Galway songwriter Niamh Regan is showing a darker energy and grittier sound on new release ‘Her Eyes are A Blue Million Miles’ – a cover of Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band’s classic 1972 song.

Niamh's commanding cover version summons Beefheart’s same feeling of longing and confused love, yet the sparser arrangement allows Niamh’s astounding vocals to take centre stage.

"I look at her and she looks at me / In her eyes, I see the sea / I don't see what she sees in a man like me / She says she loves me," Regan sings, as stunning textures support the slightly ominous, otherworldly atmosphere created.

There's something intense about the sepia-toned black-and-white visuals, which almost show a form of paranoia that certain romantic relationships bring.

“I first heard this song in the film The Big Lebowski, but never looked up the artist," Niamh explains of the cover. "I remembered really liking the short snippet I heard. Then one evening I was watching a documentary on the artist Frank Zappa when I discovered Beefheart who would have been on the scene in California the 60’s-70’s same time. Anyway, if you’re a big Tom Waits fan, like myself, exploring some of Captain Beefheart’s bizarre, fun and strange catalogue is well worth it. I’ve never released a cover song before, so this was fun and a great exercise to explore new sounds and ideas for my second record.”

‘Her Eyes are a Blue Million Miles’ was recorded and produced with Steve Lynch, and mastered by Seán MacErlaine.

Check out the video below, produced by Myles O’Reilly using old footage from the 1927 German film Metropolis.

Since the release of her EP In the Meantime in March 2022, Niamh has been performing live in Ireland and the UK, playing at Ireland’s most loved festivals – Body & Soul, All Together Now, Another Love Story, Féile na Bealtaine, and Galway International Arts Festival.

The Choice Music Prize-nominated Hemet artist has opened shows for the likes of Fionn Regan, Damien Dempsey, Paul Brady, Sorcha Richardson, Mick Flannery, The Lost Brothers, SOAK, and joined James Vincent McMorrow at The Barbican, London.

Niamh performs at Other Voices at Cardigan, Wales in the UK (3rd – 4th November), she opens for Villagers at the Lime Tree Theatre, Limerick, 5th November; plays at Other Voices in Dingle 4th December, Prim’s Bookshop, Kinsale, Co. Cork 5th December, + more dates to be announced.

Remaining 2022 live dates:

3rd – 4th November | Other Voices, Cardigan, Wales, UK
5th November | Supporting Villagers, Lime Tree Theatre, Limerick
4th December | Other Voices, Dingle, Co Kerry
5th December | Prim’s Bookshop, Kinsale, Co Cork