Lisa O’Neill’s remarkable fourth album, Heard a Long Gone Song (reviewed here), is a work that commands attention. As honest and creative as it is arresting; her mix of collected and self-written, traditional and contemporary song has earned high praise, and justifiably so. With the influence of traditional song stronger than in any of her previous albums, both in terms of content and approach, it’s not so much a change in direction for the County Cavan artist, it’s an entirely relevant exploration of the background to her music.
As she embarked on a trip to New Zealand for a series of appearances at the inaugural New Zealand Irish Fest this month, Lisa took time to talk to Folk Radio about that exploration, the influences behind it, and the artists that joined her on the journey.
The already increasing interest in Lisa’s work has been steadily gaining momentum throughout the year, since well before Heard a Long Gone Song was released. Lisa really comes into her own in live performance and we wondered, as more of her new songs emerged for her audiences, whether gauging their reception helped.
“You never can never really tell at shows to be honest, but the few songs I did try out live and sing before the album release were getting a really positive reaction, especially Rock the Machine.”
Rock The Machine is Lisa’s striking protest against the mechanisation of docklands labour – more than that, it highlights some of the countless implications for those affected by the loss of work, comradeship and dignity. It’s a perfect example of Lisa’s talent for writing thought-provoking songs, often in the role of storyteller. The inspiration for those stories doesn’t only come from social history, it can come directly, and often unexpectedly, from the people who populate that history. How Lisa came to write a song, an utterly fascinating song, about an aristocratic Irish woman’s attempt to assassinate Benito Mussolini (Violet Gibson) owes as much to her work as a collaborative musician as a solo artist.
“Myself and Ian Lynch from Lankum were collaborating on a project, and we both challenged each other with a topic to write a song. Ian suggested I look into the story of Violet Gibson and the more I researched, the more fascinated I became with her story.”
Much of Lisa’s writing is directly inspired by the people she works with, but just as readily by Irish art and literature. There’s intricate detail in many of these songs, though, little observational gems that reference even wider inspiration. Surely there are less tangible influences that are part of everyday life?
“Absolutely yes. Nature. Personal emotional encounters. Inspiration can strike from anywhere. The solar system is a very large pool to draw from!”
Often, with a song writer as prolific as Lisa, there has to be a careful balance between their own work and traditional songs. Is it a struggle to achieve that balance, or do the choices come about quite spontaneously?
“A bit of both. It was thought through and I had the creative freedom to make the choices that I wanted to make. I knew River Lea wanted to have some Irish traditional songs on this album and I have always sung certain songs in sessions and at shows, but never really recorded them for my records. This was the first time that I did that. It seems to have resonated with people though so I hope they were good choices.”
River Lea is a new label from Rough Trade records, established to provide listeners with “beautiful and strange traditional music from the British Isles and beyond”.
A Year Shy of Three comes across, initially, as a song that sits squarely in the trad cannon, but when the full impact, and sheer beauty, of the song’s contemporary poetry emerges, the distinct shift in Lisa’s song writing style for this album really becomes apparent. It’s a progression that could be seen as pivotal, or was it something more gradual?
“It’s safer to say it was a gradual thing. That there was always an Irish trad element to learning and education. When it comes to recording them, like I said previously, I was inspired by the offer by River Lea to do that this year.”
The extent to which Lisa’s work has benefitted from that freedom is clear not only in the power of songs like Rock the Machine, but also in the careful pace of The Factory Girl and A Year Shy of Three. Both those songs are so totally absorbing that it was only after looking at the track listing I realised they ran well beyond the six-minute mark. Successfully achieving that unhurried approach is no small matter.
“Defo took consideration and was work. It’s always a risk putting songs that are longer than the normal on an album. You worry that the song is not engaging enough or that the audience is not patient enough. You can over think these things though so I decided to go for it. I did not want to compromise these songs with an edit. The process of recording them both was very enjoyable.”
The Factory Girl was arranged, and performed, with Radie Peat, of Lankum, and is indicative of Lisa’s willingness to collaborate. The work Cormac Begley and Christophe Capewell have contributed goes a long way to help build and maintain the album’s atmosphere. There’s a real sense of a deep understanding of Lisa’s approach to the music.
“They’re both very different worlds that we move in. I’ve known Christophe for 15 years. It’s been wonderful to work with him again. He’s in my band and live. Cormac I’ve known for two years and I’m a huge fan. Not being an Irish trad instrumentalist myself I’ve been very fortunate to be able to work with Cormac. Not only are they fantastic musicians, but I like their minds and how they think. It remains a joy to work with both of them.”
The significance of Dublin’s literary and musical influences are clear in Lisa’s work, but the album was recorded at Black Box Studio in the Loire Valley. Glen Hansard and the Dublin Guitar Quartet have both recorded there. We wondered if there’s a need for Lisa to distance herself from those familiar surroundings when recording. The reason, it turns out, is more pragmatic.
“The choice was really to work with David Odlum as a producer, and if he was living in Dublin then I would have recorded wherever he was. David was the reason rather than the romance of black box.”
Distance is no barrier, then, when it comes to crafting Lisa’s music. As we mentioned, Lisa is currently in New Zealand, a new experience?
“Absolutely yes. I’m answering this from NZ. I’m in awe of the landscape of the trees and the birds. I’m extremely inspired. New inspiration. Always a good thing!”
Closer to home, Lisa will be performing at Celtic Connections in Glasgow on February 2nd, sharing the bill with innovative Irish/Norwegian string trio Slow Moving Clouds. With a new year stretching out before her, Lisa shows no sign of sitting back on the success of Heard a Long Gone Song.
“I haven’t yet toured this album much so I’m still looking forward to taking it on the road and playing shows wherever I can. Hopefully will be coming back to the UK around the Celtic Connections dates and there’s talk of a Barbican play in London with the ‘Imagining Ireland’ series of shows that our national concert hall curate. I’m also looking forward to getting back to writing and recording again. It’s an exciting time for sure.”
Heard A Long Gone Song is out now on River Lea
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Photo Credit: Claire Leadbitter