“Uncompromising, stunning, soul-shaking stuff.” – The Guardian, Folk Album of the Year
“Spectral, subtle and sublime. This is as beautiful as it gets.”– The Irish Times
Ireland’s Lisa O’Neill is one of the most striking folk singers performing today. Transcendent and original, her inimitable voice is raw, evocative and laden with emotion.
“Seldom does a voice emerge so singular it stops you in your tracks. Lisa O’Neill possesses such a voice” – The Big Issue
O’Neill’s pure song writing and organic music – she plays the guitar and banjo – alight in songs that reach the soul. She’s built a reputation as a modern artist tapped into the ancient, whose voice pulls at the heart and harkens to different worlds. Her live sets are a striking mix of originals and interpretations – the music stark and cerebral, the voice singular and personal, and stage presence charismatic. A recent live review in The Guardian noted “Her voice…is transporting live: imagine Edith Piaf coming from the Irish border counties, brilliantly stomping her boots.”
O’Neill has been lauded by artists and critics alike. The Edge called hers “a unique voice in Irish song writing”, Cillian Murphy opined “She’s an extraordinary singer songwriter”, while Iggy Pop gushed “Beautiful, what a strong, beautiful voice”. The New York Times declared “O’Neill is a cultural hero in her own right” and NPR Music’s Bob Boilen called O’Neill’s music “stunning, cinematic”.
A raconteur in the truest sense of the word, O’Neill is a five time BBC Folk Award nominee and her previous album “Heard a Long Gone Song” was named The Guardian’s 2019 Folk Album of the Year. Her remarkable adaptation of Bob Dylan’s “All the Tired Horses” soundtracked the final scene of epic TV drama Peaky Blinders.
“All of This Is Chance “ (her first release for indie titans Rough Trade) features orchestral masterpieces such as the ambitious and cinematic “Old Note”, and the title track which was inspired by the Monaghan writer Patrick Kavanagh’s epic poem, “The Great Hunger”, as well as stirring contemplations on nature, birds, berries, bees, and blood ring out over a clacking banjo throughout the album, dusting and devastating all those in its wake.
This album takes O’Neill’s inimitable voice to greater heights, or depths, depending on which way you look at it. Throughout all eight songs on this album, it feels like she is writing in a constant state of wonderment. Not only a portrait of the artist in love with nature, but one perplexed by the ever-expanding gulf between it and modern society. O’Neill sings across that divide while simultaneously digging deep into the land, eyes transfixed on a universe of colourful birds, and beyond them stargazing into the atomised constellations of outer space of which we ourselves are fragments.
Uncut Magazine called O’Neill’s mesmeric LP “All Of This Is Chance” “The first indisputable classic of 2023”. It came in at No.17 in Uncut Magazine’s Albums The Year plus CD covermount track in the Review Of The Year 2023 issue. And in Mojo Magazine Albums Of The Year 2023 the album is No. 24.
Lisa will be joined by fellow Irish musician Brian Leach playing hammered dulcimer – an instrument with such a beauty of sound.
LISA O’NEILL – 2024 AUSTRALIAN TOUR
Don’t miss Lisa O’Neill as she lets her wild loveliness rip.
Woodford Folk Festival – Woodford, December 27, 2023 – January 01 – Tickets here
City Recital Hall – Sydney, January 19 – Tickets here
Meeniyan Town Hall – South Gippsland, February 03 – Tickets here
The Brunswick Ballroom – Melbourne. February 07 – Tickets here
Bendigo Bank Theatre – Bendigo, February 09 – Tickets here
Cobargo Folk Festival – Cobargo, March 02 & March 03 – Tickets here
WOMADelaide – Adelaide, March 09 & March 10 * – Tickets here
WOMAD NEW ZEALAND – New Plymouth, March 16 and March 17 * – Tickets here
**At WOMADelaide and WOMAD New Zealand, Lisa will share the stage with revered and award-winning concertina player Cormac Begley, Ireland’s most exciting new folk and traditional artist. “The musical gift that keeps on giving” – The Irish Times.
Cormac’s career has gone from strength to strength over the past year, winning Best Folk Instrumentalist 2022 at the RTÉ Folk Awards and Irish Times Album of the Year 2022, with his second solo album ‘B’. The album celebrates the bass concertina, a very rare instrument and on this album Cormac uses two Dipper-made Bass concertinas to record all 12 tracks. His bold choice to concentrate solely on the bass and baritone register, the first album of its kind in any musical genre, has not gone unnoticed for all the right reasons.
