‘Personal History’ offers insight into what makes people tick

Groove Tube with Cian O’Connell

For folk singer-songwriters, reflections on personal experiences are not particularly new; the genre is flooded with ballads on love and loss – intimate memories and regrets that seep their way into airy verses and melodic choruses. In that sense, Dublin singer-songwriter Ailbhe Reddy isn’t attempting to reinvent the genre. Her songs, driven by strong guitar-pop sensibilities and pristine, emotive vocals all fit the broad idea of what a folk song should be – but her debut album proves that there is a substance and a uniqueness to her work that is a lot harder to find.

Personal History, a ten-track LP that bridges the gap between 2016’s Hollowed Out Sea EP and now, is heavily informed by Ailbhe’s recent studies in psychotherapy.

The record isn’t idealistic – it doesn’t build its subject matter up with hyperbolic heartbreak or unrealistic comparisons.

As the chorus of the title track suggests, this album is a celebration of the routine of romance. She discussed the importance of that track in particular, in a recent interview with Hot Press.

“I was going to do a Masters, but lots of opportunities came my way through music, so I stopped. I’ve always had this massive interest in figuring people out,” she reveals.

“When we went into record with Tommy McLaughlin and Erland Cooper, I mentioned that the song Personal History was the linchpin of the whole album, and that in my head, I’d had that concept of meeting someone and running through their entire dating and family history – you feel like there is that kind of therapist vibe there.”

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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