by David Wilikofsky
If you haven’t been paying attention, the UK has one of the most (if not the most) exciting rock scenes in the world, and Dan Carey is at the nexus of it. His label, Speedy Wunderground, feels like it is constantly putting out releases from underground artists who immediately blow up. Black Midi, Squid, and Black Country, New Road are three of the buzziest names to shoot out of its orbit, but their back catalog is deep and consistent. One of my personal favorites discoveries from the label has been Sinead O’Brien. Following a brilliant run of singles over the last year, O’Brien is now signed to Chess Club Records and preparing to release her longest statement to date. Drowning in Blessings (produced by Carey) is another stellar entry in her growing catalog.
O’Brien’s music career began when she was asked to perform some of her poetry at a music and spoken word performance night at The Windmill Brixton. A friend composed backing music for her performance, and that experience planted the seed that grew into her musical project. It’s rooted as much in spoken word performance as it is in rock music; over lush yet angular post punk backing tracks, O’Brien bobs and weaves around the music to deliver half-sung, half-spoken lyrics. It sounds almost like The Fall fronted by Patti Smith. While there are plenty of images and beautiful turns of phrase that jump out at me, more than anything I’m struck throughout by O’Brien’s use language as an instrument. You hear how words sound and how her delivery plays off the instrumentals as much as you are processing the meaning of the lyrics. As a whole, the release feels like a celebration of the possibilities of language.
Drowning in Blessings is short and sweet, with four tracks clocking in at about fifteen minutes. Although these cuts are uniformly excellent, it’s yet another release that only whets your appetite for a full length statement. O’Brien continues to prove herself one of the most distinctive artists operating today, and I for one can’t wait to see what she does next.