Lisa Hannigan
Acclaimed Irish singer Lisa Hannigan can give herself a huge pat on the back now that her fantastic debut album, Sea Sew has bagged her a Mercury Music Nomination.
Hannigan’s first solo release since parting with Damien Rice’s band has already been nominated for both Best Irish Album at the Meteor Music Awards and the Choice Music Prize in Ireland and in the 2009 Hot Press Readers Poll, Hannigan also scooped the awards for Best Female, Best Debut Album, Best Irish Album and Best Irish Track.
Described by the New York Times as ‘exquisitely ethereal’, Hannigan’s chance meeting with singer-songwriter Damien Rice led to a long period of collaboration and development that included Rice’s critically acclaimed albums O and 9.
From the outset, Hannigan quickly generated attention for her own vocal performances and spent the subsequent few years recording and touring the world with Rice, including the release of ‘Unplayed Piano’ as a single in support of the Free Aung San Suu Kyi 60th Birthday Campaign.
When this collaboration came to an end after seven years, Hannigan was left with a notebook of songs and the desire and confidence to put them onto a record. Gathering a talented band of friends together, including Tom Osander on drums, Shane Fitzsimons on double bass and Donagh Molloy on trumpet, they got to work.
Tagged in Mercury Music Prize