Dublin singer-songwriter Bairbre Anne wrote and recorded her debut album in the space of two weeks back in 2016, but decided to hold back on releasing it until she was ready. Having moved to London and Melbourne, only to return to Dublin, she’s finally ready to share her innermost thoughts, packaged up in heartbreaking and occasionally cut-throat country-pop songs that come with a dark undercurrent of rock.
There’s a snarling resistance in Call You Out, the album’s whiskey-dark opener. Over jagged guitars, she squares up to her cocky nemesis, like someone who has nothing to lose. This fight carries over to the distorted Lose Yourself as our protagonist channels Alanis Morissette – vocally and spiritually – refusing to undersell her worth in the name of a dead-end relationship.
On the piano ballad Selfish, her observant songwriting captures the pain of going unnoticed in a one-sided relationship.
With a voice that conveys vulnerability and anger in one crackling note, and songs loaded with rich stories and emotional accuracy, Bairbre Anne has carved and etched her life experiences into a striking debut.
