MacD on Music: Ring Them Bell(s)

Being a music journalist comes with many perks. One of the best is that it allows me to discover so much new music, which I have done plenty of in the almost two years I’ve been here.

Since taking over this fine column in November 2021, I’ve got to discover and talk to many great artists that otherwise may have flown under my radar, as well as some legendary acts that have had the honour of playing Derry.

People like Ethan Hollan, Jill Andrews, Alabama 3 and ILA are just a few of the names I’ve had the pleasure of talking to over the (almost) years.

This week I’m talking to another artist on the rise, Lucy Bell, who’s EP ‘Emotion Pending’ was released this past August.

Speaking about the EP, Lucy tells me “it’s been in the works for about four years. I recorded it with a producer from Belfast, Owen McGarry, over in London. Some of the tracks were written about four years ago.

“Most of the recording was done last year. It’s been a really long process, but I’m really proud of all the songs that are on it, because they’ve been with me so long.

“It’s mostly heartbreak songs, or love songs in some way. Some of them are about my personal experiences, and some of them are about people that I’ve met over the past couple of years. It’s impressive for me to look back on, and it’s been really impressive now, since the release, to see people’s reactions to it, and see what they’re getting from the songs, compared to what I have in my head.”

Next we moved on to the reaction the EP has been getting: “The songs I was more nervous about seem to be the ones that people are responding to more. My last single, ‘Quiet’, was the most personal song on there, and it’s the longest song, and I was like ‘people are going to get bored’ and it’s my favourite, and it was Owen’s favourite, and everyone that’s worked on it, they were like ‘this is the one’.

"That seems to be the one, similarly, that everyone seems to have gotten the most out of. I’m really happy with how people have responded to it. I feel really lucky. No one’s come up to me and been like ‘that’s awful’, so success thus far.”

“I managed to get some Radio One play for one of the tracks, ‘Fire and Smoke’, which was insane. This is just a song I co-wrote with another musician, Ben Cutler. It’s just, like, a memory from a few years ago, just us sitting going ‘oh, we’ll write this song’ and then you hear it on the radio and you’re like ‘this is surreal’.”

Next, we moved on to Lucy’s main musical influences when she was making the EP: “I would say the biggest influence would be Orla Gartland [who’s album is available in Cool Discs], and I adore her music. She’s really quirky and really innovative with how her songs are produced.

“With my last two singles before the EP as well, she’s been a huge influence on the production of the tracks. And then a little bit of Billie Martin and Phoebe Bridgers would be more prominent in the EP, as opposed to the singles that have come before, but they’re probably my biggest influences.”

Moving on, we discussed the differences between playing solo vs. playing with a full band: “I definitely prefer playing with a band. With them it’s more likely to sound like the produced versions of the songs and you can have a bit more fun with it, whereas solo is a lot more intimidating.

"It’s just you and the guitar. If you decided you didn’t want to play a part with a band, that’s still going to sound cool, whereas if you just stop playing guitar it’s going to sound a bit naff. Definitely, just the experience and the atmosphere with the band, I prefer it. Unless, sometimes you get those really intimate gigs where it’s a privilege to play acoustically. People are really listening to what you’re singing. They’re really nice.”

And that’s it from Lucy Bell. Her EP, ‘Emotion Pending’ is out now and available on Bandcamp and all good streaming services.

Now, onto other business. Last week, CHERYM announced the release of their new single ‘Do It Another Day’, which will be released on the 11th October and is available for pre-save now.

Last week also saw the announcement of what is sure to be one of the gigs of the year (I know, there’s been about 50 of them this year, but this one should be especially brilliant), CHERYM in Sandino’s on the 28th October, with support from Parker (who’s album, ‘Never Let This Go’, is available now in Cool Discs) and TomCat (told you it would be a good one). Tickets on sale now.

Also, this Saturday sees singer/songwriter Síomha play St. Augustine's with support from Róise. For more information see musiccapital.org

Finally, Lucy Bell can be found on Instagram @lucybellmusic.