“Commercially? The heart says sales in the millions. It’s hard to find a single bar on this wonderful album that might deter fans of Hucknall or Gray, or repel those who cleave to (Ben) Christophers or (Paul) Buchanann.Does that not suggest a large audience? Well, it should, and tracks as startlingly intimate as Amsterdam Weeps, Heart Still Breaking and Comfort Me could yet connect with one.”
Sunday Times Album of the Week 31st Dec. 2006
"A work of great quality, far removed from the removed from the morose ramblings of many other singer songwriters."
Irish Independent ****
"Beautiful but sad. Like a weeping willow in the fall."
Oor Magazine, Holland
"Attic Faith is a gorgeously fragile, deliciously delicate album to make you fall in love with sad songs again, an album to wallow in for hours at a time and an album to soften the heart of a cynical, scarred and scorned music hack."
Hot Press (9 out of 10)
THE STORY OF ATTIC FAITH - EMMETT'S DEBUT SOLO ALBUM
Recorded and produced by Victor Van Vugt (Nick Cave, Beth Orton and
PJ Harvey) in New York at the time of the U.S. invasion of Iraq the
story of Attic Faith is a long and winding one involving various
countries, various record labels and a host of musicians.
Starting at the end of a Prayer Boat tour at the tail end of 1999 in
Amsterdam, Attic Faith was written, honed, recorded and mixed over
three and a half years in the US, Denmark, Ireland and the UK.
Coming straight out of 12 years as lynch-pin and frontman with The
Prayer Boat Emmett was eager to try something different in his life
and in his approach to music.
After periods of living and writing in
Amsterdam, Arhus and LA (interspersed with solo touring in the U.S.
and Europe) Emmett settled in Denmark again in 2002 and began
working with bassist Martin Spure, drummer Nikolaj Bundvig and
pianist Allin Bang, all of whose backgrounds were in jazz. After a
few months, the addition of Dutch guitarist Marijn Slager added
another facet to the songs.
In the meantime producer Van Vugt had become part of the picture.
One of Victors great talents lies in his ability to create and
maintain an atmosphere of creativity and positivity, Emmett muses.
We knew beforehand that there would be a very limited amount of time
in which to capture the sound we wanted and to this end Victor was
the right man for the job.
At the beginning of March 2003 recording began in New York. Most of
the album was captured in a studio in Manhattan, although some
finishing touches were added in Denmark and Dublin and a
fourteen-piece string section along with Adam Peters Cello and
Keyboard touches recorded in London.
Attic Faith was released in Ireland in 2005 on Independent Records to great acclaim with 4 stars reviews in all the national newspapers and a 9 out of 10 in Hot Press Magazine.
At the end of the year it was nominated for the Choice Music Prize (Ireland's equivalent of the Mercury's).
Emmett was finally released from his deal with Atlantic Records at the end of the year and had the album returned to him.
It is being released in the UK on Independent Records at the beginning of 2007
The Sunday Times made it their album of the week in their UK and Ireland edition on the 31st Dec 2006
Hello! It's been a very long time since I last saw you or heard your music. The new songs are beautiful and inspiring. I hope life has been good to you. You still look the very same! Good luck with everything x Gemma
Brendan is also playing in his home town of killarney upstairs in Courtneys on the 20th of December at 8pm.
Tickets for the Bewley's show are selling fast. So please go to roadrecords and ask for more information.
Hi Emmett, Just passing through, listening to attic faith, being blown away as usual! Hope you're keeping well and are happy and healthy! Much respect, Peter
