Brendan Melia – Music Sweet Music (2025)
The Christmas season is upon us, and with that comes all those festive songs: Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’, Wham’s ‘Last Christmas’, and Bing Crosby’s ‘White Christmas’, to name but a few. For me, however, there is one so obscure that it stands above my favourite seasonal tune, Tom Jones’ ‘Baby, It’s Cold Outside’ – ‘Fairytale In New York’ by The Pogues. Celtic rock with that tease of being a song you have to belt out when you’re slightly tipsy, ‘Fairytale In New York’ is iconic. If you fancy yourself The Pogues, then the chances are you’ll take a liking to Irish artist Brendan Melia, who, as it happens, began turning heads with his 2023 Christmas track, ‘The Bitter, Sweet And Warm’.
While Brendan Melia has been playing music since the 1990s, it was only in March 2020 that he levelled up from amateur to expert singer-songwriter. Technically specialising in traditional Irish folk music, Melia can touch your heart with Celtic roots; however, as much as there is a strong Irish-ness in his melodies, his sound saunters across genres like ska, hip-hop, pop and reggae, while retaining a strong folk leaning. The latest addition to his discography is the single, ‘Music Sweet Music’.
Leading toward his upcoming debut album, set for release in 2026, ‘Music Sweet Music’ shifts from a heavier rub of ska along strong Celtic folk in ‘Cross and sword’ to an upbeat folk-driven tune. Self-produced and performed, ‘Music Sweet Music’ is a feel-good melody calming audiences and easily played as one of those songs at a folk festival, or the song you sing with friends at karaoke night, swaying along and tapping your feet while your mate buys another round at the bar.
A charming concoction of acoustic guitar, fiddle, percussion, and some horns flickering now and then, ‘Music Sweet Music’ is just that: music, sweet music. With the promise of an album in the new year, I will have to content myself just playing Melia’s current material over and over and over… I highly recommend this artist and will be keeping my eye on him.
Find out more about Brendan Melia on his Facebook, X, Instagram, Bandcamp and Spotify.
This artist was sent to us via Jawdropper Music.
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