With vocal hints of Sinéad Lohan, Michael Stipe, and Agnes Obel, a nod towards Ger Wolfe’s storytelling, an international songwriting award (UKSC 2014), a dusting of Steve Reich, and the distant thump of early-90s grunge and late-90s electro, the Leitrim singer-songwriter’s début album, produced by Daragh Dukes, is a bold and striking testament to the value of quiet conscientiousness in a culture where quiet voices can all-too-often go unheard. In her own words:
“I wanted to create something deeply honest, and I knew I could only do that if I peeled back every shred of pretense I could find in my body. I didn’t care how long it took – I didn’t see the point of doing it any other way.”
Four years in the making, Ailie Blunnie’s much-anticipated début album, ‘West to the Evening Sun’, is released November 10th at Dublin Unitarian Church, with special guests, Laetare Vocal Ensemble.
‘West to the Evening Sun’ takes an emotionally vibrant journey through soundscapes of hope and loss, urban and Celtic, myth and magic:
“This album extends beyond innovative musical arrangements, even beyond the skill of poetic, expressive lyrics. Blunnie’s songs are transcendent and transporting.”(Colleen Taylor, Irish Echo, New York)
From Leitrim, Ailie grew up steeped in the stillness and beauty of the north-west. Her college studies took her east – first music, and later, psychology and psychotherapy – and, now based in Dublin, she uses elements from her experiences, rural to city, arts to science, to craft a sound-world that is expansive yet hauntingly intimate.
‘West to the Evening Sun’ will be available to buy on Ailie’s website, and to stream/download on all the usual online platforms, from November 10th.
“A taster from the Leitrim singer-songwriter’s forthcoming début album shows a craftswoman who knows the right measure of guile and atmospherics which a soundscape of this majesty requires.” (Jim Carroll, Irish Times)
- Friday 10th November: Dublin Unitarian Church , 7.30pm. €10.
- Friday 17th November: The Dock Arts Centre, Carrick on Shannon, 8.30pm. €15/12.
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Website: ailieblunnie.com / Facebook: @ailiemusic / Twitter: @AilieBlunnie
