Naimee Coleman returns with long-awaited album The Edges

“The Edges is an album where I’ve really had the time and space to think about what I want to convey as an artist, and to share my personal experiences, good and bad,” says Naimee Coleman of her forthcoming album, out everywhere Friday, October 20.

Her first release since 1999, it is an album that could only have existed with some life under its belt. Which is why it arrives now, twenty-four years since her last album Bring Down The Moon. Recorded during lockdown with collaborator Adam Marcello – famed for his work with Brandi Carlile and Sara Bareilles, two female artists who also leave their hearts in the lyrics – The Edges is a collection of melodic, melancholic, and deeply personal songs.

Following her 1996 debut Silver Wrists, the nation saw Coleman enter the world of musical stardom, touring extensively as a headliner and opening act for the likes of Van Morrison, David Gray, Jackson Browne, Suzanne Vega and Sinéad O’Connor.

The Irish singer-songwriter earned an array of award nominations, found a loyal international fanbase, and made an appearance on the British TV show Top Of The Pops as the featured vocalist on Aurora’s re-imagining of Duran Duran’s 'Ordinary World.’ Coleman thereafter collaborated with Howard Jones and Phil Thornhally of The Cure, and co-wrote a number of tracks on the Aurora album.

Naimee Coleman / Photo Credit: Tara Keane

“I was in my early twenties when, after signing to EMI, I found myself recording Silver Wrists in Abbey Road which, being a Beatles fan since I was a child, was truly amazing,” Coleman reflects upon that era of her burgeoning career. “What followed was incredibly exciting and, in the case of finding myself on Top Of The Pops, very surreal. I loved doing all of that.”

After releasing her 1999 album Bring Down The Moon, on which she worked with Tears For Fears’ keyboardist Ian Stanley, Coleman relocated to Los Angeles in 2004, married, and continued her work as a songwriter. She wrote music for a number of Disney, Warner Brothers and CBS films and series, and found work as a touring backing singer for the Bee Gees’ Robin Gibb, among other exciting career highlights.

A decade after her move, Coleman found herself returning to the home she longed for once again. She moved back to Dublin with her family, occupying her time with the beautiful chaos of motherhood until 2020, when the pandemic shut-in led the singer-songwriter to a period of impassioned songwriting. The result is the album’s trio of initial tracks: ‘The Edges’, ‘Lost Our Way’ and ‘Gave It All Away.’

“‘The Edges’ is probably the most personal song I’ve ever written, dealing as it does with the anxiety I’ve felt over the years,” she shares. “It became quite debilitating for a time, but thankfully now I’ve learned to manage it for the most part.”

Naimee Coleman / Photo Credit: Tara Keane

A duet with fellow Irish singer Paul Noonan of Bell X1, ‘Lost Our Way’ was released as an album single last year, a track characterised by heartfelt lyrics and a sickly sweet melody. The most recent album single, ‘Gave It All Away,’ featuring vocalist Gemma Hayes, is a dreamy, melancholic wash of acoustic guitars, accordion, dulcimer and layered vocals.

Coleman’s forthcoming twelve-track album will include a cover of Joy Division’s ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart,’ and many more songs themed around continually figuring herself out, the struggle that anxiety insists, and human heartache.

Coleman will open for Mundy and his band in Whelans on November 3, celebrating 21 years of his album 24 Star Hotel. Tickets are available for the show here.

The Edges by Naimee Coleman is out everywhere Friday, October 20. Check out the album single ‘Gave It All Away’ below!