Singer and guitarist Síomha (pronounced She-vah) dances the line between folk, jazz and neo-soul.
Her debut album Infinite Space is a folk-informed, jazz-tinged, post-pop collection of songs in both Irish and English, overseen by Grammy-nominated producer Tyler Duncan.
She's just released a reimagined version of Infinite Space highlight Spéir Rua (Red Sky), recorded with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra.
We asked for Siomha her choice cultural picks...
FILM
I have a very soft spot for stop-motion animation. One of my favourites is the dark comedy Mary and Max. It’s in black and white, took 5 years to make and tells the story of two very unlikely pen pals, Mary Dinkle, a lonely 8-year-old Australian girl, and Max Horowitz, a 44-year-old Jewish man with Asperger's syndrome who lives in New York.
Last year, I saw Marcel The Shell With Shoes On which completely melted my heart. You need it in your life. In the non-animated realm, I am a big fan of anything by director Mike Mills but in particular his latest film, C’mon C’mon starring Joaquin Phoenix.
MUSIC
Cormac McCarthy’s album On The Other Hand is currently blowing my mind. I was honoured to get to work with him when he arranged some of my songs for Spéir Rua - Reimagined.
I also love the work of Madison Cunningham, a Californian singer, songwriter and guitarist who won a Grammy this year. She uses really cool tunings on an electric guitar which is quite unusual. Any of her albums are well worth a deep dive.
BOOK
Freedom Is A Constant Struggle by the great Angela Davis is a reminder that all struggles across the globe are connected. How To Write One Song by Jeff Tweedy is a total gem and not just for the seasoned songwriter. For years, I’ve been covering The Beatles song A Day in The Life and I finally got around to reading I Read The News Today Oh Boy by Paul Howard about the life of the man who inspired it, Guinness heir Tara Browne. An absolutely brilliant book.
THEATRE
I don’t get to the theater as much as I would like it to but I did go to see my dear friend Ruth Smith in the musical comedy Tonic a few months ago and I absolutely loved it. It’s the story of a ‘miracle elixir’ peddled by a charlatan in the year 2049.
TV
I am one of those people who will proudly proclaim that I don’t have a TV yet I will stream all the great TV shows the internet has to offer. Lately, I much prefer a good film to TV shows but I enjoyed Harrison Gardener’s show Build Your Own Home on RTÉ. He is absolutely dead right in everything he preaches!
GIG
I was recently counting my lucky stars to have been in the audience at Union Chapel in London for Madison Cunningham, Jacob Collier and Chris Thile - three of my all-time favourite living artists sharing a stage together for the most exquisite night of music. And Sir Brian May was in the front row.
I won’t get much chance to see any other shows over the coming months with my own touring schedule. But I do love being on the road so I am happy out.
ART
I have many great artist friends who make really great art. Lindsay Merlihan (Holistica Wild) is a Galway-based artist who makes thought-provoking collage art. We have her Archetype series hanging at home. Lindsay is a co-director of the extremely cool 126 Artist-Run Gallery in Galway City. She is also the creative director of the Irish language project ALLTAR, which you’ll see popping up at various festivals.
PODCAST
I’m a huge lover of Radiolab, the podcast that describes itself as ‘a curiosity bender’ which it most certainly is. I also listen to Sodajerker to hear wonderful lengthy interviews with songwriters and Tapenotes to hear what goes into the making of an album. Song Exploder is another great music podcast that focuses on the writing and production of a particular song.
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TECH
Google Sheets. Life is just better on an Excel sheet.
THE NEXT BIG THING...
The reversal of climate change? Freedom for Palestine? Some alternative to capitalism? Gender equality? All of these would be a welcome Next Big Thing in my book.
Spéir Rua - Reimagined is out now - find out more about Síomha here.
