Drowning in Blessings is one of this year’s most rewarding and dynamic listens.
In a globalised and digitally entwined world, a unique artist is increasingly hard to find. Most, obvious amalgamations of one thing or another, barely leave a memorable effect. But Sinead O’Brien’s work lingers long, excellently exemplified by her debut EP, Drowning in Blessings.
Playing with time, rhythm and reality, Sinead places the listener in a surreal limbo from the off. Lapsing in between spoken word and singing she economically delivers an intricate and masterful push and pull, picking apart and challenging how you interact with and understand the world around you.
Each song, detailed and dense, gives Drowning in Blessings surprising longevity, for an EP. You’ll find returning reveals more and rewards your total attention. But, just like recalling a dream, the more you try to figure out why Sinead’s sound seems so refreshing, the more you’re sucked in by it. Pulled in deeper, you’re at one with its strange timbres and off-beat lyrics and, in time, the intricate interrogation of life leaves you trance-like, it’s restless and rhythmic ruminations demanding you give in.
Nevertheless, one of the most distinctive elements across the EP is Sinead’s use of rhythm. Every track is in constant flux, looping and twisting around itself to create a wholly unique effect whilst keeping the listener consistently engaged throughout.
In our interview for Volume 10, Sinead referred to each of her songs as being like a train: the carriages being the verses; the track underneath being the music. Clearly, each song has its own distinct and independent parts. Well structured, but with a lax grasp on timing, these components work with and against each other like a machine to create a brilliant sense of poetry-in-motion.
Sinead’s words give her art this energy and drive, but they also offer us a refrain and a safe place to reevaluate the chaotic carousel of modern life. Fixated on the need to change and bend yourself and your surroundings to suit, Drowning in Blessings effectively breaks any and all monotony, and in turn provides us with perspective whilst, for a bonus, excellently resists musical stasis.
In essence, Drowning in Blessings intelligently pushes its audience to interact and try to understand it, culminating in an ever-changing and compelling listen. Sinead has well and truly made her mark.
Haku Review:
Break the carousel,
Collapse into a slumber,
And begin again,
Listen to Sinead O’Brien on Spotify and Apple Music. Enjoy her music? Why not check out our chat with her in our latest print magazine, available HERE.
