Here is your guide to the hottest new acts, as RTÉ 2FM names the following acts and artists to see, listen to and enjoy in 2026.
Aaron Rowe
When you watch Aaron Rowe on stage, he anchors himself behind the mic, broad shouldered and wide eyed whilst telling stories. Song histories, personal anecdotes or just random thoughts and funny observations are blurted out with erratic but effortless charm. His smile is so sunny and wide it feels permanent, and his laugh is hoarse, warm and totally infectious. When he speaks his eyes glisten, but when he sings, they close as his head lulls onto his shoulder and tilts back. For Aaron, singing and playing guitar is not a choice, it's an extension of himself - he has to do it. You can tell as soon as he begins it offers him not only freedom, but focus.
So far, the story of Aaron Rowe looks like what fate feels like: paths crossing and stars aligning. Almost exactly a year ago, Aaron was singing covers at his regular Saturday gig in The Dame Tavern when one of his future managers would walk in and discover him playing. A few weeks later, Lewis Capaldi would also stumble into Aaron's usual Sunday sessions at Cassidy's on a stag do. Like fate, a few weeks after that, he would bump into Lewis again whilst performing at an open mic in Nashville, where Lewis introduced him to his best friend, now Aaron's manager, who just so happened to have listened to his demos that very morning.
Far from an overnight success, after several years of gigging five days a week, his moment finally came. Call it fate, call it what you will, a good story is the least you can expect from a generational voice like Aaron. His own life experiences leading up to this moment means there is an unmatched maturity and vulnerability to Aaron's songwriting, Somehow, he can balance the heart wrenching with the heartwarming, all the while holding open the door to us into his very personal world. This dichotomy he often explores on upcoming releases lies not only in its sometimes frank, sometimes devastating lyrics, but crucially in the old soul of Aaron's voice, where he wears his influences on his sleeve; from Sam Cooke to Nina Simone to Paulo Nutini.
Curtisy
Curtisy's ascent feels like the natural next chapter in Ireland's ongoing cultural purple patch. Since his breakout collaboration with Kojaque just two years ago, the Dublin rapper has become one of the most compelling new voices in a scene unafraid to blur lines between art, fashion, and community. His trajectory has been swift but deliberate: an RTE Choice Prize nomination for his debut album 'What Was The Question', a BBC Radio 1Xtra debut with CassKid, a widely-circulated Dazed profile that labelled him "one of the best rappers to ever come out of Ireland," and a growing catalogue that doubles as a personal diary — candid, witty, self-deprecating, and bracingly honest.
His music lives in the cracks between sharp humour and quiet melancholy, drawing comparisons to Earl Sweatshirt and MIKE but refusing to lose its Irish vernacular. Each track reads less like a performance and more like a conversation overheard, rooted in the working-class surroundings that shaped him. It's this voice — unfiltered, unpretentious, and emotionally transparent — that has turned Curtisy into a crucial documentarian of contemporary Irish life, the type of rapper who can capture both hopelessness and the flicker of light that cuts through it.
Live, he's everywhere: from a lauded UK and Ireland tour to cult Irish fashion label Pellador's runway show, from a storming set at Electric Picnic to opening for New York rap luminary Wiki in Dublin. Alongside those appearances, collaborations have stretched his palette further — a future-facing link-up with hyper-pop outlier Sloucho, and the collaborative mixtape Beauty In The Beast with producer hikii, a record that sought out hope in the most unlikely places. Endorsements from Maverick Sabre and NTS's DJ Bempah only underscore what's already clear: Curtisy stands among a wave of Irish artists breaking internationally, a generation that includes Fontaines D.C., Rejjie Snow, Kneecap, Gemma Dunleavy, and Kojaque, all pushing against the weight of circumstance to carve out their own space on the world stage.
Florence Road
What makes Florence Road so instantly magnetising isn't just their striking frontwoman Lily Aron with her rich, oaky vocals, but the dynamic she shares with her best friends, guitarist Emma Brandon, bassist Ailbhe Barry and drummer Hannah Kelly. Shortly after the four of them became alternative music's most thrilling new band, they started posting on social media, a mixture of silly videos that displayed their friendship and cover songs filmed in an uncanny confrontational style on an iPhone 0.5 magnification setting.
