Change of musical direction brings whole new lease of life

Groove Tube with Cian O’Connell

It’s been one hell of a first year for Dublin-based singer/songwriter Cian Godfrey since he adopted his new musical guise – because from almost a standing start, he can look back on twelve months that have seen the release of five singles while also featuring on the bill at a host of major festivals like Reading and Leeds and Electric Picnic.

Performing under the moniker of Somebody’s Child, he has clearly thrown himself into his work, touring Ireland and the UK – and earlier this month, he released Love That Sound, an indie-pop track with elements of hip-hop and soul.

With Cian’s unique, flowing vocal, the songs have managed to incorporate radio-friendly hooks and choruses while retaining an authenticity in their sound and style.

The act’s success is made all the more impressive when you consider that the project was started with the intention of writing songs for other people.

Having grown somewhat disillusioned with performing, Cian decided to focus on his energy on songwriting.

“I’d done pubs in Dublin for a couple of years as a songwriter and it wasn’t how I imagined doing music in the first place,” he admits.

“People don’t have much time for original stuff – they ask you to play covers and it just wasn’t me. I was still in love with music and writing songs so the idea was to continue to do that but hopefully for other people.

“Throughout my time in college I discovered that you need something of a name to be able to sell songs. An Ed Sheeran song, if he wasn’t Ed Sheeran, probably isn’t worth as much as it is. Shortly after that, I got a manager and he started to get the ball rolling.

“The music really needed a band… I was still shy about performing live but after coming together, the five of us really gelled and it completely gave me the confidence to start performing on my own again as well.”

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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