It wasn’t always like this – I used to enjoy music from American artists just as much as music from our neighbors across the pond, sometimes even more. But recently, I can’t get enough of British and Irish bands, and according to my Spotify (sorry Apple Music people), it’s all I ever listen to. I could blame it on my British and Irish heritage, or maybe the music my dad raised me on. Either way, I can’t get enough now, so here’s a few of my favorite bands from the British Isles and a few song recs if you want to hear their sound for yourself. Pretty soon, your Spotify might just start to look like mine.
Quick Note: Before we start,I thought I’d make a note of why Irish artists are NOT UK artists and should never be considered as such. The British Isles are two islands located off the northwest coast of continental Europe. The two islands contain the countries of Ireland, Northern Ireland (left island), Scotland, England and Wales (right island). Ireland is its own sovereign nation, though it shares the left island with Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. The UK is an independent sovereign state that consists of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. England, Scotland and Wales are all located on the right island, which is known as Great Britain. This distinction is important to make because the Irish have a long and embittered history with the British, who colonized the Irish people for over 700 years and caused a famine that killed about 1 million Irish people and forced another million to emigrate – which is part of why many parts of the United States have such large Irish populations today. Okay, hopefully that made sense – now, into the music.
Inhaler
An Irish rock band from Dublin formed in 2012, Inhaler is where this musical phenomenon of mine all began. I’m not entirely sure how I found them, but the day I did, I listened to every song they had ever released (they’d only just put out It Won’t Always Be Like This, their debut album). They’ve since released one more album but must’ve known we wanted more music as their third studio album, Open Wide, will be out February 7, 2025, and I can’t wait to listen to it. They’ve only released one single off the new album so far, but when I saw them in Atlanta this October, they played “Open Wide,” the unreleased titular track of the album – and yeah, February 7 can’t come soon enough!
- Their Top Song: “My Honest Face” – and for good reason!
- Monthly Listeners on Spotify: 1.1 million
- An underrated pick: “Falling In”
- My personal favorite: “Dublin in Ecstasy” – but actually all of them…like there’s not a single bad song in their entire discography.
Fontaines D.C.
Fontaines D.C are an Irish post-punk band from Dublin, formed in 2014. I only found them because Harry Styles, Timothee Chalamet, Cillian Murphy and Florence Welch (wow what a group) were spotted together at a Fontaines D.C. concert in London and listened to “Starburster.” The funny thing is, I never listened to any more songs of theirs, not until “Starburster” was played in the pre-show music before Inhaler came on and I went down a rabbit hole of every song they’ve ever released on the long car ride back. Suffice to say, I’m now a massive fan of these guys and the music they create, which is unlike anything I’ve ever heard.
- Their Top Song: “Starburster” – not only is this song addictive, but it was also just featured in Season 4 episode 6 of Outer Banks and nominated for the Best Alternative Music Performance Grammy.
- Monthly Listeners on Spotify: 3 million
- An underrated pick: “Here’s the Thing”
- My personal favorite: “Bug” – and also the entire (now Grammy nominated!) Romance album!
Catfish and the Bottlemen
Catfish and the Bottlemen are a British indie rock band formed in Wales in 2007. They ruled the genre of indie rock in the 2010s, with their music serving as the background for teens of the era and the soundtrack of so many Tumblr boards. Their music also helped revive the indie rock genre (did it ever really die?), with a new but edgy sound that still holds true to its musical roots.
- Their Top Song: “Kathleen”
- Monthly Listeners on Spotify: 2.4 million
- An underrated pick: “Showtime”
- My personal favorite: “ASA” – I actually can’t get enough of this song and listen to it on repeat sometimes.
Sam Fender
Sam Fender is an English singer, songwriter and musician known for his indie rock music. His music is marked by how he tackles largely complex issues in his songs like political tension, social class and mental health. One of his biggest hits, “Hypersonic Missiles”, addresses the feeling of helplessness in the face of war and injustices in the world. He shot to fame in 2022 when he appeared as a special guest for The Rolling Stones at their British Summer Time Hyde Park show.
