By Maria Rocks
Artist Spotlight: Sinead O'Brien
Meet post-punk Irish poet Sinead O'Brien...
Originally from Limerick, O’Brien’s work captures the everyday and the in between in a way that transcends any genre label. Writing from her own observations, O’Brien’s influences can be found in the realism of Mark E. Smith of The Fall, Patti Smith and The Slits, and the works of literary icons such Frank O’Hara, W.B. Yeats, Joan Didion and Albert Camus.
Tell us a bit about yourself?
'I’m Sinead O’Brien. I released my debut album “Time Bend And Break The Bower” in June and I’m preparing to tour it around the UK, IRELAND & EUROPE in September and October.'
Tell us a bit about your latest album ‘Time Bend and Break The Bower’?
'I want the notion of poetry to move into a contemporary space. I thought about becoming undressed on this record; testing my ideas, my voice, working myself out across themes of identity, curiosity, creative process. Experimenting with the form and shape of language and using tone and delivery to get to the immediate centre of what I am saying, the record opens and closes with poems.
Strands of the imagery are influenced by Ireland - They’re ritualistic marks on the album. Stories and things I’ve grown up with but the ideas are subverted now, upturned. I move through them to talk about other things, but they are there.'
How does it feel to be playing at King Tut's?
'I’m excited to get back to Glasgow! The last time I played there it was mad. There was such a raw, alive energy coming from the crowd and it reminded me of Ireland in a way.'
What inspired you to start writing music?
'I began and still do begin with poems. I write the lyrics before anything else and I go to the words for the direction, the tone, tempo and mood. They tell me everything about how the song should be.'