Helena's solo debut album
Sarah Saunderson • Published 16 Feb 2012 13:00
0 Comments
Lisnaskea-born singer and songwriter Helena Connolly has just released her debut solo album called The Reason Why.
Helena moved to Killarney, County Kerry in 2006, releasing an album in 2008 with Irish band Onóra entitled Future in the Past.
Her new solo project is very much back to her roots, with her self-penned songs rooted in folk/country music, drawing automatic comparisons to Emmylou Harris and Gretchen Peters.
All but one of the tracks is written by Helena, which is a fresh take on Julie Miller's song 'Forever Has Come To An End'.
The production is modern, lush and full yet uncluttered always allowing her vocals and heartfelt delivery to always shine. The album moves from the acoustic gem, 'That's what The World Is' to songs that groove in pulsing rhythms and floating electric guitars like 'If You Lead' which echoes Harris' Red Dirt Girl.
There is a beautiful old school simplicity to 'Morning Light' which sounds like something Al Green or Aaron Neville could have covered.
Standout tracks include the poetic and poignant 'November Haze,' a song casting an eye on the tragedy of road deaths and the beautiful piano driven ballad 'The Shape of Love'.
The album was produced and recorded by Brendan O'Connor at his Little Dylan Studios.
A busy musician, Brendan has recently been working with people such as Davey Arthur, Fionnuala Gill, (Riverdance and Secret Garden) Michael English as well as working with RTE on the annual Rose Of Tralee.
To classify this record would be difficult. It is a classic fusion of Country, rock and folk in a unique musical landscape that draws on many genres and traditions. This album never sounds like a debut collection but as an album by someone who knows what they want to say, and has the voice and musical conviction to convey those thoughts and ideas.
This record is what the soul of music should be; beautiful, honest and pure.
It is available for sale in John Mc Brien's Newsagents Lisnaskea and Swifts Supervalu Lisnaskea and is also available from her website www.helenaconnolly.com and can be downloaded from itunes
This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 16 Feb 12
Return to the main index, get more from this section or browse our What's On archives.
