Info: From West Cork, songwriter Christine Deady joins a growing trend of Irish female singers who take inspiration from the folk songs of the sixties and seventies but add contemporary influences to their work which acts as the backdrop to their personal experiences. Christine though, hasn't just popped out of nowhere with an album in her hand, she has been working towards this recording from as far back as 2010 when she was shortlisted for the Most Promising New Act at the Meteor Awards as well as winning IMRO's National Christie Hennessey song comeptition in 2012. She has also performed regularly over the years with well known names in the Irish music industry such as Paul Brady, Liam Ó Maonlaí, Mick Flannery, Cathy Davey to name but a few, as well as sharing the stage with Marketa Irglova in Dublin at the Unitarian Church recently.
Inspired By You is perhaps a reference to all of the people the singer has crossed paths with and the varying impacts they have had on her, the album being described as 'a collection of songs about facing adversity and rising up through it.' Thankfully Deady doesn't look for sympathy or produce a record riddled with misery, far from it, the overriding trait of the music and vocals are ones of positivity and of someone who has refused to allow trials and tribulations lead to self pity. The album opens with what could easily be a single and is probably the most upbeat song on the album, 'From the Bottom', it has a very mid-90's sound and is carried along nicely by the chugging guitar and backing vocals. The second track, 'Raise My Soul' comes in the tradition of the protest song, in this case the singer seeks change and new beginnings in a world surrounded by popular banality, and is also very enticing and catchy.
From this point on Deady focuses temporarily on character driven songs in 'Crazy Lonely' and the album's title track, 'Inspired By You', which don't delve too far into the characters, but more reflect the impact they had on her, and the latter is indeed a highlight on the album. The album finishes strongly with 'To Be Somebody' and final track 'Celebrating You', both of which come across as accomplished traditional folk songs. One thing that did strike me while I was listening to the album is that maybe it's a track or two too long, as the middle part of the album begins to lag compared to the opening and closing thirds. Overall, Christine Deady clearly has talent to spare, a great voice and intelligent lyrics, and Inspired By You should be a reference point for anyone even thinking of following in her footsteps.
Look / Like / Listen & Follow:
Website: http://www.christinedeady.com/
Bookface: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Christine-Deady/187264251305274?fref=ts
BandCamp: http://christinedeady.bandcamp.com/album/christine-deady-inspired-by-you
Spotify: https://play.spotify.com/album/7kTAMmbiorg5SNQiJEwzbt
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/artist/christine-deady/id351447538
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChristineDeadyx
