From Carlow, IrelandRecommended if you like The Mary Wallopers, Chappell Roan, AnohniUp next SlutTrad EP out now, UK and Ireland tour starts in OctoberAt a recent London show, SexyTadhg – real name Tadhg Griffin – appeared in a glittering pink corset, channelling high-camp cabaret. And then, they started playing the fiddle.This, per the name of their latest EP, is SlutTrad, bringing pop exuberance together with Irish traditional music via vocals, piano and said instrument. Griffin grew up playing fiddle and singing Sean-nós (old-style Irish) vocals, but pulled away in their teen years – with a growing understanding of their own queerness came an uneasy sense that the trad scene didn’t have space for someone like them.But the continuing folk revival and rise of groups such as Biird and the Mary Wallopers showed Griffin that Irish trad could be a broad church and that by creating within it, they could help foster inclusivity. Hence, their recording of Róisín Dubh, a standard of Ireland’s political music sung in haunting a cappella, marking Griffin’s arresting homecoming to Sean-nós singing.Spanning rollicking folk-rock, disco, burlesque-y big-band jazz and blues, this latest EP feels like the SexyTadhg vision has been realised: the playful energy of Townie Girl, their nod to upbeat alcopop-fuelled 00s Euro house topped with quickfire lilting lyrics; the Corrs-style harmonies on the melancholy Therapist’s Knife; even the delicate layers of synth and vocals reminiscent of Anohni on Lavender Corcra.For all the near-frenetic genre fluidity, the thing that really unites SlutTrad is SexyTadhg’s total sense of freedom. Queering trad, marrying heart and heritage in a boundless voice, no telling where it might venture yet. Tara JoshiThis week’s best new tracksAlmost romantic … J Hus. Photograph: Eva Pentel​J Hus – Moonlight