Music

Brigid Mae Power: Head Above the Water review – quotidian magic


On her third album, Irish folk singer Brigid Mae Power sees no disconnect between ancient and modern. Neither does her haunting voice, an instrument that raises the everyday to a near-mystical realm.

On The Blacksmith, a traditional tune, Power’s protagonist is aghast to learn that the man courting her is secretly married. On the piano-led Wearing Red That Eve, a group of men in New York shout profanities at her. What she does next “frightened even me” – but it remains unspoken, as do the elliptical circumstances of I Had to Keep My Circle Small, which enumerates strategies for self-preservation.

As on Power’s previous albums, there is a delicious tension between the ethereal succour offered by her voice and the turmoil these thrumming songs are processing. Often, wordless emoting is the only solution; Power’s tones flow like starlings above her mantric guitar and that of her partner and collaborator Peter Broderick. A small group of additional musicians joins them, bringing flutes and bouzoukis; Scottish folk singer Alasdair Roberts co-produces too. Every so often, this music itself will take flight, as it does so beautifully on I Was Named After You.

Watch the video for Wearing Red That Eve by Brigid Mae Power.



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