  
Lisa Cuthbert's new album is a concept album inspired by one of the many shameful scandals that has engulfed the catholic church, the Magdalene Asylums. Talking of the concept, Lisa says;
“Magdalene Asylums were institutions where catholic women were enslaved and forced to work beyond human endurance because they were considered unfit to live in Irish society. A woman was branded "fallen" if: she became pregnant, was a rape victim, illegitimate (born out of wedlock), orphaned, mentally handicapped, or even just too pretty. These revelations (for want of a better word) are the inspiration behind "Paramour". The album is much darker and dramatic than anything I've done before musically, and it revolves around fictional characters that I created with the theme in mind. These characters include the victim, the lovers, the paramour, the by-stander, the prisoner and the mother, all of whose lives have been affected in some way by organized religion.”
So it's quite a dark subject, and not one you're likely to find covered by song lyrics very often.
Brief comments on a few tracks...
Opening track "Destitute" is a beautiful start to the album. It's a slow piano based song with some lovely haunting vocals, then midway through the song it suddenly transforms into a much faster rock song catching the listener by surprise.
"Gartan mother's lullaby" has a very traditional Irish folk feel to it. For much of the song there are no instruments, just Lisa Cuthbert's beautiful vocals, although a music box sound adds atmosphere to go along with the lyrics.
"Libra" is an instrumental, played on the piano. It breaks up the album but personally I found it too long - a much shorter version would have worked better in my opinion.
"This kind of sin" is quite a strange one - you've got an almost folk sound from the vocals but there's quite a brisk pace from the drums and piano and there's an almost constant sound of scratching records which gives it a slightly odd feel and which I found distracted attention away from the vocals and lyrics.
This is an excellent album. You can listen to it without paying attention to the lyrics and you'll enjoy it, but if you start to pay more attention to the lyrics then you'll get far more out of it.
Well worth a listen.
"Paramour" is out now.
1. Destitute
2. Coils of Blue
3. Gartan Mother's Lullaby
4. Run and Jump
5. Libra
6. This Kind of Sin
7. The Balancing Act
8. The Sooner You Know
9. Madame's Secret Pain
10. Party's Over |
