B-Side the Leeside: Marlene Enright lives her dream with Placemats And Second Cuts

The latest in our series on Cork's greatest records looks back to the Choice Prize-nominated debut from the Bantry singer-songwriter

Marlene Enright.

Late last year, back when such things were still possible, Marlene Enright got on a plane with her boyfriend and flew across the Pacific Ocean from Chile to New Zealand’s South Island.

The couple had backpacked around South America for the previous three months, taking in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Argentina. Now they were bound for the Antipodes for four weeks.

This was the trip of a lifetime, arranged relatively quickly after Enright felt she had reached a crossroads. The previous August, she had stepped away from her job as music booker for the White Horse bar and venue in Ballincollig, Co Cork. Enright had worked there four and a half years, bringing artists such as Lisa Hannigan and Declan O’Rourke to the Cork suburb.

But now it was time to move on and to work towards her dream of opening a music school. As she jetted away, the Bantry native was also thinking about her songwriting. The three-year anniversary of her debut LP Placemats and Second Cuts, would soon be approaching.

Warmly received on release, Placemats and Second Cuts gained Enright a national profile. And it earned her a Choice Music Prize nomination, for year’s best album. It’s still worth discovering, with avant-garde touches that recall Bon Iver and classic country-rock melodies that yank at the heartstrings.

Placemats and Second Cuts was, in a way, the reason she found herself in a plane above Chile in 2019. Enright had always wanted to travel. However, her burning ambition to write and record had taken priority for the previous decade and a half. With the success of the album vindicating her desire to be a recording artist, a huge personal box had been ticked. Perhaps now, at last, she could fulfill her dream of seeing the world.

“It was really brilliant to get nominated,” says Enright, back in Cork and taking time off from her temping job ahead of the opening of her music school. “I really wasn’t expecting it. As an independent artist, it isn’t as if I have thousands of followers on Facebook. I think I was a bit of a wild-card.” 

EARLY DAYS 

Enright was born in Bantry in West Cork in 1985. She received a music degree from UCC. Following college, she returned to Bantry where she taught piano. After that, she moved once again to Cork City, working in administration positions with the Cope Foundation and Corcadorca theatre company. Later, she went to Dublin for a diploma in public relations and event management from the Fitzwilliam Institute. And then came a dream gig at the White Horse gastro-pub and venue in Ballincollig where she booked acts and helped organise the annual Winter Music Festival.

“I really loved that job,” she says. “Don’t get me wrong. It can be hard and frustrating sometimes. But it is really enjoyable when you get a band you know your audience is going to like. For instance, I booked Martha Wainwright and her sister Lucy Wainwright Roche for the second Winter Music Festival [in 2016]. They were really funny and fantastic to meet.” 

GROWING HYPE 

Enright came late to songwriting and only started playing seriously in bands at around the age of 20. In the city, she fronted alt-country outfit the Hard Ground, which gained a local following and put out two well-received albums. The ultimate dream, though, was a solo record. She accumulated songs over the years and by late 2015 had finally resolved to do something with them.

“I was listening to a lot of Feist,” she says of that time, referencing the cult Canadian singer. “And Cathy Davey. I liked her quirkiness and her confident style.”

ON RECORD 

Enright wanted to record in an environment where she felt relaxed and at home. So why not at HER home? Working with O Emperor drummer Brendan Fennessy she transformed her semi-d in Ballinlough on the southside of the city into a studio. There, over a process of months, starting in 2015 and continuing through into 2016, and at a cost she didn’t dare keep tabs on, she put together Placemats and Second Cuts.

“Houses aren't designed acoustically to be a recording space, so that can potentially be a bit of a headache but that's all part of the fun,” says Fennessy.

“Thankfully, her living room worked nicely for drums. We set up Dave Ryan, on drums, and Hugh Dillon, on guitar, in here and set up Hugh's guitar amp in an upstairs bedroom. 

"Eoin Walsh, on bass, and Maz were in another living room with me, which I had set up as the control room. It all worked very well. We had some other good spaces for different sounds – like a conservatory, the kitchen and as I recall the 'jacks' was used too. All great albums should involve a jacks recording.

“My mum used to say the lyrics were too complicated,” adds Enright. “That I needed to be more direct. I took that on a little bit. At a personal level it’s hard. There are lot of personal details, a lot of emotions. All things are bared when it comes to lyrics.”

O Emperor’s Fennessy recalls:

“The house was cozy and I was getting some unreal home-cooked dinners,. This makes a change from the place where I usually record, which is fairly dungeon-like. It was all very civilised.

“But the atmosphere was also great. Everyone was really sound and it was one of those recording sessions where you forget you're working. Everything flowed pretty well and everyone was on the same page most of the time. Recording sessions can be such a pain for everyone involved, which is crazy. It really shouldn't be that way. So it's nice to work on sessions like this.”

WHAT CAME NEXT 

Marlene Enright album

Placemats and Second Cuts received widespread acclaim. “We released four singles leading up the album, 123, Alchemy, Underbelly and The Water is Hot. Each one was more and more popular with presenters and journalists. It built a buzz about Marlene,” remembers Mags Blackburn, the publicist who worked on the album for music PR firm Blue Monkey.

“By the time we released Placemats and Second Cuts people wanted to be involved. Of course, there are challenges along the way. You are starting a campaign with an artist who is a blank slate and whose profile you have to build.” 

And then came the Choice nomination, which further raised Enright’s profile – outside Cork in particular (the prize ultimately went to electro duo Ships for Precession).

“There is a huge volume of independent music being released these days, so it can be hard to be heard, even if your stuff is great,” says O Emperor’s Fennessy. “I imagine that can be very frustrating. For many artists, the recording process is where all the great stuff happens.

“By comparison the process of putting it out into the world can be weighed down with all sorts of existential turmoil. I find the whole Choice Music format – like many things in the music industry – a bit strange to be honest, but, if it ends up being beneficial, then great.

“After a while an album starts to wind down,” says Enright. “This gave it a bit of life. I was able to put out another single, do a run of gigs. The Choice definitely helped.” 

WHERE IS SHE NOW?

In February, Enright released a new EP, Petrichor, recorded with the assistance of a Cork City Council Arts Office bursary. 

She will open a music school, Curious Keys, in Bantry and Bandon in September.