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Ireland’s punk poet offers up five songs for the road, as she tours her latest album Time Bend And Break The Bower
Image by Chloe Le Drezen
Ireland’s punk poet Sinead O’Brien calls upon inspirations which span and transcend mediums. From art to cinema, dance and photography, cultural touchstones include the likes of Helmut Newton femme fatales and Henri Cartier-Bresson’s bleak landscapes, to modern performance by Michael Clark and Michael Laub companies, to the writings of Virginia Woolf and Samuel Beckett.
The iconic artist possesses an inimitable, wry and often vicious voice, which delivers her songs of self-sabotage and identity, curiosity and experimentation with aplomb. Live, she’s joined by collaborators guitarist Julian Hanson and drummer Oscar Robertson, to produce a show which is at once minimalist and highly evocative. Catch her live at The Cluny 2, Newcastle on Sunday 9th October with support from Krush Puppies.
Here, she reveals her top five songs she enjoys listening to on the road…
1. Two of Hearts by Stacey Q
This is a recent discovery, it’s so 80’s in parts but I love the vocal hook and sampling. I think it’s actually really ahead of its time in ways.
This is for; Dancing in the changing room – pre–gig.
2. Isobel by Björk
Since her new releases I’ve dived into Björk’s back catalogue and Isobel became one of my favourites for the storytelling. This mythical character who had lived in isolation (hence the name ‘Iso-bel’) finds herself in a big city – she realises that the skyscrapers have grown up through the forest and she trains her moths to go into the city with her message for the city people to hear to function on their instincts and stop being ‘clever’.
This is for; Vocal warm ups – trying to reach impossible highs.
3. He Moves Through The Fair by Sinead O’Connor
I love this version, the clarity and purity of her voice and sincerity. The song has been absolutely slayed in later versions by other artists. This is the one.
This is for; post-show sing song in the tour van.
4. You Want It Darker by Leonard Cohen
I love the harmonies and almost religious feel of the song, well yeah it is like a hymn isn’t it.
This is for; daytime drives between cities, looking out the window and getting a feeling of peace, just for a few minutes.
5. Butterslut by LFO
This is for; blowing off steam, dancing, loosening up. A physical response to a 14 hour drive is exploding to the sound of this.
