Irish singer-songstress Lisa Hannigan released her debut solo album Sea Sew in Ireland last year, and it will be released in the U.S. on January 20th. The album was recorded within a fourteen day period in Dublin. Though Hannigan “wanted that sound you get when something’s recorded pretty fast”, I think the album could’ve done with some more time and thought. Perhaps Sea Sew is a grower that I’ll become more enamoured with over time, but my initial impression is one of unfulfilled potential.
After so many years of anticipation and adoration of Lisa’s voice, I couldn’t help but imagine that her solo debut would rip my beating heart from my chest. But while Sea Sew is undoubtedly pretty, it often lacks the emotional punch of Hannigan’s work with Damien Rice.
“Ocean and a Rock” is a jaunty, mellow beginning, followed by the more delicate “Venn Diagram” – the latter half of which is nicely fleshed out with horns and rare vocal bursts from Hannigan – and the saucier “Sea Song”. Each song is beautifully accented with strings.
Unfortunately, the middle of the album is lackluster. Reviews have called the album “charmingly idiosyncratic”, but I find the overt cutesiness a bit grating. I want emotion, art, and beauty from Lisa Hannigan songs, and this disc instead alternates between contrived pieces of indie-pop quirk and tepid ballads. The exception is “I Keep It All”, which is a solid pop melody grounded by a deep beat, eerie strings, and Lisa’s sultry whisper.
The stand out track “Courting Blues” finally delivers the kind of haunting enchantment I’ve come to expect from Hannigan, and allows her unusual voice to shine. “Teeth” begins in a bland tone, but the second half of the song blossoms with brass and soaring vocals. The finale is “Lille” (which I first posted last September), a beautiful ballad embellished with harmonium, glockenspiel, and pizzicato strings with backing vocals from Irish singer Cathy Davey.
Lisa Hannigan – Lille (mp3 removed) *
*mp3 posted for w/ permission of artist’s PR rep
2 Responses to “Lisa Hannigan: Sea Sew”
[...] brims with the kind of gorgeous heartbreak I longed to hear from Lisa Hannigan, yet “Under” simmers guttural guitar beneath Sarah’s purrs and [...]
[...] The opener “Heartbreaker” is a little too flatly morose for Grant’s vocals, but it’s one of the few complaints I can make about this album. The more buoyant melody of “You’ll Go Far” follows, providing the perfect setting for her delicate voice. The lovely “Where Are You Now” colours a fragile folk strum with what sounds to my untrained ears like the deep creak of an oboe. “Blue Mountains” is certainly a solid tune and will probably appeal more to others, but I feel it lacks the emotional potency found elsewhere on the album. It’s airy style reminds me a bit of Lisa Hannigan’s debut. [...]