- His Top Song: “Seventeen Going Under”
- Monthly Listeners on Spotify: 3.9 million
- An underrated pick: “Pretending That You’re Dead”
- My personal favorite: “Saturday” – literally so good, trust me.
Wunderhorse
Wunderhorse are an English rock band fully formed in 2021, though they came into existence in 2020 with frontrunner Jacob Slater. Their songs are a bit grungy and tonally dark, exploring tough themes with a raw, gritty musical style. They’ve also supported two of the other artists on this list on tour: Fontaines D.C.’s Romance European Tour 2024 and Australia and New Zealand Tour 2025 as well as the UK leg of Sam Fender’s 2024 People Watching Tour.
- Their Top Song: “Leader of the Pack” – the first Wunderhorse song I ever heard that got me hooked.
- Monthly Listeners on Spotify: 1.1 million
- An underrated pick: “Girl Behind the Glass”
- My personal favorite: “Purple” – this song is actually so beautiful and perfect.
Blossoms
Blossoms are an English indie rock band formed in 2013. They draw lots of inspiration from the Britpop genre but revamp it with an upbeat energy, a mix of unconventional sounds and catchy lyrics that can’t seem to leave my brain. Although one of their songs was featured in the 2021 movie To All the Boys: Always and Forever, they’re still a pretty small band, with an audience consisting mostly of those loyal to the indie-rock scene near where they were founded in Stockport, Greater Manchester.
- Their Top Song: “Charlemagne”
- Monthly Listeners on Spotify: 1.3 million
- An underrated pick: “Ribbon Around the Bomb”
- My personal favorite: “Gary” – it’s so weird but so good.
The Smiths
Perhaps the most oft-quoted band on this list because of the film 500 Days of Summer (where the infamous line “I love the Smiths” comes from), The Smiths were an English rock band from Manchester formed in 1982. They were heavily influential as one of the most important bands to come out of the 1980s British independent music scene, and their music still retains popularity and relevance today.
- Their Top Song: “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out” – you’ve heard it. Yeah.
- Monthly Listeners on Spotify: 17.7 million
- An underrated pick: “How Soon Is Now?”
- My personal favorite: “Back to the Old House” – this song is so warm and nostalgic for me.
Oasis
Soon to set across the world on their highly anticipated reunion tour, Oasis are an English rock band formed in 1991 in Manchester. Their genre can be most clearly described as Britpop, as they’re also one of the defining groups of the genre as a whole. The band is notorious in part for the turbulent relationship between Liam and Noel Gallagher, two brothers who formerly made-up part of the band (and are the only two members returning for the 2025 Oasis World Tour). Will the tour actually happen? Or will the sibling feud between Liam and Noel end it before it even starts? Either way, their songs will continue to flood my Spotify.
- Their Top Song: “Wonderwall” – you’ve definitely heard this one, it has over 2 billion streams on Spotify.
- Monthly Listeners on Spotify: 24.8 million
- An underrated pick: “Keep The Dream Alive”
- My personal favorite: “She’s Electric” – an utterly electrifying song I’m a huge fan of.
U2
Perhaps the biggest band on this list, U2 is a massively successful Irish rock band formed in Dublin in 1976. Funnily enough, the lead singer of U2, Bono, has a very musically inclined son, who just so happens to be the lead singer of aforementioned Irish rock band Inhaler. While they both have very distinct sounds and make amazing music, there are certain similarities between the two that are impossible to deny – meaning that music from both bands is on constant repeat.
- Their Top Song: “With or Without You” – again, you might’ve heard this one somewhere, it has over a billion streams on Spotify.
- Monthly Listeners on Spotify: 19.9 million
- An underrated pick: “Desire” – okay so not the most underrated U2 song, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention it because it’s such a good song.
- My personal favorite: “Magnificent” – I have no words. This is the most fundamentally perfect song I’ve ever heard.
Hopefully, some of these artists have caught your eye, or maybe you happened to know their top song from elsewhere and wish to dig into the rest of their discography now! Either way, hopefully you walk away with a few new songs to add to your playlists, or at the very least a better understanding of why you should never say that an Irish person is from the UK.
*All data based on Spotify streaming data as of November 12, 2024.