Posts Tagged ‘Folk’
Lisa Hannigan at Arts Club, Liverpool, 21.10.16
Lisa Hannigan plays the Arts Club, Liverpool, tonight (October 21st, 2016), showcasing some of the tracks from her third studio album, ‘At Swim’ (released August 19th, 2016).
Produced by Aaron Dessner, guitarist with The National, the 11-track offering features some of Hannigan’s best and most sentimental work. Tracks such as ‘Fall’, ‘Prayer for the Dying’, ‘Funeral Suit’ and ‘Anahorish’ touch upon feelings of love, loss and isolation, whilst others such as ‘Ora’ and ‘Snow’ offer a lighter shade to the almost stark, seasonal colours of autumnal and wintry darkness, weaving hope and sadness as a narrative throughout. This album puts Hannigan’s delicate and haunting vocals right at the forefront of the action and her lyrical imagery will resonate long after the last track has played.
I think this is Hannigan’s most mature and settled work to date; perhaps ironic given the fact that she has since stated that it was written during a particularly difficult time of insecurity and instability. I find that it is during such times, when you question yourself and your achievements and motivations with the most intensity, that you are the closest you’ll ever be to exhibiting your true self. How does the saying go; to make yourself vulnerable is to show your strength, and Hannigan certainly does that with this collection of tender brilliance.
shelleyhanveywriter
Getting lovingly reacquainted with some old favourites
I am loving Apple’s new music streaming service: Apple Music, which is initially available on a three month free trial basis before introducing membership fees from £9.99 per month for individual users.
I tired of Spotify a while ago and only occasionally listen to user playlists, mainly due to the complicated navigation required to access your favourite genres or albums. This is the best feature of Apple Music in my opinion – you’re asked for your favourite genres and artists and your ‘For You’ tab is customised on a daily basis with albums which fit in with your preferences.
Unsurprisingly I have fitted firmly in to the country-pop-rock category and have been getting lovingly reacquainted with some old favourites : Carrie Underwood’s ‘Some Hearts’ (2005), Alicia Keys’ ‘The Element of Freedom'(2009) and Bon Iver’s ‘For Emma, Forever Ago’ (2008) to name but a few. I also love that Apple compiles playlists of notable songwriters and producers such as Max Martin and Xenomania.
Pop is unashamedly my greatest passion; artists such as Jennifer Lopez, Janet Jackson, Backstreet Boys, Madonna, Christina Aguilera and of course, Britney Spears, just sound better with each passing year. 1998 to 2005 has to be the amongst the best seven years of music to date, surely?
shelleyhanveywriter 🙂
Damien Rice at The Albert Hall, Manchester 11.06.15
So, after an eight year wait the day finally arrived for me to once more enjoy an evening in the company of – in my opinion – the greatest singer-songwriter of my lifetime.
Damien Rice performed at the Albert Hall, Manchester (June 11th, 2015), with support from Lucy Rose. It would be fair to say that I was pretty ecstatic at having got tickets for this show; one of only three to be performed in the UK.
Rice released ‘My Favourite Faded Fantasy’, his third studio album, late last year to critical acclaim. The album contains just eight tracks but they each showcase Rice’s literary and musical genius. I have a couple of standout favourites: ‘The Greatest Bastard’, ‘Trusty and True’ and ‘I Don’t Want to Change You’. I struggle to seperate the eight however as they all feature different elements that I love. I’ve always found Rice’s work to almost mirror my own life experiences, particularly in relationships. Perhaps that’s why I relate to them so much and find his live performances such a cathartic experience.
Rice doesn’t use set lists, so each live show is truly unique for his fans. In Manchester he performed a selection of old and new tracks, with classics such as ‘Cannonball’, ‘The Blower’s Daughter’, ‘Volcano’ and ‘Nine Crimes’ thrown in for good measure and to great applause from the audience. Having been to see Rice three times now, I definitely witnessed a visibly more jubilant and chatty performer who was trading jokes with the crowd, recalling funny stories from previous gigs and his personal life and just generally seeming more upbeat than ever before. I have always found Rice’s personal brand of intensity and broodiness particularly appealing and quite seductive…yes I have a major crush on the man, just putting it out there! He reflected on the possible reasons for his downbeat demeanour in the past; the pressure of artistic expectations, relationships, money etc, but said that after “speaking to someone who specialises in these things“, he found that by stripping all of these things away, he was left with a much happier person who discovered that it might actually be nice to let people in and not shut yourself off so much. Who knew?!
