Matt LuceyHelen O’Shea, an Irish musician living in New-Jersey, has just released her debut album Songs in the Key of O. Helen, born in Limerick, Ireland, spent her life immersed in music while pursuing her career in medicine. Inspired by the great Irish singers like Dolores O Riordan and Sinead O’ Connor, music played a huge part in her life. While taking obvious cues from Irish music culture, Helen was also massively influenced by American culture in her song-writing.
Influences and culture
Inspired as she was, as clearly with a hidden musical talent, Helen made her way to the studio to record her own album. This album itself is a tribute to the late, great Sinead O’ Connor, a personal hero of Helen’s. Seeing the confidence and the pride that Sinead brought to her song-writing and performances, Helen felt a strong connection and made the leap to the music industry after moving from Canada to the US in 2011.
The music industry can be a hard field to break into alone, which is why the support of Marc Swersky, Grammy winning artist, was key in these early days. Marc helped Helen bring her first original song, “She Is The Music“, to life. After some years of work, releasing singles and working in the studio, Helen finally came out with her debut album, Songs in the Key of O. Collaborators in this include the likes of Barry Murphy of Hermitage Green, James Mattock and Liam Ó Maonlaí.
As I mentioned before, this album is, in large part, a tribute to O’ Shea’s personal musical hero, Sinéad O’ Connor. Released under the label White Butterfly Music/ Create Music Group Inc, this album was a true labour of love. The album was produced by Helen’s close friend, Marc Swersky.
“Caged Birds”
The first song on this album is a real statement of what’s to come. Helen wears her influences on her sleeve throughout the album, but the meshing of Irish and American roots are plain to hear here. We jump in with an Irish sound, clear sounds from Irish folk, undercut with American rhythm and percussion. The vocals join the mix and immediately, you hear Helen’s influence. All the great Irish musicians that she was inspired by are right there in her own vocals. The lyrics too, have a lovely message of hope. The phrase “Caged birds learn how to sing” can easily be seen as a sad message, but I like to see it as the silver lining in the darkest times.
Liam O’Maonlai also brought everything to this song. His vocals mesh perfectly with Helens and fill out this song. The way both of their vocals stand out from the backing track is slightly haunting somehow, another aspect of Irish music that was captured brilliantly. All in all, this was a great intro to the album, which left me wanting more.
“Chaos”
This riff caught me slightly off guard after the first song. A totally different sound is shown in this track, uplifting and rocky. The full sound drops away to a minimal drum, bass and light guitar, allowing the vocals to take center stage. Again, Helen’s voice is a great focus for this song. While the band builds back up, her strong singing carries the lead. The backing vocals add great texture to the song. While the band once again drops back to a minimal sound, we see more of Helen’s powerful vocals. I see the most influence from Sinead O’Connor here, as Helen alternates between singing and half spoken portions. It’s clear that Helen takes great pride in her music and honours the greats before her. This is just a great song, with a band that knows how to let Helen shine.
“Dense water, Deeper down”
Immediately, this song had me hooked. A great Boogie Woogie piano brings us in, a clear nod to American influences. The simple percussion keeps you engaged and in tempo. The team behind this song was a perfect combination. Alongside Helen, we have Brielle Brown, Sharon Lasher, Fiona Tyndall and Jo Wymer. This group meshes beautifully in this song, from singing in harmony, to allowing each of them to take the focus.
The organ adds a certain soulfulness later in the song and you know that this song in particular leans toward the American influences over the Irish. A nice guitar solo, which has the sound of a mandolin, also takes its place in the song. Overall this is my favourite song on the album. From the great singing, the vocals flourished to the sheer ambition, the musicality here is amazing. The soul in this song is wonderful
Conclusion
Helen has really shown herself to be everything she wanted to be here. A great album which, like I said, wears its influences on its sleeve. It’s original while honouring that which came before. Helen deserves all the recognition she’s getting for this release and I’m looking forward to what she has in store for the future.
