wed 11/12/2024

Album: Brigid Mae Power - Dream From The Deep Well | reviews, news & interviews

Album: Brigid Mae Power - Dream From The Deep Well

Album: Brigid Mae Power - Dream From The Deep Well

Irish singer-songwriter’s fourth album is her most direct yet

Brigid Mae Power's 'Dream From The Deep Well': about the whole not its constituent parts

The cover versions on Dream From The Deep Well include “I Know Who is Sick,” most familiar from the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Maken interpretation, and “Down by the Glenside,” which The Dubliners incorporated into their repertoire. The first opens the album, the second closes it. Between, amongst the original compositions, there is also an adaptation of Tim Buckley’s “I Must Have Been Blind.”

Taking these as a way in to the fourth studio album from the UK-born but Irish singer-songwriter Brigid Mae Power is an understandable path to follow, but after Dream From The Deep Well concludes it becomes clear it’s a dead end. These are not up-front tributes, like her recent EP featuring the songs of Patsy Cline, Bob Dylan, Jason Molina, Townes Van Zandt and more. Here, other people’s songs are so totally reframed they may as well be original compositions by Power.

Equally, the presence of a couple of popular folk songs does not make this a folk album. An autoharp and pedal steel bring a country flavour, similar to what colours Mazzy Star’s She Hangs Brightly. Odd stabs of distant trumpet suggest the coming and going of a New Orléans procession band. Power’s accordion appears on “Some Life You’ve Known.” Life experiences are drawn from: the motivation for writing “Lightning” came from the refugees she opened her home to; “Ashling” honours the murdered Irish schoolteacher and musician Ashling Murphy; lyrics expose an ambivalance about her life as a musician. Ultimately, Dream From The Deep Well is about the whole not its constituent parts.

Largely absent is the gauzy, wraithlike feel of her previous records. The songs are also more linear, underpinned by acoustic guitar. The themes are as impassioned as ever, but the setting is more direct. Perhaps this is the album to bring Brigid Mae Power her widest audience so far.

@MrKieronTyler

Add comment

The future of Arts Journalism

 

You can stop theartsdesk.com closing!

We urgently need financing to survive. Our fundraising drive has thus far raised £33,000 but we need to reach £100,000 or we will be forced to close. Please contribute here: https://gofund.me/c3f6033d

And if you can forward this information to anyone who might assist, we’d be grateful.

Subscribe to theartsdesk.com

Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.

To take a subscription now simply click here.

And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?

newsletter

Get a weekly digest of our critical highlights in your inbox each Thursday!

Simply enter your email address in the box below

View previous newsletters