Brigid Mae Power

stream Brigid Mae Power's s/t LP

Ireland’s Brigid Mae Power (fka Brigid Power Ryce) released her first album under her current name and first for the esteemed Tompkins Square Label last month. Brigid’s a new-ish artist, but her music recalls the type of forgotten-then-rediscovered ’60s/’70s folk artists that Tompkins Square often reissues music by, like Bob Brown and Michael Chapman. Brigid played accordion, baritone ukulele, piano and harmonium on the album, and her talents are even more fleshed out by the production work of Peter Broderick (Efterklang, Horse Feathers). She’d played shows with Peter and also collaborated with him live, and eventually ended up in his studio in Oregon to record the new album.

All the arrangements give the album a gorgeous backdrop, but it’s Brigid’s voice that drives this thing home. She’s similar in approach to Jessica Pratt or earlier Angel Olsen, with a sound that really taps into what made that ’60s/’70s era so great without sounding retro. The album’s opening (and longest) song, “It’s Clearing Now,” nears eight minutes and never really drifts from its somber tone, and Brigid has enough command over it to keep it from ever getting boring. The rest of the album follows suit, so much so that it’s often tempting to replay as soon as it ends. Listen to that opening track, along with a Spotify stream of the whole album, below.

No US dates scheduled for Brigid Mae Power at the moment, but let’s hope that changes soon. All international dates are listed below.

Brigid Mae Power — 2016 Tour Dates
13 Aug Glasgow -The Glad Cafe (Gladfest)
14 Aug Tollbooth – Stirling
15 Aug Grateful Freds – Formby, Liverpool
23 Sept Fukuoka – Papparayray
24 Sept Kyoto – Former Rissei Elementary School
25 Sept Nagoya – Valentine drive
26 Sept Okayama – Inryoji temple
28 Sept Tokyo – Lutheran Ichigaya Hall
29 Sept Tokyo – Fluss
19 October London, UK – St. Pancras Old Church
20 October Briston, UK – Cube Cinema
21 October Oxford, UK – St Barnabas Church
22 October Manchester, UK – St Michaels Church