It was great to hear some of Rice’s more recent tracks performed live, including ‘The Box’ and ‘Long, Long Way’. I’d have personally preferred less of the old and more of the new, but that is simply due to how much I love his latest album. With a new record in the pipeline, I’m sure there will be other opportunities to catch a live show and hear those tracks that he didn’t get chance to perform this time round.
All in all, one of the top 3 live shows ever for me; with Rice occupying 2 of those positions now.
shelleyhanveywriter 🙂
Thank you for the music – Noah and the Whale say goodbye
A piece of news has made me somewhat glum today.
One of the original bands in the British folk revival scene, Noah and the Whale, have decided to call it a day.
The band made their announcement via their official Facebook page:
“Dear Friends
Noah and the Whale have decided to call it a day.
We have had an incredible eight years together and are immensely grateful to everyone who has helped us along the way.
There are too many people to mention in this short message but we would like to take this opportunity to give special thanks to all of our amazing fans, who have supported us so magnificently over the years and made everything possible.
Love,
NATW”
Noah and the Whale are the reason I started listening to folk music back in 2009. They introduced me to Laura Marling, Johnny Flynn and Emmy the Great and brought two albums in to my collection which are both examples of pure lyrical and melodic perfection: ‘Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down’ (2008) and ‘The First Days of Spring’ (2009). The band later took a more alt-rock path which, whilst I still appreciated, I did prefer their earlier folk work.
‘Rocks and Daggers’ and ‘5 Years Time’ are two of my all time favourite songs.
So, Charlie and the boys – Thank you for the words, the sounds, the amazing live shows and the memories.
I’ll always be pretty happy when I’m just kicking back with you.
http://www.noahandthewhale.com / @noahandthewhale
shelleyhanveywriter 🙂
O’Brien, Blasket Islands and a clear day of summer
Villagers release a third studio album, ‘Darling Arithmetic’ (IRE: April 10th, UK/EU: April 13th, US: April 14th, 2015 via Domino Records) in a couple of months and have given us a taste of what’s to come with the stunning single, ‘Courage’. Few things bring me such peace as listening to Conor J O’Brien…perhaps if I was driving towards Slea Head on a clear day of summer, gazing out across the sea to the Blasket Islands with the track on repeat, this would be the only imaginable improvement to the experience. I fully anticipate this album being a contender for the 2015 Mercury Prize if this track is anything to go by.
Track List
1. ‘Courage’
2. ‘Everything I Am Is Yours’
3. ‘Dawning On Me’
4. ‘Hot Scary Summer’
5. ‘The Soul Serene’
6. ‘Darling Arithmetic’
7. ‘Little Bigot’
8. ‘No-one To Blame’
9. ‘So Naïve’
The band will tour the UK, Ireland and Europe in April/May, 2015 and tickets go on presale this coming Wednesday at 9am (February 11th, 2015) via the official website below.
shelleyhanveywriter 🙂
I Don’t Want To Change You
The second full length track has been released from Damien Rice‘s upcoming third album, ‘My Favourite Faded Fantasy’ (Ireland – October 31st, 2014, UK & EU – November 3rd, 2014, Australia and NZ – November 7th, 2014).
‘I Don’t Want To Change You’ is as reflective, emotive and orchestral as you might expect, but there is a definite shift in tone from the bitter frankness of tracks such as ‘Rootless Tree’ and ‘Me, My Yoke and I’, as featured on 2006’s ‘9‘. Perhaps, after his time away from the spotlight, Rice has found some inner stillness and finally made peace with his history and histrionics. I rather hope not, because no one does heartbreak and repressed rage quite like him. ‘Elephant’ is my second favourite Rice track (unsurprisingly perhaps, given that it was said to be originally titled ‘The Blower’s Daughter, Pt. 2’). The last sentence is so perfect: “well you can both keep me pinned, ’cause it’s easier to tease, but you can’t make me happy, quite as good as me…well you know that’s a lie“. Just like Rice to flip the entire meaning of a track in the last six words.
All of the U.S. and European tour dates recently released have sold out, and tickets are selling online via auction sites for up to £2,000. I’m keeping everything crossed for more UK dates and will post details as soon as I get them.
shelleyhanveywriter 🙂
Bad boys and tortured souls
In various ways and at different times, I’ve felt a lack of love over the past few years. It is my belief that this began when someone really influential and significant left my life.
