Sailing Stones: Slow Magic (KHL Records) ★★★★☆It will be a surprise if another Irish album released this year is more insightful than Slow Magic, the second LP from the Bristol-based Irish singer-songwriter Jenny Lindfors. She wrote its 12 songs, which are themed around the physical, emotional and psychological moods that arrive with motherhood, after the birth of her daughter, six years ago. Channelling wonder, heartache, sleep deprivation, isolation and anger into a collection that, she says, “spoke to my joy and my pain”, the songs, which she also produced, are beautifully textured examples of glistening folk-pop-psych pitched into a sweet spot somewhere between Pentangle, Saint Etienne and The Beach Boys. Shark School: Selachimorpha (Strange Brew) ★★★☆☆“If Wet Leg and Nirvana had a child and raised it with Catholic guilt, that would be these gals” is a decent enough self-description by this Galway trio of Nora Staunton, on guitar and vocals, Peggy Ford, on bass, and Meg Bruce, on drums. For the past three years they’ve thrown their shared angst into the maws of scrappy riot grrrl/garage punk. What might have sounded like amateur hour back then now sounds far more consistent and orderly. The proof is in the songs: Gnashing Teeth makes a righteous noise, Don’t Trust a Man delivers its message assuredly, and When I See Her has the kind of precision dynamics more experienced bands might envy.Shimmer Boy: In the Aftermath, We Bloom (Shimmer Records) ★★★☆☆Aaron O’Sullivan has been fine-tuning songs for this debut album for more than 15 years. He was interrupted by spells looking at the world through the bottom of a glass; now, after what he says is more than two years sober, a renewed sense of clarity has impelled O’Sullivan to deliver a batch of songs that thrum with lived experience. Taking particular guidance from the likes of Sam Fender (All My Friends, Under the Surface), Snow Patrol (The Only Thing You Need Is Love) and Dermot Kennedy (Mine Again, Temporary Comfort), the album might occasionally wobble under the weight of its influences, but cumulative emotional gravity holds it together.Killian Walsh: Ise (Ardchumhacht) ★★★★☆Killian Walsh created this album’s mostly instrumental electronic tracks during a transformative period following the deaths of his wife and father. Knowing that painful background makes listening to Ise a more profound experience; even if you didn’t, you’d still be carried aloft by the music’s pure emotional heft. Extended mixes (Squirrel, Harvest Moon and Ardchumhacht) are object lessons in sonic immersion, while firmer tracks (such as Let’s Play Bongos, Let’s Dance and, especially, Let’s Float) are toe-tappers of the highest order.Zaska: Nectar (Zaska Music) ★★★★☆Over the past decade and a half, Max Zaska has been one of the primary instigators of Ireland’s neosoul music scene, working with the likes of Hozier, Loah and Wyvern Lingo. His third album continues the seamless thread of previous work, mixing jazz, hip-hop, funk, disco, future soul and R&B. What makes it stand out is the creative range. Your sun-heavy summer soundtrack starts here, with sand-skimming songs such as Wanna Go (featuring Gemma Dunleavy), Into You (featuring Shiv), No Right Time (featuring Melina Malone), Blockbuster (featuring J Smith), and Dust (featuring Shiv and Dunleavy).