Thursday morning, and the sound of Touchstone by Brigid O’Neill is filling my kitchen. It is my new CD which arrived yesterday. I am on my third listen now and I must say it is a most enjoyable album indeed. I did not know anything about Brigid or her music until a few nights ago when I saw on Facebook ‘Brigid O’Neill is live now’. I thought I would watch for a few minutes and ended up watching until the end of her set. I thought she was great. Irish, (which is always a good start!), a nice personality, and a beautiful mellifluous voice. I loved her own songs, and it was her version of an Emmylou Harris song which finally did it for me. I decided to order an album because I think musicians should be rewarded for their efforts. They have really suffered during this pandemic. We would not expect a plumber to work for nothing just because we are in lockdown, so why should musicians. In the absence of live gigs, watching live sessions on the internet by the likes of Christy Moore, Richard Thompson, Cara Dillon, Ger Wolfe, Brigid and many others has helped enormously in getting through the last year. That is why we should support them if we can.
This CD is very attractively packaged with all the lyrics and information you might need. There is quite an ensemble of musicians on this album. Gareth Dunlop gets special thanks for his important input into the album. I love the opening song little Birds. When I heard the words birds sitting on a wire it reminded me of a famous song by Leonard Cohen, but this is nothing like Leonard, it is just Brigid’s crystal-clear voice accompanied by uillean pipes. I think the birds might be a metaphor for children. Turn And Face The Sun is an optimistic, cheerful, catchy song.The line 'The Best Is Yet To Come' reminded me of Someone Like You by Van Morrison. Refugees is a much more serious song, and I think might be inspired by the war in Syria. Iron In Your Fire has a more jazzy bluesy feel to it, written with Gareth Dunlop and Dean Stevens and recorded in Nashville. Brigid was inspired to write Rumours after reading Hello magazine at the hairdressers. Breathe Slow is possibly my favourite track, dreamy and atmospheric. Running Back To You is co-written with Matt McGinn and inspired by the musical TV series Nashville. I love the background harmonies on Misunderstanding. They All Said has very clever lyrics which seem to be inspired by the sky at night, with mention of a lunar eclipse, meteorites, shooting stars, and the Milky Way. The title song Touchstone brings the album to a close in fine style. It was written in Nashville but seems to suggest someone missing home.
I have enjoyed hearing this wonderful album the last two days, although I think I have arrived late on the scene as the album came out in 2017. I have shared a video Turn And Face The Sun to this blog site for you to enjoy..
Brigid has her own website if you want to find out more.
https://www.brigidoneill.com/
And Facebook page. Brigid O'Neill Music.
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