The CLUAS Archive: 1998 - 2011

16

Carly Sings

Aidan Curran posted on August 16, 2008 19:00
Should you have been reading the Sunday Independent’s magazine section this morning and weren’t completely distracted by the Caroline Morahan feature, you’ll have noticed an article on another ambitious young lady who’s just as photogenic and cool.
 
Regular readers of the Irish music blogs will already know Carly Blackman from features by Sinéad Gleeson and Aoife McIndieHour. Blackman trades as Carly Sings and deals in the sort of dreamy acoustic pop you should be consuming.
 
The Glove Thief by Carly SingsShe has just released her debut album, ‘The Glove Thief’, and it’s lovely. Her thoughtful, playful way of juggling genres and mixing influences reminds us of the marvellous ‘Jet’ by Katell Keineg. Other times her hushed delivery and atmospheric arrangements recall Stina Nordenstam’s ‘And She Closed Her Eyes’.
 
If you find Carly’s blend of bossa nova shuffling, ‘60s popness and sultry cabaret crooning somewhat Parisian then you’ve hit the mark. Blackman moved to the French capital as a teenager and studied in the Sorbonne. Now back in Dublin, her music still has a French touch – not least in some songs en français.
 
Bien sûr, there’s a song called ‘L’Amour’ and we won’t spoil the romantic mood by translating Blackman’s French lyrics: “Tu es mon rayon/Mes medicaments”. Her English songs are just as abstract, and the effect is quite beguiling. ‘George Emerson’ begins: “I want to meet you on a tightrope/High above your hometown” and there are plenty more moments just as poetic as this.
 
Carly Sings will be at Electric Picnic, Hard Working Class Heroes, the Dublin Fringe Festival and Cork’s Festival Of World Culture, so if you’re out of the house over the next month you’re sure to catch her in concert. No news of any French shows in the near future, though. Bad news for your blogger but good news for possessive Irish pop fans.

Before dashing out the door to your nearest Carly Sings show, you can sample the merchandise at her MySpace page. And here's the video for 'Eyes Closed':


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2003 - Witnness 2003, a comprehensive review by Brian Kelly of the 2 days of what transpired to be the last ever Witnness festival (in 2004 it was rebranded as Oxegen when Heineken stepped into the sponsor shoes).