local and national talent and expand beyond borders.

The new record label, founded by local musicians and longtime friends Tara Nix and Anna Murphy, officially launched in March, marking a pivotal moment for the vibrant music scene in Limerick. The new label hit the ground running with releases from Emily Panther’s “Remember They Love You”.

It wasn’t just new music making the headlines this year, Limerick rock legends The Cranberries had cause for celebration as Linger reached more than 1 billion streams on Youtube; showing the generational impact of the group.

May was a big month for Laura Duff with the release of her debut album ‘Sea Legs’. ‘Sea Legs’ is the intimate and introspective debut album from Limerick singer-songwriter, Laura Duff, described as a visceral body of work that illuminates the Limerick-based artist’s deft and detailed songwriting.

Drawing from experiences of grief, Duff explores the potency of places and exchanges with people while processing her father’s death, with the artist explaining, “I was setting out to write Sea Legs in my Dad’s memory.” 

“It was very intentional in that way. All of the lyrical context is based around that, and his life, as well as trying to maintain some level of communication. ‘Sea Legs’ is inspired by my experience of navigating everything that comes with losing a parent; dealing with grief as time passes, family relationships and the physicality of death.”

Also making their voice heard in May, ‘Thinking About You’ was a captivating new single from acclaimed Irish musician Seán O’Meara ahead of his forthcoming solo album, ‘Notions, Potions, & Emotions’, which was released in December.

His ability to strike a universal chord explains why his work resonates with audiences around the world. This exciting new track blends contemporary pop and alternative rock with subtle hints of Traditional Irish sensibility, creating a sound that feels both familiar and fresh.

It was a big year for Helen O’Shea who treated Limerick and beyond with releases from her album, ‘Songs In The Key Of O’, with the heart of a healer and the grace of grit, Ireland-born, New Jersey-based artist Helen O’Shea is trailblazing a path of hope and possibility, sharing her unguarded story so that others may step fully into their power.

September saw Lee James continue to pave his way in producing dancefloor-filling electronic music with his latest single, ‘Kind of Love’. Kind of Love on Casual Jam Records, delivered a smooth, uplifting house cut that blends soulful vocals with infectious grooves, perfect for both radio rotation and summer dancefloors.

Hailing from Limerick, Ireland, Lee James is a producer and DJ who has already scored a previous Top 10 hit, landing him alongside releases on Warner Music’s flagship Parlophone Records roster.

SASP Records returned in September, celebrating a national connection with the release of Irish alt-pop artist, Cat Turner’s, ‘Coming‘.

Coming arrived just when it should — at the tail end of summer, where the nights are still warm and the air hangs heavy with everything you did and didn’t do. It’s a track for when you’re a little tipsy, shoes in hand, drifting home through quiet streets. For when you’re still at the beach, watching the sky change with your friends, knowing the season’s slipping.

There’s something brewing in it — a sweetness, a sadness, a sense that maybe you let a few things slide just to stay in the glow a little longer. Regrets hum at the edges, but not enough to matter. Not yet. Wrap yourself in it. Take the long way home. Let whatever’s coming, come.

Following a recent string of club-ready singles, Irish DJ/Producer JustG returned in September with his most infectious track yet: “Dopamine” — a piano house anthem featuring Welsh vocalist Alixey.

The single bridges the gap between the intimacy of pop songwriting and the power of peak-time house. Taking inspiration from the likes of Belters Only, Sonny Fodera, MK, and Becky Hill, “Dopamine” fuses soaring piano chords, driving house grooves, and a euphoric topline that captures the rush of being hooked on love.

With its infectious chorus and festival-ready production, “Dopamine” continues JustG’s run of high-energy releases, showcasing his growing reputation as one of Ireland’s most exciting new electronic artists.

Zimbabwean-Irish rapper God Knows capped off an incredible September with the release of his highly anticipated debut solo album A Future of the Past via Narolane Records.

Following the momentum of previous singles The Art of Alienation, The Observer, and Misplaced Empathy, the album is “like the first chapter of a new book, by God Knows.”

Sitting on a bank of over 50 tracks, God Knows says selecting the final track list was “a bittersweet endeavour”, shaped by a desire to tell a coherent story.

Recorded at Sonic Studios in Dublin, ‘Canyon‘ brought the first taste of The Low Field’s TBA second LP, scheduled for release in early 2026. Engineering & mixing was provided by the groups own Mícheál Keating, with Mastering by Ivan Jackman.

Diarmuid said about the single, “Canyon came together quite quickly compared to some of our other songs. I recorded a demo as I was writing it and sent it to the rest of the band. The lyrics came out as I recorded, something that hasn’t really happened for me in the past so I decided to leave them as they were. This felt like the truest representation of what I was feeling in that moment.”

After a summer filled with outdoor shows and festivals in both Ireland & UK, Dylan Flynn & The Dead Poets celebrated the release of their new highly anticipated EP, ‘I’ve Been Living Life The Wrong Way’, with a Dolans Warehouse gig on Saturday, November 22.

The Dolans Warehouse gig marked a special homecoming for the group as they neared the end of a series of gigs which saw them travel through the UK and Ireland. The Limerick stop is the fourth-last of the announced gigs, which celebrate the release of  ‘I’ve Been Living Life The Wrong Way’.

Capping off an amazing year of music past and present, Nicholas Street came alive with festive spirit on December 20 and 21 as the Treaty Xmas Fair came to the historic street, and as a major highlight of the fair, Limerick artist Hazey Haze held a special hometown celebration with a live performance for the release of his new album ‘For All The Island Field‘ on December 20.

Hazey told I Love Limerick, “There are many stories, many sad stories, many trials, and many tribulations about life in The Island Field. Untold stories of the Island, and it’s a completely different genre for me. Completely different from what I’ve done before. So there’s no hip hop, there’s no rapping or anything like that. It’s just straight from the soul singing.”

As we celebrate our Limerick 2025 music lookback of musical achievements, it’s clear Limerick is lucky to have the amazing talent it has, with such a diverse music scene there is something for everyone to add to their playlists, but it’s also important to remember to support our local artists through buying their music, picking up their merch when we can, and get to some of the many gigs which are on in the venues on our doorstep! Let’s support Limerick musicians this new year, we love Limerick music, and we Love Limerick!