That person was Damien Rice.
It was 2004 and I had been introduced to the wonder that is Rice’s debut album, ‘O‘. It’s fair to say that it was infatuation at first listen and so began my emotionally fulfilling, yet completely one-sided love affair with one of the great Irish poets and performers of our time. We went on to laugh, cry and share such special moments in each other’s company. He brought my favourite female singer-songwriter, Lisa Hannigan, in to my life and accompanied me to a gig that I will never forget. He provided the soundtrack to one of my favourite films, Closer, and in my young and hopeful naivety I truly believed that nothing would ever change.
And then he left.
Not a word for 8 years. I heard a rumour of overgrown beards, mountainside retreats in Tibet and a possible loss of muse, but after a series of disheartening social media searches, I reluctantly realised that I had to move on and I really thought I had. Of course there were the six-monthly rumination periods were I would just sit and wonder how things fell apart, but on the whole I was doing ok.
Then something happened…
Rice surprised everyone this week by announcing the release of his third studio album, ‘My Favourite Faded Fantasy’ (Ireland – October 31st, 2014, UK & EU – November 3rd, 2014, Australia and NZ – November 7th, 2014) and providing a teaser video of the track. Online hype is huge, as is to be expected for an artist whose debut album went 10x Platinum in his native country. I think it would be no exaggeration to state that this is surely the most anticipated album of 2014.
To quote Loz herself…”I feel like I’ve been trying to cover this up – I still love him. I try to convince myself that I’m over him, but I’m not”.
I feel your pain Loz – your armed robber bad boy is my tortured soul Irish crooner.
shelleyhanveywriter 🙂
“Pop in disguise”; the kittenish sounds of new singer-songwriter, Fiona Bevan
I was reading the list of ‘Most Successful UK Songwriters of 2013’ over the weekend, as published in The Independent on February 11th, 2014.
It was Music Week that collated the list and to clarify – the songwriters did not have to originate from the UK as the list was compiled based on songwriters’ “shares” of the credit for the UK’s 100 biggest-selling singles of the year. The list reads as follows:
1. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis
2. Pharrell Williams
3. The Smeezingtons (including Bruno Mars)
4. Ryan Tedder
5. Mike Rosenberg (Passenger)
6. Dan Smith (Bastille)
7. Avicii
8. Thomas Bangalter and Guy Manuel (Daft Punk)
9. Jeremy Fraites and Wesley Schultz (The Lumineers)
10. Max Martin
I found the absence of any double x chromosomes particularly depressing, especially given the number of great female songwriters that the music industry has to offer. Obviously this is just a snapshot in time and isn’t meant to reflect the state of the industry as a whole, but it kind of does…doesn’t it? There are clearly several prolific and widely regarded female songwriters on the scene at the moment: Sia Furler (who occupied the number 2 spot in 2012), Ellie Goulding (19th, 2013), Taylor Swift (11th, 2013), Lady Gaga (100th, 2013), Laura Marling and Emile Sande to name but a few, but it would appear that either a. their sales are predominantly album-driven or b. they are co-writing some of their most successful material. Max Martin co-wrote Swift’s ’22’ and ‘I Knew You Were Trouble’, as well as Katy Perry’s ‘Roar’ and quite evidently has the golden touch when it comes to penning hit records. He gave us ‘Baby One More Time’ and the wondrous Britney Spears, need I say more.
One such female who is hoping to navigate her way to the top of this list is Suffolk-born, Colchester-raised, Fiona Bevan. Bevan has already established herself as an in-demand songwriter on an international scale. As well as commissions for film, classical compositions, and a Tate exhibition, she also co-wrote ‘Little Things’ with Ed Sheeran, which went on to become a No.1 single for One Direction. Bevan releases her debut single, ‘The Machine’ on March 1oth, 2014 on Navigator Records. The track is the first single to be taken from ‘Talk To Strangers’, Bevan’s debut album set for release on April 28th, 2014.
