West Cork inspiration behind Lisa Hannigan’s new album
WHEN Lisa Hannigan was a child, she would holiday with her family in Baltimore, West Cork. She adored the beauty and tranquility of this picturesque costal village — but even then understood the sea, often calm, sometimes stormy, was not to be trifled with. It was beautiful — but dangerous too.
She drew on those half-formed memories writing her third album, At Swim. The open water became a metaphor for the limitless horizon of our lives and also for the riptides just beneath the surface, waiting to drag us off course or pull us under. The result is the Co Meath songwriter’s finest record to date — a by turns gorgeous and haunting collection of dirges and wide-eyed shanties.
