Human Touch - Sinead O'Connor Interview

It’s the hottest day of the year so far in Dublin, but Sinéad O’Connor is looking effortlessly cool in a crop top that shows off her Jesus, Rasta lion and Celtic cross tattoos and three-quarter length linen trousers. She’s lost a stone in weight, possibly more, since we saw her in May gracing the Brendan O’Connor Saturday Night Show couch and, unlike then, is in decidedly cheery mood.

“There’s a fucking funny Brian Eno story I have to tell you,” she says referring to the legendary sonic adventurer who guests on the I’m Not Bossy, I’m The Boss album that Adrienne Murphy rightly fawned over in our last issue. “Brian is best mates with my producer John Reynolds who’s known affectionately as ‘You fucking cunt!’ because he’s always calling people that. Whenever it’s his birthday or something, it’s ‘You fucking cunt!’ that gets put in the card. Anyway, having changed his email address, Brian sent his new one to John with ‘You fucking cunt!’ in the header. Unfortunately, he accidentally sent it to everybody in his address book, the first person under ‘A’ being the Archbishop of Canterbury who I imagine was most perplexed to find an abusive mail from a former member of Roxy Music in his inbox! He will now forever more be known as the Archbishop of Cunterbury!”
With this Sinéad dissolves into a fit of giggles, which lasts a good minute before she regains her composure. When she does it’s to talk about I’m Not Bossy…, a record that to these ears is her most powerful and cohesive collection of songs since 1990’s I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got and which my long-suffering girlfriend reckons has “a wicked glint in its eye.”
“Yeah, exactly, it’s got a wicked glint in its eye… I like your girlfriend!” O’Connor laughs again. “I had a blueprint and finished product in mind, but didn’t necessarily know how to get there. I wanted a pop/rock record about love that would be exciting to perform live, and be influenced sound-wise by all the funky Chicago blues I’ve fallen in love with myself these past few years - people like Willie Dixon, Buddy Guy, Elmore James, Howlin' Wolf and Chuck Berry that Don Baker introduced me to when I sang with him on his duets album. It had to be girly, mischievous and, while not strictly autobiographical, address the romantic condition from a female perspective. I also wanted there to be a bit of a subtext going on, with what I call a ‘central character’. Whether we ticked all those boxes I don’t know, but it was the most fun I’ve had in the studio for a long time.”
With lines like, “I’m special forces, they call me in after divorces” (‘Kisses Like Mine’) and “In the words of James Brown, I’m sorry but I came to get down” ('James Brown') it’s fun to listen to as well, although in ‘Harbour’ and ‘The Voice Of My Doctor’ she’s conjured up two ‘hell hath no fury…’ songs that you really don’t want to be fucking with. Does Sinéad have to punch the studio walls to get into pissed off character?
“No, if that’s what you do you just switch it on. You’ve written the song so you know the level of intensity/anger involved. I’d call myself a Stanislavski method singer-songwriter, although the method’s different for us because we only stay in character for three minutes and then the next song’s another character. If I’m honest, it’s a complete piece of piss.”
Along with the strength of its tunes, I’m Not Bossy, I’m The Boss has had fashionistas cooing over the cover-shot of Sinéad sporting a jet-black bobbed wig and skintight latex fetish dress.
“You obviously know your fetishwear because everyone else has been saying it’s PVC,” she smiles. “They’re my dresses that I got on Amazon, as opposed to something a stylist suggested. It was supposed to be a publicity shot rather than the album cover, but I knew that it’d run all over the world and get people talking about the record if I dressed up as a girl - and so it’s proven to be!”
With the album’s flagship single, ‘Take Me To Church’, being played in the same FM104 music sweep the other day as Pharrell Williams and One Direction, it seems that after her reggae, trad and gospel detours, O’Connor is back in the pop game.
“Pharrell and One Direction caught in a Sinéad sandwich… now there’s a nice mental image! Honest to god, I don’t really identify with what’s currently in the top 10. I’m not going to sell a million records or fill Croke Park, which is fine. I've been there before and it didn't really suit me. I lead a real normal, real boring life and don’t buy into any Sinéad O’Connor stuff - good or bad. When this record comes out, I’ll resist reading reviews although I’m sure I’ll get the gist of them from my PR person. Success - or otherwise - for me is people reacting positively to the songs live. In the studio, I very much had in mind, ‘What am I going to enjoy playing at gigs?’ From observing them on my last tour, I know my audience is into distortion and tunes they can sing along to, so there’s that in abundance!”
