Several Trinity alumni were to the fore as SIRENS put on a glittering display that entranced the National Concert Hall.
Hosted by renowned folk musician Lisa Hannigan, SIRENS is an ensemble of talented female musicians born out of Cork’s Sounds From a Safe Harbour festival. This was the second stop on a tour that opened on Inis Oírr on Thursday night, before continuing to Cork, London, Cardiff, and San Sebastián.
Every song on the setlist was beautifully arranged by the project’s sublime musical director, Theodora Byrne. The ensemble opened the evening with a stunning collaborative rendition of Joni Mitchell’s River — delighting an audience who were, perhaps, more Joni’s contemporaries than mine. From there, each musician took her turn beneath the misty spotlight to perform two or three songs, backed by her fellow ensemble members.
First up was Méav Ní Mhaolchatha, a former Trinity student. In her hands, the ensemble’s name suddenly made sense: there was an almost ineffably alluring quality to her performance. Her voice is simply spectacular — sweet, crisp, and crystalline in its clarity. Her new song, Near, carried a hymnal quality that made it one of the most intimate, heartrending highlights of the night. Its quiet power was only heightened by the venue’s resonant acoustics.
Hannigan, who studied French and Art History at Trinity, performed two tracks from her acclaimed album, “At Swim”. The record’s ominous character shone through with particular force on We, the Drowned. Anna Mieke followed with some rhythmic, evocative folk.
One of the musicians I was most excited to see was Loah, another Trinity graduate, and she was utterly magnificent. The art-soul singer, renowned for weaving elements of her Sierra Leonean heritage into her work, proved just as effortlessly adept in this folk-leaning ensemble. She delivered a deeply atmospheric rendition of Intimacy from her recent album, “Materia Medica”.
But it was her cover of Black Is The Colour of My True Love’s Hair, popularised by Nina Simone, that truly stole the show. She possesses an immense, gripping vocal power. Smoky, velvety, and dramatic — for a moment, if you closed your eyes, you could imagine that the High Priestess herself was on stage.
Kate Stables performed three folk songs centred on themes of feminism and resilience, her charm carrying her through a lyrical misstep. “This is embarrassing,” she quipped. “I forgot the part where I’m supposed to sing, ‘I remember’”.
Swedish artist Amanda Bergman was equally superb, shining brightest on a moving cover of Bonnie Raitt’s I Can’t Make You Love Me. Later, Hannigan showcased the full depth of her vocal prowess with a spine-tingling tribute to Sinéad O’Connor on I Am Stretched on Your Grave.
Australian singer Angie McMahon rounded out the night with a trio of songs, culminating in the rousing Making It Through. “Light, dark, light again,” went the chant-like coda, their voices soaring together in rich harmony, and it was fitting. The music of SIRENS is melancholy, it is haunting, it is emotional – yet by bringing together this much talent on one stage, within the grandeur of the Concert Hall, it became joyful. Though each musician was individual, the cohesion was admirable. The camaraderie was palpable, each artist revelling in the talent of her peers.
This was a privilege to witness — music that you could sink into, that enveloped the audience, that laid bare the power of so many extraordinary talents collaborating as one.
