Lisa Hannigan

Sea Sew (ATO)

By Marisa Iacobucci
Published: February 14th, 2009 | 9:00am

If you don't know Lisa Hannigan's name, chances are you might have heard her sing while she toured and recorded with Damien Rice for seven years before he (there's no nice way of putting this) fired her minutes before they were to go on a stage for a show in Germany. Her partnership with Rice may have not ended on the best of terms, but it was the best thing that could have happened to Hannigan, who could finally pen her own tunes and transition from back-up vocals — taking her rightful place at center stage on her critically acclaimed debut album, Sea Sew.

This talented Irish singer deserves to take the spotlight, giving us a delicate and beautifully mixed album, captivating us with her impressive vocal range, and making sure the musical accompaniments are full of depth and surprises. There's a melancholic tone to the album, but if you really listen to some of the lyrics, you can tell Hannigan is having fun with words and using her voice and the music to make even a silly phrase sound sad.

Interestingly enough, Hannigan was a Michael Jackson fan in the early days and wanted to be Maria Callas, but there's no King Of Pop and opera diva influences anywhere on these songs. Instead, she is more reminiscent of Sinead O'Connor on "Ocean and a Rock," when she gets raw with her lyrics and evocative with her voice. Hannigan is playful with her lyrics and voice like Björk on "Pistachio," where her singing trails off a few times and she almost talks to us. "Keep It All" has a Cowboy Junkies vibe to it as Hannigan sings us a story over a country-blues melody. "I Don't Know" is probably the most radio-friendly song, and it was no surprise at all when it was the free iTunes "Pick of the Week" at Starbucks. "Lille," the final song on the album, is at last the beautiful Irish folk song we yearned for.

These vocal influences are all impressive, but make no mistake, Hannigan stands out as a unique artist all on her own, singing to you (not at you) as she gets deeply personal and experimental during many layers of the songs. She has given us her notebook of songs, a talented band of friends on guitar, drums, violin, cello, trumpet, and even glockenspiel — and if this wasn't enough — a hand-knitted and sewn cover with some of the album's lyrics stitched out.

Sew beautiful, indeed.

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