Pauline weaves a spell with sublime ‘Gossamer’
Groove Tube with Jimi McDonnell – [email protected]
An interpretive singer of nuance and grace, Pauline Scanlon plays Campbell’s Tavern on Saturday, June 4. The show is part of a national tour to launch the Dingle native’s second solo album, Gossamer.
Gossamer has been produced by Pauline’s long-time collaborator John Reynolds, whose CV includes Sinéad O’Connor and Damien Dempsey. John worked with Pauline on her solo debut, as well as on the two albums she made as part of the acclaimed folk duo Lumiere.
“John’s the best person I’ve ever come across to record vocals,” Pauline says. “When you’re in the studio with him recording vocals, it feels very confessional because he’s very emotional about everything. You can go to your core in the room with John, which I find difficult to do with other people.”
Although Pauline’s roots are in the folk tradition, she wanted to go about the recording process ‘slightly differently’ this time around.
“There’s electric guitar on every track, and it’s probably a bit more groove-heavy than it has been before,” she says. “We sat with the band and worked all the songs up. I came back to do some overdubs, but I suppose the body of record was done in one ten-day period.
“Some of the band were John’s people, and some of them were mine, and we just put together an amazing group. They’re so good at what they do. They just come along, and their thing is theirs, and mine is mine – it’s nice to have it that way.”
One of the highlights of Gossamer is Pauline’s version of The Whileaways Down in the Valley. The song was written by Galway’s Nicola Joyce, who features throughout the record.
“The first time I heard her singing it was down in Dingle, and it just reminds me of someone I know that passed away a couple of years back,” Pauline says of Nicola. “The words, in particular – it just really, really resonated with me the first time I heard her sing it. At sessions here and there, I’d just belt it out. It stuck with me. I love it, it’s such a beautiful song.”
For more, read this week's Connacht Tribune.