Some of the videos are dimly lit, with a camera and light that bounces into the members' faces, catching their bright blue eyes like deer in headlights. Others are equally surprising, like the video of them singing their indie rock song "Figure It Out" while being driven in the car by Hannah, or the time they hid in a closet holding Ailbhe hostage as they cover Olivia Rodrigo's "Obsessed" (Rodrigo saw it and commented as enthusiastically as the band's other fans). "The weird videos reflect our dynamic somehow," says Ailbhe, smiling. "You'd only be able to do that with your close friends; I do feel like there's just an inherent friendship closeness you could tell from what we posted". It worked, agrees Lily; "everything just started snowballing from there really."
Jessica Doolan
21 year old soul-pop artist from Dublin, Jessica Doolan has just released her debut EP 'Keep It Chic'. Gaining over 1 million streams already, Jessica is on the rise to being a prominent name in the music industry. Inspired by the greats like Nina Simone, Sade, Alicia Keys and Dusty Springfield. Jessica set out to busk on Dublins Grafton Street at age 12 to create her own legacy.
After falling in love with songwriting she now draws inspiration from the 50s and 60s and blends timeless soul and jazz with a pop edge. Jessica continues to captivate her audience with a soulful, sublime vocal ability matched with gritty, confessional lyrics that connect.
Having won International Rookie Artist at the Denniz Pop Awards in Sweden and a run of festivals and supports over the summer, her first project now demonstrates how far she's come since then. With multiple Spotify playlist covers and features, tracks airing on BBC Radio London and live sessions and shows at KoKo Camden, she is definitely one to watch.
Jessica put on her first headline shows last month in the UK and Dublin, solidifying her strengths when it comes to live performances. With a groovy jazzy band and a packed out room theirs is no doubt Jessica will light it up. Grounded in her artistry and a work ethic like no other, Jessica Doolan is a name you will definitely want to remember.
mischa and the bear
mischa and the bear are a Dublin-based alt-pop duo exploring the fragility of the human experience through unsettling synth-led soundscapes and stark lyrical honesty. The project features producer Danny "Mischa" Rooney and vocalist Fírinne "Bear" McIntyre whose creative partnership blends glitchy textures with haunting melodies and lyrics that linger like bruises.
Since emerging in early 2025, they have quickly built a reputation for emotionally intelligent pop that does not flinch.
With each track, mischa and the bear construct a vivid emotional atmosphere whether unpacking the toxic intensity of a fractured friendship (Forever Ago) or the strange comfort of emotional collapse in Get Away. Their music is deeply personal yet feels uncannily universal. The pair are steadily growing a following drawn to their unvarnished emotional storytelling and genre-blurring sound. Their excellent debut EP 'Even Unto The Next World' released on August 8th, 2025.
Moio
MOIO doesn't just make music, he commands emotion. In fact, the Nigerian- Irish singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist chases emotion with every lyric he pens, melody he sings, and beat, bassline, or guitar riff he plays. This pursuit has brought him to a space between genres, co-existing in the realms of R&B, indie, alternative, and soul—yet cleverly never committing to one above the other. By helming every aspect of his artistry, he's able to operate fluidly, and his vision resonates across boundaries.
Growing up in Dublin, music called to MOIO as a child. His passion was fostered by church and the radio in equal measure. After taking piano lessons for several years, he taught himself guitar and bass. At
10-years-old, he sang live for the first time at school and fell in love with performing. Eventually, a friend urged him to download FL Studio to start cooking up beats of his own. Buzzing on Soundcloud with early uploads, he slowly but surely attracted an audience. During 2023, he dropped "SUNBEAMING" followed by "Open Your Eyes," which amassed over 2.3 million Spotify streams. On its heels, MOIO's single "Moments," started to go viral a year after its release, climbing north of 19 million Spotify streams and notably catapulted to #1 on Spotify's Viral 50 chart in the US, UK, Ireland, Canada, Norway, Denmark, and New Zealand. Along the way, he incited the applause of HYPEBEAST, Fashionably Early, Dancing Astronaut, and more in addition to performing at the likes of Dublin's Forbidden Fruit Festival. Generating tens of millions of streams independently and attracting a growing fan base, he conjures palpable emotion on his 2025 Earth Day EP and more to come.