Nick Cave literally goes to the office every day at 9am, and writes Brill Building-style for eight hours before heading back to the wife and kids. How does Sinéad come up with her songs?
“I can get addicted to songwriting, so I have to be disciplined about when I don’t do it or otherwise I turn into a total hermit for three months. When the kids are at school I stick to their routine, which means I’ve got between half-nine and three o’clock and sometimes after they’ve gone to bed to get my guitar and piece of paper out. It didn’t use to be but, with the last record, How About I Be Me (And You Be You)? songwriting became my drug. Again, I have to credit Don Baker for turning me onto these bluesmen who had a lot to say about the creative process. I mentioned Willie and Chuck earlier; well, both of them talked about sticking to the facts of life and not sugarcoating things, the happy stuff included. Keep it honest and simple, which is a great challenge for me because I love words and editing stuff is like killing a baby. I like to think there’s not a syllable on this record that’s unnecessary.”
It’s testament to how influential and groundbreaking she’s been that when I met Amy Winehouse in December 2006, one of the first things out of her mouth was, “Do you know Sinéad O’Connor?”
“Oh, I would have fucking loved to have met Amy Winehouse!” she exclaims. “I really wanted to get in touch with her, but thought, ‘I bet she’d think I was a wanker; she won’t even know I exist.’ But you’re saying she liked my stuff… oh my God, I love that fucking woman so bad I can’t stand that she’s dead.
“We were at a ton of festivals that Amy was supposed to be at too. My heart would be pounding thinking I was going to see her, and then despite her crew all being there, she wouldn’t turn up. She shouldn’t have been out on tour at the time, although her being criticised for drinking when Shane MacGowan and Brendan Behan are/were celebrated for it is a real double-standard.”
Somebody Sinéad has met and feels total kinship with is John Grant.
“Although coming from different avenues, we’ve had similar issues vis–à–vis it feeling okay to be ourselves,” she reflects. “He had the pressure of people trying to beat the gay out of him, whereas I got caught up in the type of woman you’re supposed to be. How I know him is because I wanted to cover ‘Queen Of Denmark’ and I couldn’t make out one of the lines he was singing, so I tracked him down to get the lyrics. We get on so well it’s as if we spat each other out. If such a thing’s possible, we’re brother and sister. We have compassion for each other, both musically and personally. I’d give anything to make a record with John’s band but he’d probably kill me! What I also love about him is that he’s so funny. I went over last Christmas with the kids to visit him in Iceland, and all we did was laugh.”
Reading his last Hot Press interview, it struck me that John Grant may have been a little too honest about his drug-taking and sexual proclivities. Is there a danger that the heroin and the orgies will overshadow the music?
“I know what you mean but, no, not when your body of work is as strong as John’s is. There’s a difference between entertainers and artists. Artists are the same people off stage as they are on it. As Yeats would say, ‘You can’t separate the dancer from the dance.’ I call him the Surgeon General because like myself he unlocks stuff that’s buried. There are people crying at his gigs because of the emotional honesty. John is specific I think to men’s issues and not necessarily just gay men. He’ll take you to a painful place and then say something so funny you find yourself smiling. He represents millions of people like him who don’t make records and don’t have a voice, which is very brave. Loving John, you want to give him a snuggle afterwards because he’s given an awful lot of himself.”
Highlight of the musical year so far for many was Sinéad joining John Grant at his Olympia Theatre sell-out for a double-throated version of ‘Queen Of Denmark’ that put goosepimples on your goosepimples.
“Doing that and ‘Glacier’ - which Conor O’Brien came on for too - in the Olympia was the first time I’ve genuinely felt that musicians can change the world. It was one of the most magical moments of my life.”
Another one being in 2003 when, after supplying vocals for three of the tunes on their 100th Window album, Sinéad toured with Massive Attack.
“I’d always wanted to work with Massive Attack, but was petrified because in addition to the songs I’d recorded with them, I also had to deputise for Tracey Thorn on ‘Protection’, which no way could I do as well as her. It was such a fucking cool experience, though. The vibe of being on stage with those guys… I feel very privileged to have been part of that tour. I didn’t stay terribly long because I could tell things were going to go pear-shaped as a result of all the bullshit that had happened to Robert (Del Naja).”
Del Naja, AKA 3D, was arrested in March 2003 as part of the Operation Ore investigation into child pornography, but strenously denied any wrongdoing and was never charged. The fact that he happened to be spearheading an anti-Gulf War campaign at the time with Damon Albarn was, you imagine, not un-coincidental.
