CD: Sinead O'Connor - How About I Be Me (And You Be You)? | reviews, news & interviews
CD: Sinead O'Connor - How About I Be Me (And You Be You)?
CD: Sinead O'Connor - How About I Be Me (And You Be You)?
The troubled Irish singer returns with a crowd-pleaser
Over the years, Sinead O’Connor has put her fan base though the mill but, with her ninth album, may have redeemed herself. Quite apart from her many well-publicized personal eccentricities, those who have been waiting for her to make an album that’s stylistically akin to her early material rather than, say, a collection of reggae numbers of Irish folk, should now be happy.
The most immediately explosive track is her caustic reading of John Grant’s “Queen of Denmark” with all its vitriol and self-laceration writ large and wounded, but there are also subtler pleasures on board. There are a number of songs that seem to be hymning settled domestic love, perhaps in honour of her own recent fourth marriage, songs such as “4th & Vine” and “Old Lady” (“When I’m an old lady I’m gonna be his baby”). There are also plenty of O’Connor’s trademark epics, which are an acquired taste: the military tattoo-like build-up of “Back Where You Belong” and the gigantic “The Wolf Is Getting Married”.
The over-the-top production amps up the singer’s emotional heft to the point where it drifts into the operatic but, I suspect, this is somewhere her keenest fans are pleased to see her journey. Certainly, by the time listeners reach the end of How About I Be Me (And You Be You)? there’s a sense that, as with a well-made Hollywood film carefully crafted to tweak the emotions, one has been manipulated by O’Connor’s stylistic tics. However, there’s also a sense that behind the exaggerated effect is an artist whose honesty derives from raw vulnerability.
Watch the video for "The Wolf is Getting Married"
rating
Share this article
Subscribe to theartsdesk.com
Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.
To take a subscription now simply click here.
And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?
Add comment