Beauty Sleep – Shortlisted For NI Music Prize

Indie-pop duo Beauty Sleep (Cheylene Murphy and Ryan McGroarty) have been shortlisted for Album of the Year at the NI Music Prize for their acclaimed sophomore album, The Whole Damn Cake, released via Alcopop! Records in 2025.

The duo were also longlisted for Live Act of the Year and Best Single for “You (You’re All I Wanted)” whose music video has surpassed 40,000 views on YouTube.

Blending dreamy synth-pop, 80s punk-rock energy and euphoric hooks, The Whole Damn Cake has earned a 9.5/10 review from Earmilk and ranked as the fourth-highest-rated indie album of 2025 on Album of the Year. Drawing comparisons to New Order, Magdalena Bay and The B-52s, the album has helped propel the duo onto stages at 2000 Trees, Stendhal Festival, Queerphoria and Fleadh Fringe Festival, alongside headlining Pride stages at Belfast and Derry City Halls in summer 2026.

Beauty Sleep will perform at the NI Music Prize at Belfast’s Ulster Hall on November 11th, celebrating a standout year for the independent Irish act.

“We are delighted to be nominated for Album of the Year at the NI Music Prize this year and even more excited to perform. We don’t need any encouragement to bring the most maximalist party on earth to any show, but this time we’ll really outdo ourselves.”

To mark the occasion, Beauty Sleep will release a remix of The Whole Damn Cake opener, “Up For Air”, by indie-scene favourite Drew Makes Noise on November 4th. The remix transforms the original’s yearning introspection into a darker, dancefloor-ready rush, capturing the determination and self-belief at the heart of the album.

“‘Up For Air’ is about figuring out who you are,” says Ryan McGroarty. “It charts the uncertainty of not being sure where you are in the journey – the beginning, middle or end. Life is made of these liminal moments, there’s no spoilers for what’s next. We’ve been longtime fans of Drew Makes Noise and they’ve perfectly channelled the song’s energy into a dark explosion of danceable determination. This remix isn’t about being lost, it’s about drive, effort and certainty”

Drew Makes Noise says: “When Beauty Sleep sent me a pre-release copy of The Whole Damn Cake, I was really taken aback and knew I was hearing a blinder of an album. Straight out of the gate, ‘Up For Air’ grabbed me right in the feels with its yearning sentiment and New Order/Pet Shop Boys-esque vocal delivery. I thought – if I’ve any sense I’ll remix a single, but I have no sense and couldn’t get past how much I dug it. Hope you enjoy my self-indulgent reimagining with such an awesome song.”

BEAUTY SLEEP LIVE DATES

31st October: Punkoween Matinee Show, Oh Yeah Centre, Belfast

11th November: NI Music Prize, Ulster Hall, Belfast