Sinéad O'Brien: Limerick singer talks music, fashion and approval from Liam Gallagher
Sinead O'Brien releases Time Bend and Break the Bower on June 10.
When Limerick songwriter and poet Sinéad O’Brien arrived at Alexandra Palace Theatre in London for a recent appearance on the BBC’s Later With Jools Holland, she was surprised to discover her dressing room was next door to that of Liam Gallagher.
“He was so lovely,” says O’Brien over Zoom from her London flat, ahead of the release this Friday of her debut album, Time Bend and Break the Bower. “He came up after the show and pointed a straw at me. It was like, ‘that was good’. It was so nice: his little seal of approval.”
Gallagher would have been impressed at how completely and irresistibly O’Brien dominated the Alexandra Palace stage as she performed her single Holy Country. A pain-stripping mash-up of slam poetry and fire and brimstone rock – think an Irish combination of Patti Smith and PJ Harvey in their prime – the track blew the shutters off the BBC’s venerable music series. It was also the perfect introduction to O’Brien and her singular blend of rhyme and reverb.
Everything O’Brien does seems effortless and catalysed by an irrepressible insouciance. Whether under spotlights or in her music, she radiates a ferocious cool. And yet, talking over video she is unassuming and plainspoken, with little evidence of the drop-dead nonchalance that is a signature of her stage persona. It has, she explains, been a long journey from her upbringing in the Limerick suburb of Corbally to Alexandra Palace and a berth alongside Liam Gallagher.
That trip has had quite a few bends in the road. Having studied fashion in Dublin, she worked in Paris for John Galliano and then for seven years as a senior women’s wear designer with Vivienne Westwood. High-end fashion was the perfect setting in which to find herself, she says.
“In an environment such as that, with such strong personalities – and Vivienne – rather than just look at the aesthetic results [as it impacted on her as a creative person], a lot of it was internal stuff [in terms of her personal development],” she says. “Finding my voice inside a room of loud voices. My method of communication. How I work creatively. You kind of live and breathe it. The research follows you home. It seeps in. [But] at a certain point it naturally felt I wanted to prioritise music. Going on tour for two months, it’s not possible.
"That was really borrowed time. It’s not sustainable.”
O’Brien sings and enunciates in her everyday accent. She is occasionally surprised at people’s response. “I definitely want to obviously maintain my identity and my connection to Ireland,” she says. “Just because I'm not physically there all of the time… I feel so connected to home. I come home often. I stay connected to the music scene. I get such varying feedback about my accent. Some people find it very neutral – it’s like they expect a strong [Limerick] city accent. It is what it is: it hasn’t changed very much. It will not change.”
Time Bend and Break the Bower is produced by Dan Carey, a long-term collaborator with Dublin’s Fontaines DC (he worked on their third album, Skinty Fia). And he has collaborated with another performance poet, Kae Tempest.
“I recorded [early single] A List of Normal Sins with a friend of mine. It was the first thing I did, quite casually,” says O’Brien. “There was no label. For some reason I got played on BBC. They played it once. Dan heard that. It was so lucky. He didn’t remember my name. Later, at a gig, someone said, ‘my friend Dan would like your stuff’. He invited me to meet him and his wife. We decided to do something. It came about in the right way: no pressure, time to experiment. You’re working together because you get along, not because someone is looking for a producer.”
O’Brien’s music is nothing like that of The Cranberries, Limerick’s great musical gift to the world. But growing up in the city it was nonetheless an inspiration to her to see local musicians from very ordinary backgrounds achieve global success. If they could break through, what was to stop someone from Corbally excelling at the highest level in fashion and music?
“We always have this saying, ‘it’s great for Limerick’. I love it that people want to be proud of things from their city. What’s wrong with that? I don’t think anybody has a voice like [Dolores O’Riordan]. In a way, they’re a separate thing, such a unique sound. I don’t think I would think of myself [in that context]. Maybe it does seep it. What is their album title – Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We? That’s perfect. That’s it.”
Time Bend and Break the Bower is released Friday, June 10. Sinéad O’Brien tours Ireland through October, playing Cyprus Avenue Cork October 26. She also plays the All Together Now festival in July
