24th June | The Marble Factory
You may recall a voice that somehow fitted so seamlessly, so delicately, in sync and pitch-perfect alongside Damien Rice’s, in ‘The Blower’s Daughter’. A wonderful form of musical storytelling, brought together to move you to the core – and so, Lisa Hannigan, the mysterious voice behind the sensitive, elevated moments on 2002’s album O, took her place in time, and in space.
You see, memories are the essence of our longing for times passed. Nostalgic, sometimes unreliable, yet always pungent – we fixate on the moments that give us a hook to hang our proverbial hat, a means to make sense of our self, and hope for the future (a fleeting thought that might propel us forwards). For Lisa Hannigan, citing an earliest memory of singing along to a Joni Mitchell song alongside her Mother and brother in the car on a family holiday to Cork, aged just three years old, perhaps it was inevitable that she would grow up to become an incredibly defined vocalist and songwriter in her own right.
Lisa Hannigan has released three studio solo albums to date, including her most recent (2016) At Swim featuring the haunting track ‘Prayer for the Dying’. Produced by Aaron Dessner, of The National, the album stands out for its simplicity, and almost celestial beauty.
If you ever saw the film, ‘Once’, featuring (and written by) Glen Hansard, you will understand the power of serendipity – the sheer force that music has, on reaching out to the world, pulling strangers from the shadows, and giving substance to the mundane. In the story, busking musician (Glen Hansard) struggles to make his living, hopping between a day job in his father’s vacuum repair shop in Dublin, and playing his self-composed songs on the streets at dusk. When his music connects with a kindred spirit passing by, they strike up a friendship, begin writing songs together, and embark on a musical journey that neither could have predicted. It’s poignant, heartfelt and everything you hope for – an ode to all the lost voices, the passionate musicians who never quite make it from the periphery and into the light, and ultimately, a prayer for the perseverance of the human soul.
Lisa teamed up with Glen Hansard to perform ‘Falling Slowly’, taken from the aforementioned film, ‘Once’ – a duet that lingers sentimentally and seems to gather the debris from the depths of your soul. And isn’t it true, when they say, we’re just passing through. But we’ve still got time.
Catch the incredible Lisa Hannigan at The Marble Factory on 24th June. Tickets available here. Listen to ‘Little Bird’ below.