Bevan describes her debut album as “pop in disguise”. An accurate depiction of the material I’d say; I hear strong folk and acoustic rock influences coming through which put me in mind of Joanna Newsom, Bella Hardy and Lisa Hannigan. Fine company, folkies amongst me will agree. Bevan’s vocals, like Hannigan’s, are beautifully hypnotic, perfectly blending her delicate, kittenish tone with the jaunty beats of her acoustic guitar. Bevan’s look is as unique and stunning as her artistry and I predict big things for her in 2014.
www.fionabevan.co.uk / www.twitter.com/fionabevan
shelleyhanveywriter 🙂
This week I’m mostly listening to: Banks, Charlene Soraia and James Vincent McMorrow
This week I’m mostly listening to…
Banks is an electronic soul singer, keyboardist and songwriter from LA. ‘Waiting Game’ is the first track to appear on her debut EP entitled ‘London’ (September 10th , 2013). The EP showcases Banks’s sultry, emotive and soulful vocals perfectly and as a result, critics and musical peers alike have been quick to namecheck the LA native in their top tips for 2014. Katy Perry is a big fan and she has excellent taste in music; she brought the amazing School of Seven Bells to my attention. Banks is a highly commercial and image-driven artist, in a similar fashion to Lana Del Rey. She appears to have the full package and I would be very surprised if she wasn’t sitting firmly in the UK album charts by this time next year.
Charlene Soraia has released a new music video for her track, ‘Standing Stone’, which is also free to download on her Facebook page. The music video was a collaboration between Soraia and her fans – she asked fans to send in pictures of themselves with family and loved ones, in the hope that they might be featured in the retrospective visual.
Soraia is preparing to release her second album ‘Love Is The Law’ later this year. Like many people, I’ve been a fan of hers since hearing her cover of ‘Wherever You Will Go’ in 2011 and it’s been great to see the development in both her songwriting and artistic style. Soraia has a close relationship with her fans and facilitates this through her various social media channels. You get the impression that she is just an ordinary, down to earth girl with an extraordinary vocal talent that even she doesn’t quite know what to do with yet. Unaffected: the best quality one can have.
‘Cavalier’ is taken from James Vincent McMorrow‘s upcoming second album ‘Post Tropical’, to be released on January 13th, 2014 (UK/US). The record features music that McMorrow describes himself as preferring to listen to. Debut album ‘Early in the Morning’ (2011) was heavily folk-influenced, whilst this collection leans more towards the softer side of R&B and has been categorised somewhere between Antony And The Johnsons and James Blake. McMorrow’s appeal for me has always been his lyrical sentimentality delivered via his stunning falsetto. He makes these songwriting and vocal qualities appear effortless and simplistic and these elements of his artistry are as prominent as ever on this record. I expect this album to do very well in 2014.
www.hernameisbanks.com / @hernameisbanks
www.charlenesoraia.com / @CharleneSoraia
www.jamesvmcmorrow.com / @jamesvmcmorrow
shelleyhanveywriter 🙂
Doused in autumnal colours and feeling quite wonderful; Agnes Obel’s ‘Aventine’
It’s been a while,
I know I shouldn’t have kept you waiting,
But I’m here now…
Sorry, this introduction will be lost on all the non-Britney fans out there. I am using her splendid first few lines of Blackout album track ‘Break The Ice’ to acknowledge my short break from my bloggerly duties, as I have been holidaying, studying and becoming better acquainted with parrots (there was a bar, there was a cocktail and there was an undisclosed incontinency issue). Never the less, we made friends and I now consider myself to be a fully fledged friend of the macaw. I even got a “twit-twoooo!” as I left the favoured drinking haunt of my new feathered pal.
I digress.
I was excited to hear the newly released second album, ‘Aventine’, (September 30th, 2013) from Danish folk singer-songwriter, Agnes Obel, this week.
I first became aware of Obel after hearing one of her songs on Revenge; my favourite new tv show of recent years. Obel’s track, ‘Riverside’ was perfect for the episode in question: chilling, full of suspense and rich with emotion. Roll on January 2014 when Emily/Amanda returns to E4 and my questionable crush on Nolan can reach new heights.
My favourite tracks from the new album include ‘Dorian’ and ‘Fuel To Fire’.
Obel will be playing the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) in Manchester next year (April 17th, 2014), which will definitely be a must-see show. Obel’s captivating and calming tones will complement the illustrious yet cosy backdrop of this great venue. Obel’s stage demeanour might be unassuming, but her music holds such presence as it completely transports you to another place – in the case of ‘Aventine’, this place is doused in autumnal colours and feels quite wonderful.
shelleyhanveywriter 🙂
shelleyhanveywriter 