Gráinne Hunt – This Secret
Independent – 20 September 2019
It has been a busy couple of years for Monaghan born singer songwriter Gráinne Hunt. As well as touring and performing throughout Ireland, the UK and mainland Europe, she has become a regular figure on the Dublin music scene since graduating in Music at nearby NUI Maynooth. She has shared stages with the likes of Glen Hansard, Liam Ó Maonlai and Damien Dempsey, and opened for Gladys Knight at Dublin’s Olympia Theatre.
2019 has already seen her release an album with Brendan Walsh – Songs From Ireland, a collection of traditional songs performed in Irish and English, leading to further sold-out gigs. Now she unleashes her first full-length solo album, the enigmatically titled This Secret.
Recording eleven songs over the space of three days could appear a whirlwind approach to creating a new album, especially when the songs have been accumulated over a period of several years and represent such a deep and personal investment. However, working with renowned producer Thomm Jutz (responsible for albums from the likes of Nanci Griffith and Maura O’Connell) at his studio in Nashville, Tennessee seems to have been a fertile and fruitful experience. In the studio, Jutz helped out on electric guitar, keyboards and backing vocals, whilst renowned double bass player Mark Fain (who has worked with Ry Cooder) and drummer Lynn Williams (known for playing with John Hiatt) accompanied Gráinne’s vocals and acoustic guitar. The result is an album of incredible warmth and sentiment, songs borne of experience and honesty yet given just a breath of country freshness.
I am naturally wary of songs filled with clichés and references to California, especially when they come from artists this side of the pond, but one definitely senses that, in opening track Between The Pines, as Gráinne sings of climbing from the desert into the mountains whilst driving through the Mid-West states of America we are listening to the words of one who has actually done it. You can taste the dryness in the air, hear the hot sands blowing in the winds below, and imagine the hummingbirds hovering in the shade of the conifers.
Little Bird (Sing) is a gentle ode to freedom and spreading your wings to seek out new experiences; All You Need is all about building confidence and confronting life’s obstacles; and the muted rhythm of Let Go provides the ignitive spark to break away from painful memories. All of these songs are delivered with an honesty and empathy that draws you in, but without sounding slushy or sentimental. The seamlessly gentle fusion of Irish folk and Nashville backing, together with Gráinne’s gorgeous, slightly throaty vocal delivery (some have compared her voice to that of Tracy Chapman and Natalie Merchant, but there are times when I am reminded of the wonderful Dolores O’Riordan) make it hard to believe that this album was really recorded in just 72 hours.
Talk is a song about post-break-up regrets; You offers reassurance to a close friend about to leave home; and Sorry is a heartfelt acceptance about swallowing one’s pride and apologising when you know you are in the wrong. And, if all else fails, then Dance – ‘take a leap of faith, it’s gonna be fine’. Each track serves up tender and candid snapshots of those emotive moments to which we can all so easily relate.
By contrast, the title track, This Secret is all about escape – getting away from the city and heading off to the coast, the sea, or an island and finding happiness in the solitude. And if solitude is not enough on its own to soothe the brows of anguished minds in troubled times, then the advice within closing track Breathe, the lead single off the album, with its delicate introspective guitar work and soothing vocals, should be enough to slow you down, focus your thoughts, and leave you ready to face another day.
This Secret is, truly, an album that even your therapist will want to buy.
Order This Secret via Bandcamp
Upcoming Live Dates
2019
4th Sept – Open Mic – Ryan’s Kilkenny, IE
8th Sept – Apollo Sessions, Dublin, IE
21st Sep – Shorelines, Portumna, Co Galway
22nd Sep – Crover House, Cavan, IE
26th Sep – Dubin Launch Gig – Bewley’s Cafe Theatre
27th Sep – John Smith Support – Lost Lane, Dublin, IE
29th Sep – Tin Church Laragh, Monaghan, IE
5th Oct – Solo – Cork Folk Festival
7th Oct – Songs from Ireland TBA
8th Oct – Songs from Ireland TBA
9th Oct – Songs from Ireland, Sixmilebridge Folk Club Pickers Session
10th Oct- Songs from Ireland TBA
12th Oct – Private House Show, Cavan, IE
16th Oct – Grateful Fred’s, Merseyside, UK
18th Oct – Cafe#9 Sheffield, UK
19th Oct – West Kirby Arts Centre, UK
4th Nov – Private House Concert, DE
7th Nov – Cafe Kultur Lichtung, DE
9th Nov – Private House Concert, Lulsdorf, DE
10th Nov – Hotel Friends, Dusseldorf, DE
22nd Nov – Private House Concert, London, UK
23rd Nov – Private House Show, Kew, London, UK
26th Nov – The Bedford, UK
7th Dec – TBA
Photo Credit: Ivi Rebova