Sinead O’Brien, a poet and performer originally from Limerick, Ireland, announces her debut EP Drowning in Blessings, set for release this summer through Chess Club Records. She shares the first single from the EP, the spoken word art-rock track “Roman Ruins.”
O’Brien explains that the inception of “Roman Ruins” stemmed from a living situation that opened her worldview.
“Written while living in the mansion with fifty people in Hampstead; a sudden realisation occurred,” O’Brien says. “It allowed me to see in the brutal light of day. The illusion was collapsed. Exploded. Statues, monuments, clay and ancient structures emerged… A hidden city. The city wants to stay hidden. This is the blind spot.”
The acclaimed poet, with bylines in the prestigious London Magazine that also published the likes of T.S. Eliot, Sylvia Plath and William Burroughs, found much of the inspiration for her musical work in everyday moments overheard through her bedroom walls.
“All four of my bedroom walls faced a different room or hallway. It was set up like a boxing ring. I could hear multiple narratives, coming from all directions even in my sleep,” O’Brien continued. “There were ‘episodes’ reeling in my mind through the night and into morning. The relentless sounds, conversations. Images from the lyrics are also heard in the musical arrangement. ‘Standing still will kill you’; This shuffling drum, checking in and out like the rug pulling from underneath the feet. Unsettling the foundations. Revealing the ground under. The drum has this magnetic raw power over the other elements—almost tidal. I love this bossiness.”
Drowning in Blessings is O’Brien’s debut EP, however she has released a string of songs since 2018, most notably “Taking on Time,” “A Thing You Call Joy” and “Fall With Me.”
Watch the lyric video for “Roman Ruins” below, and scroll further to view Sinead O’Brien’s tentative fall 2020 tour dates.
Sinead O’Brien Tour Dates:
July
02 – Barcelona, Spain @ VIDA Festival
10 – London, U.K. @ Heaven
24-25 – Hyeres, France @ MIDI Festival
August
5-16 – Winterthur, Switzerland @ Winterthurer Musikfestwochen
20-23 – Wales, U.K. @ Green Man Festival
September
4-6 – Birmingham, U.K. @ Moseley Folk Festival
October
15 – London, U.K. @ Chats Palace
16 – Manchester, U.K. @ YES (Basement)
