TO celebrate the launch of her new album, ‘Come As You Are’ on Faction Records, acclaimed Galway artist Niamh Regan will perform a pop up show at Steamboat Records, Limerick this Thursday June 6 at 5.00pm. Many of you who have seen Niamh play solo or with her band will be well aware of what an extraordinary talent she is, don’t miss this show.
Niamh’s 2020 debut album ‘Hemet,’ showcased her knack for crafting folk-infused songs with a quiet, reflective intensity. The album quickly amassed over a million streams on Spotify and earned nominations for both the RTÉ Folk Awards and the Choice Music Prize for ‘Album of the Year.’
Since then, Niamh has taken her music around the globe, headlining tours across Ireland, the UK, Australia, Spain, and more. She has also graced numerous festivals and shared stages with the likes of CMAT, Villagers, John Grant, SOAK, Patrick Watson, Sam Amidon, Cormac Begley, and Sorcha Richardson.
Amidst this whirlwind of performances, Niamh found time to craft her second album, ‘Come As You Are,’ at Attica Studios with producer Tommy McLaughlin. Reflecting on the experience, she shares, “I arrived in Donegal to meet Tommy for the first time with a bunch of demos, half-baked ideas, and feeling not ready. It was scary. But I’m so glad that I did it that way. I trusted the process and came into the studio with the intention of capturing exactly where I was with it all, and Tommy helped me build from there.”
‘Come As You Are’ is a collection of songs rich with vulnerability and introspection. Niamh delves into themes that resonate deeply during the quiet moments of life: self-doubt, uncertainty about life’s direction, the state of relationships, and prioritising what truly matters. “A lot of it is about being in your late twenties and kind of realising we’re all running out of time,” she muses. “I’d have bouts of massive self-belief in the studio, and then in the next breath I would be like, ‘This is the worst piece of music I could have even imagined.’ It was a rollercoaster. But through that, I found self-acceptance; this is where I’m at and making peace with that. That’s what the album essentially is, just making peace with where I’m at and being realistic with myself.”
For this record, Niamh aimed to capture a richer, fuller live band sound, drawing inspiration from artists like Julia Jacklin, Caroline Rose, and Wilco. While moments of intimacy remain, the songs on ‘Come As You Are’ are grander in scale and ambition than those on ‘Hemet.’ The album features the rousing, string-assisted majesty of ‘Waves,’ the subtle electro-pop beats underpinning ‘Nice,’ the dreamy, melancholic swirl of ‘Blame,’ and the standout track ‘Music,’ which, if not for her expressive, elegant vocals, could feel like a lost classic from Jeff Tweedy and company.
Niamh explains that the joy of releasing new music lies in performing it live, saying, “It’s the best feeling and I think I’ll be chasing it for the rest of my life.”
‘Come As You Are’ is more than just a follow-up to ‘Hemet’; it’s a bold step forward. The album’s songs are poised to come alive on stage, inviting newcomers into Niamh Regan’s world with their immediacy and emotional depth.
