Tolü Makay's N17 cover was a New Year's highlight - here's why 2021 will be her year

The cover, broadcast on RTÉ was watched over 600,000 times in 24 hours. And it's put Tolu Makay centre stage for 2021, says Ed Power

Tolu Makay Photographer Donal Murphy.

When soul singer Tolü Makay covered the Saw Doctors’ emigration anthem N17 with the RTE Concert Orchestra as part of the broadcaster’s New Year’s Eve schedule, she was overcome with emotion. N17 was a lament for boggy, soggy Ireland from the perspective of an emigrant in America. But for Nigerian-born, Tullamore-raised Makay, the undertow of yearning had a powerful contemporary edge.

“I really miss home and the people that make me feel at home. And I miss not being able to see them. That was the feeling I put into it.”