New Spectrum
New Spectrum is an Irish born, Berlin based producer. With many years in music production and a childhood filled with influences from house acts (Modjo, Thomas Bangalter) to big beat producers (The Prodigy and The Chemical Brothers) and to old school Hip hop (A Tribe Called Quest, Run DMC). His early exposure to the late 90's and early 00's sounds Eventually led onto a short stint in music college, where he learned through music history classes, the deep history and development of music from the 50's onwards. Uncovering all of these melting pots, he eventually started to build his music collection, with everything from Thomas Bangalter's Roulé to Yazoo's Upstairs at Erics and pretty much every production from "The Neptunes". Recently his sound has developed into more contemporary R&B/House fusion with sonics like R&B artist Brent Faiyaz's smooth moody vibe but still rooted in and electronic structure.
His releases have brought in a number of plays on BBC's Radio 1 and RTE 2fm and support from a wide range of renowned producers and djs, such as Fatboy Slim, DJ Seinfeld, Laurent Garnier, Chloe Caillet, Fred Again, Gerd Janson, TSHA and Skream.
Post-Party
Rooting their sound in the turn of the century's new rock revival embellished with the sounds of 80s New Waves and Indie, Post-Party recite tales of youth and juvenescence with an eye towards the state of things to come.
Post-Party's consistent headline & festival touring across live circuits in Ireland, the UK and France has earned them over 1-million streams on Spotify alone, alongside substantial airplay both at home & abroad. The Dublin-based outfit have supported indie heavyweights Inhaler, Blossoms, and Miles Kane to name but a few.
Laced with snappy melodies, ear-worm riffs, and a driving rhythm section, the band's debut EP, 'We're Not Getting Any Younger', charted a number 3 position; this was soon followed by their darker yet equally pop-sensible sophomore, 'I Didn't Before But I See It Now.
2025 saw the band introduce & tour a sharper edge with 'That's What I Call Living' - confronting the agglutination of modern living with an irony, a wit and the fly-on-wall perspective the band have demonstrated across their previous releases.
Roe Byrne
Roe Byrne, the singer-songwriter from Dublin, has always had rhythm in his DNA. From an early age, Roe was immersed in the world of music. He started out playing the drums, switched to guitar at the age of 11, and found his voice as a singer at 13. Roe's formative musical years were shaped by a combination of YouTube tutorials, where he taught himself to play instruments,
and open mics in Belfast and Dublin but it was busking in Dublin that truly made him an artist. His love of performing grew after the death of his grandfather, who had always encouraged him to try his hand at busking. This moment marked a significant turning point, when Roe's
musical journey began.
The collaboration with twocolors in 2024 was one of his first steps into the German Market - an entry that began with a big hit. He also demonstrated his hit potential as a songwriter by co-writing and providing vocals for David Puentez's current radio track "Burn."
Roe's musical style is soulful, melancholic, and dynamic, with genuine emotions that give the lyrics deep meaning. Through his music, he wants to make people feel seen and understood.
RuntheRed
The band's story begins in 2024, not in a studio or a venue, but over casual lunches in a work canteen. Founding members Amy (guitarist) and Ciara (lead vocals) began talking music between meetings, with ideas flowing easily and without pressure - even the band's name, RuntheRed, was dreamed up over the counter of a local deli. From there, the project grew organically. Alex, Amy's brother, joined on bass, while Matty and Brian connected with the band through social media, with an immediate sense that this was something worth committing to. What sets RuntheRed apart is the absence of rigid roles: in the rehearsal room, no one is confined to a single instrument or idea. As much as they all hold their individual places very strongly in the band, everything is collaborative, fluid, and shared.
Musically, RuntheRed sit comfortably in the indie and alternative space, but with a distinctly Irish undercurrent. Drawing inspiration from the likes of The Cranberries, The Frames and Cliffords, their sound balances intimacy with atmosphere - familiar yet unpolished in the best way. Their songwriting is rooted in storytelling, diving into love, loss, growing up, and the uneasy excitement of discovering both the world and yourself. Some songs arrive instinctively, others unfold in layers, but all are written with an openness that isn't afraid of vulnerability or mistakes.
A pivotal moment came when their track Indigo was selected as RTÉ Track of the Week - a bit of external confirmation that the band's instincts were worth trusting. With radio support building and support slots on the horizon, RuntheRed are not rushing toward anything they're not ready for. Instead, they move with intention, guided by connection rather than expectation. RuntheRed feel like a band who are right where they need to be -present, grounded, and steadily finding their voice.
