Irish singer/songwriter Lisa Hannigan’s debut album is a superb, low-key album that combines beautiful melodies and excellent songs that are all held together by her delicate vocals that are packed with character and charm.
Lisa made her name collaborating with Damien Rice, but this debut album shows her as a sensitive acoustic singer/songwriter, with an eye for an unexpected lyric and a deft hand at arranging songs. Lisa plays guitar and a wonderful sounding harmonium, and her playful but tight band add instrumental colour in the form of upright bass, cello, percussion, Hammond and violin.
The recording and mixing of the disc is worthy of note as it is beautifully crisp and clear – it feels perfectly natural and unproduced, and the balance of the band against her versatile vocals is ideal, and it makes listening to the album a real pleasure.
It’s a varied album, with songs that see Lisa delivering songs at just above a whisper (Venn Diagram) to pieces that see her front and centre (Courting Blues); but it’s all held together by a the feeling of warmth, and the refreshing lack of artifice across the whole disc. Highlights include the radio friendly ‘I Don’t Know’, the delicacy of ‘Venn Diagram’, and the natural beauty, vocals and atmosphere of ‘Sea Song’.
This is a disc full of low-key charm, and this starts from the moment you see the packaging – the cover and booklet (including lyrics) were all knitted, felted and sewn by Lisa, and are beautifully reproduced on card and uncoated paper. It’s a genuinely unique piece of packaging that captures the loving-crafted atmosphere that is carried over the album.
Track listing
1 An Ocean and a Rock
2 Venn Diagram
3 Sea Song
4 Splishy Splashy
5 I Don't Know
6 Keep It All
7 Courting Blues
8 Pistashio
9 Teeth
10 Lille
