Songs For Nothing

Description

The musician and performer Olan Monk, originally from Connemara, has announced the release of Songs for Nothing, their second album, on the London label AD 93. Songs for Nothing was written during Olan Monk's return to the west coast of Ireland. The album is steeped in the influence of sean-nós singing, old-style Irish-language songs that often tell stories of love, loss and landscapes; it is also heavily inspired by the confessional writing of the late Sinéad O'Connor. The reconstruction of these influences through their unique perspective has given rise to a fragmentary album oscillating between collaged pop, mechanical rock and slow airs, "dedicated to Connemara and to all those who have made it their home". The west coast of Ireland, facing the Atlantic, exudes a particular atmosphere and energy, which permeates the album: granite vibrates, the ocean and sky reflect their intensities, seaweed rots on pebble shores, plants bloom, centuries-old trees are reborn from the submerged forest of Galway Bay, the sun breaks through the low clouds.