Album Review: Brigid Mae Power, Dream From The Deep Well

During the first pandemic summer, Brigid Mae Power released her third album, Head Above The Water, to considerable international praise. But following the upheaval of that time – and the seemingly ceaseless world events and tragedies that have come since – the Irish singer-songwriter has embraced an urgency and worldliness that defines her eagerly awaited follow-up, Dream From The Deep Well.

The LP finds her touching on pressing issues, but never in a sloganeering, self-righteous, or even overly solemn way. An inherent compassion guides her every step – such as ‘Ashling’, with a sensitive yet raw power throbbing throughout her snapshot of the vigil in London for Ashling Murphy, following her murder last year.

She continues to explore the humanity behind the headlines on ‘Maybe It’s Just Lightning’, in which the fears and worries of a young refugee are juxtaposed against bright, playful instrumentation – reflecting the mother’s attempts to shield her child from the harsh reality of their situation.

Bookended by two powerful renditions of folk songs, this is an album that directly faces up to our current times, while also recognising the ongoing influence of the past.

As such, Dream From The Deep Well sits naturally alongside a diverse range of influences, from Sharon Van Etten to the likes of Vashti Bunyan, Sibylle Baier and Shirley Collins. But it also serves as another crucial contribution to an often overlooked revolution of folk-informed but captivatingly forward-thinking singer-songwriters on these shores – with Brigid Mae Power, alongside contemporaries like Anna Mieke and Lemoncello, primed for a serious international breakthrough.

8/10