“Oh, it was a complete stitch-up,” she proffers. “To be honest, I didn’t think it was right to have him out on tour because naturally he was really fucking upset. The record company by rights should have postponed the tour. This guy was going through something really shocking.”
Will Sinéad be doing the hoovering of a Tuesday afternoon and suddenly think, “Fucking hell, I was there on stage in 1990 when Roger Waters performed The Wall to 500,000 reunited Berliners?”
“I’ve been fortunate enough to do some amazing things and meet some incredible characters,” she nods. “And, yeah, random things trigger the memories. I got to sing with Lou Reed at The Who’s 50th birthday bash after cheekily sending a message asking, ‘Can I do backing vocals with you?’ I actually had a panic attack when I was talking to him in the dressing-room beforehand. It was the only time I’ve been absolutely awestruck meeting someone. I knew I loved him but I didn’t know how much until that minute. I can’t even remember what song we did because I was on Planet Mars.
“Lou used to be really good to me when I was a total pariah after the Pope thing. We’d be at showbiz dos - which is when I used to get treated like shit the most - and he’d make a point of coming over and saying, ‘Hi, how are you getting on?’ Getting to sing ‘Holding Hands’ with the singer of my favourite reggae band, Israel Vibration, in the Brixton Academy and making that Rasta record with Sly & Robbie are some of the other moments I’ll always cherish.”
It’s 22 years since O’Connor ripped a picture of John Paul II up on Saturday Night Live, but the moment still resonates with a Popealike coming on stage during Arcade Fire’s recent Marlay Park gig and doing the same thing to Miley Cyrus.
“My daughter - who didn’t know I was cool ‘till then - was there and told me about it,” she resumes. “It was intended as a display of solidarity, I know, but I was a little uncomfortable about it because I’m not interested in being hateful to anyone. Especially when it’s a 21-year old girl still finding her way in the music industry - and life.”
A young lady who does have her act together is Derry songstress SOAK who at the age of 16 felt confident enough to come out as a lesbian. That would never happened in the ‘80s when Sinéad was fighting her own battles with prejudice.
“No, you couldn’t. Just look at Dusty Springfield and, more recently even, Ricky Martin. There were the George Michael discussions and denials for years. There’s definitely been progress in that area.”
Sinéad is less enthusiastic about next year’s Gay Marriage Referendum than you’d expect her to be.
“I think they should just outlaw all fucking marriage. And I say that as a repeat offender! No, it’s obviously a step in the right direction, tolerant society-wise. The country is still run though by the theocracy and theocratic thinking, but when everyone who’s now over 35 dies it’ll be gone. By the time our great grandkids are born all the bullshit will be over. Thank god!”
Which is exactly what Boy George said to us last year.
“We’ve lots of friends in common and had communicated before but I only got to meet George for the first time recently. Apart from John Grant, it’s the most instantly comfortable I’ve ever been with someone. Within about five minutes we were farting out loud in each other’s company and having a right laugh. He’s lovely and in a good place.”
If Arcade Fire’s Papal stunt wasn’t surreal enough, the following week found Ultimate Fighting Championship star Conor McGregor using Sinéad’s version of ‘The Foggy Dew’ as his octagon-entering music in the O2.
“I was actually quite touched by that. It doesn’t happen very often that a man finds his physical strength from the vibe of a woman. Because strength is what I hope to give. He seems like a really interesting guy.”
For all of Sinéad’s insistence that I’m Not Bossy… isn’t autobiographical, it's obvious that the “You know I love to make music, but my head got wrecked by the business” part of ‘Eight Good Reasons’ - the eight good reasons being her four children’s eyes - is based on personal experience. Has she ever thought, “Fuck the lot of them, I’ll do a My Bloody Valentine and release my record on the ‘net?”
“Yeah, that one is half-autobiographical,” she admits. “I do 50/50, and sometimes even better than that, licensing deals so in that respect I’m in control of things. I’m pretty old school in that I like the support of a record company, my new one being Nettwerk who’ve been my publishers for a good few years. They gave me tons of backing tracks to help me write songs, so they were part of the creative process. I feel safe when there’s a real good team of fellas around. It feels like a gang on stage. I’m making music with my mates and having fun, which is the way it should be.”

I’m Not Bossy, I’m The Boss is out now. See Sinéad at Electric Picnic and read her thoughts on Israel and Gaza on hotpress.com