By Paddy McCarthy
I want to introduce you to another brilliant talent from Ireland’s west coast… must be following the sunshine, just kidding and that is none other than Niamh Regan. Here is our introduction to Niamh and you can also see what the Irish media are saying about her, you will be blown away again with the talent she has and what a voice, wow. There you have it – class is over. Now, stop everything else you’re doing, sit down and listen to Niamh Regan’s debut album, ‘Hemet’. (We’ll teach you how to pronounce that one later.) that is on our front page of our website. I already said about her ‘Hemet’ is that rare bird in contemporary music: an album. An album of bright, radiant, lustrous songs. An album by an artist you’ve never heard of before… and three or four songs in, you know that you’ll be hearing this artist now forever.
How does a brand new artist, a fresh young Irish singer-songwriter, manage to stop the clock and deliver such a masterful album, such a collection of unshakeable songs? How did Niamh Regan cause ‘Hemet’ to happen?
“A game-changing record” – The Journal of Music “A quietly stunning debut” – The Sunday Times “A quiet and determined triumph” – The Irish Times “One of the best albums released this year… sublime” – Nialler9 “Stunning” – Hot Press “A bewitching album” – Irish Independent ‘The Irish Examiner USA It is soul warming and beautiful”. “A heartfelt, timeless, and captivating release” – Folk Radio UK “One of the strongest Irish debuts in recent memory” – Head Stuff “Album of the Week” – RTÉ Radio 1
Thus far, ‘Hemet’ has truly only been presented in Ireland. Released during the plague year, at a time of perfect uncertainty in all the world, ‘Hemet’ stepped almost silently out from the long shadows. The first release from The Black Gate, an ambitious new label built around a Galway pub, there was a quiet confidence to this project that must have seemed almost foolhardy in the darkest moment of the day. And yet, there was a healing quality to ‘Hemet’; not in any self-conscious way, but in that way that great music can create, in that subtle shift of feeling that occurs when the sound of a voice singing words we’ve never heard comes and sweeps us into its arms.
Niamh said “I was so stressed, but also delighted with myself – I was pinching myself that I was there. People were happy to be playing my music with me, and in a lovely studio with great atmosphere. But it was a stressful thing, ‘cause working with a band, and self-doubt was just everywhere. If it wasn’t for a team of friendly faces, I wouldn’t have gone through it. I would have abandoned it, said, ‘Ah, sounds great in my room, that’s fine, let’s leave it.’”
Ah, but she didn’t abandon them, didn’t leave those songs of hers to live out their lives in her room. Ireland has embraced them, these songs of Niamh Regan’s, hugged them to the heart in a time when it was impossible to play shows or take these songs out for a walk in the world. It’s hard to know when and how that time will next come, but it’s not hard to hear how ready these songs are to be heard. Is that a true professional or what? You betcha she is and again Ireland has talent that is seeping out almost every day right across the board yippee! It’s just fabulous.
Niamh will release a new EP ‘In the Meantime’ in late 2021, and embark on her headline tour November 2021.