No one else quite brightens the annals of pop music like Sinead O’Connor. While many contemporary stars exist in a sanitized world, their personalities obscured by marketing and concealed by costume changes, O’Connor continues to reveal her whole self. Whether conquering the world with ‘Nothing Compares To U’ or recording a whole album of traditional Irish songs, Sinead is always Sinead.
Following an acclaimed appearance at the Roundhouse last year, O’Connor returns to London for an evening at the Barbican Hall. As a live performer, she has maintained a rawness and emotional honesty that makes each concert a cathartic experience. Expect a career-spanning mix of hits and deep cuts blended with tracks from her 2014 release I’m Not Bossy, I’m The Boss, her punchiest, poppiest collection in years.
The routes of O’Connor’s grit and honesty can be traced in her troubled early years, where she suffered an abusive mother before, at the age of 15, being placed in a Magdalene Asylum for shoplifting. Her debut album The Lion and the Cobra (1987) was inspired by the likes of Bowie, Siouxsie Sioux and the Pretenders, and included the indie hit ‘Mandinka.’ O’Connor’s majestic lyrics, with elements of allegory and searing depictions of conflict, made her an instant icon. 1990’s I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got was an even greater success, propelled to huge sales by ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ yet containing such obscurities as an arrangement of an anonymous seventeenth-century poem.
Although she never again scaled such commercial heights, O’Connor maintained a reputation for artistic adventurousness and integrity, following her muse whether it takes her – whether to albums of jazz standards, Irish folk songs or classic roots reggae covers. I’m Not Bossy is a return to the rockier sound of her early works. These are songs of experience – the raspy ‘8 Good Reasons’ reaffirms her desire to keep on working despite adversities, while rapturous lead single ‘Take Me To Church’ speaks of overcoming regret. Live, these songs promise to burst with candour.
Following an acclaimed appearance at the Roundhouse last year, O’Connor returns to London for an evening at the Barbican Hall. As a live performer, she has maintained a rawness and emotional honesty that makes each concert a cathartic experience. Expect a career-spanning mix of hits and deep cuts blended with tracks from her 2014 release I’m Not Bossy, I’m The Boss, her punchiest, poppiest collection in years.
The routes of O’Connor’s grit and honesty can be traced in her troubled early years, where she suffered an abusive mother before, at the age of 15, being placed in a Magdalene Asylum for shoplifting. Her debut album The Lion and the Cobra (1987) was inspired by the likes of Bowie, Siouxsie Sioux and the Pretenders, and included the indie hit ‘Mandinka.’ O’Connor’s majestic lyrics, with elements of allegory and searing depictions of conflict, made her an instant icon. 1990’s I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got was an even greater success, propelled to huge sales by ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ yet containing such obscurities as an arrangement of an anonymous seventeenth-century poem.
Although she never again scaled such commercial heights, O’Connor maintained a reputation for artistic adventurousness and integrity, following her muse whether it takes her – whether to albums of jazz standards, Irish folk songs or classic roots reggae covers. I’m Not Bossy is a return to the rockier sound of her early works. These are songs of experience – the raspy ‘8 Good Reasons’ reaffirms her desire to keep on working despite adversities, while rapturous lead single ‘Take Me To Church’ speaks of overcoming regret. Live, these songs promise to burst with candour.
| What | Sinead O'Connor |
| Where | Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London, EC2Y 8DS | MAP |
| Nearest tube | Barbican (underground) |
| When |
On 13 Jan 15, 7:30 PM – 10:30 PM |
| Price | £23-£33 |
| Website | Click here to book via the Barbican’s site: |
