Maria Somerville’s self-released breakthrough 2019 album All My People is a beautiful distillation of Irish motifs and traditional folk forms originating from her roots in Connemara, Western Ireland. Keyboards, guitars, and drum machines are drenched in reverb and filtered through a haze of processing until they come together as one unified sound, almost choir-like, while Somerville’s whispered vocal delivery provides the intimacy of a pub singer. Channelling the wilderness of the Irish landscape, the music also has a sort of ethereal, cloudy calm to it despite plenty of fuzz and distortion. Somerville would later find a perfect home at cult British label 4AD, who released similarly dreamy and spectral music from the likes of Cocteau Twins, This Mortal Coil, inc., etc. If you like this album, we highly recommend listening to Maria’s Early Bird NTS Radio show, where her wispy voice provides the perfect accompaniment for contemporary ambient, folk, and dream pop selections.
Recommended – Full Listen
Available now: https://insheepsclothinghifi.com/product/maria-somerville-all-my-people-lp/
A1 Eyes Don’t Say It
A2 This Way
A3 Undoing
A4 Dreaming
B1 All My People
B2 All Too Much
B3 Brighter Days
Mastered By – The Bastard
Mixed By – Brendan Jenkinson