Galway singer’s new single aims to build on Spotify success

By Martha Brennan

With nearly 12,000 monthly Spotify listeners and a critically acclaimed debut EP already behind her, the Galway singer known simply as Laoise is making waves in Irish music.

The singer/songwriter from the city centre released that new single – entitled ‘Bother’ – this week, and the 21 year old has plenty more planned for 2018.

Laoise started out playing traditional music – a sound she has strayed far from since.

Citing the origins of her musicality as hailing from her parents, Laoise learned the fiddle at just five years old and would accompany her father to various trad sessions around Galway growing up.

“Playing in these sessions taught me about musicianship and community and following on to write and perform my own songs just made sense,” Laoise said.

As she grew older the musician started to find her own voice away from her traditional beginnings, learning to play the piano and guitar and starting to write her own songs at just 15.

Now known for her electro-pop sound, Laoise said that she was originally inspired to sing by her Galway trad roots. “

It’s funny, I remember when I would play in trad sessions there’d be a singer, and when they began to sing the whole pub would fall silent. I thought this was so magical, everyone listening to just one voice following the energy of an abundance of instruments”.

When she started recording her own songs in her bedroom at sixteen, she found herself messing with different electronic sounds on her laptop which she says felt ‘natural’ to her and sought inspiration from her 80’s idols – like David Bowie and Stevie Nicks.

In 2016 Laoise released her first single and the success of the track surprised the singer, who recorded the song on a laptop with her partner. The song reached over 200,000 hits on Spotify and climbed to number four in the Viral 50 UK chart.

“Releasing ‘You’ only taught me that I want to continue on this path and develop and evolve,” said the artist.

Her first EP ‘Halfway’ was released last June to more positive acclaim with the website BuzzFeed including the title track in their April playlist alongside a host of major stars.

Writing from personal experiences, Laoise’s music is known for its dark honesty which resonates with listeners.

“The music I write is usually very momentary, fleeting, I’m capturing snapshots of my life and putting them in songs” she said.

Her newest release ‘Bother’ follows the same path telling the story of a relationship gone sour.

Laoise said that it was the hardest but quickest song that she has written.

“It says all the things I wish I had said a long time ago and writing this taught me that I am enough as I am, and I hope that resonates with people,” she explained. “I’m really excited about sharing it!”

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.