"....She is an innovator, an original; incomparable with any of her contemporaries and she has created what just might be the Irish Album of the Year..."CD OF THE WEEK The Irish Times
"...pages...is a wee masterpiece..." Hotpress
"... a record packed with innovation, creativity and beauty...a supremely talented musician, she is also a gifted songwriter and pages is an album of jaw-dropping beauty... A joy to listen to..." Clare People
"Witty, heartfelt and personal... excites in a way few others can manage..." MUSIC OF THE WEEK Galway Independent Supplement
...pages...confirms her as one of the most original talents on the Irish music scene today...The Sunday Business Post
"...Julie Feeney has made a record to be cherished..." Mail on Sunday
"...pages is a spellbinding second album...Listen to it..." Sunday World Magazine
Check out a recent podcast with Julie by Andrew Hamilton
http://www.clarepeople.com/wordpress/?p=1013
Julie's second self-produced album, 'pages', she orchestrated this time for voice and orchestra with no midi. She conducted the orchestra and later recorded the singing over the orchestral music. The orchestra included trumpets, french horns, trombone, vibraphone, clarinet, flute, oboe, bassoon, violins, violas, cellos, double bass, glockenspiel, sticks and more. All of the singing and mixing was done athome. Instead of playing lots of instruments like she did on the first album, all of the music was this time played by the orchestra while she did again of the singing, conducting, composing and producing. She spent a considerable amount of time working at the Artists' Retreat in Annaghmakerrig in County Monaghan working on all of the words for the work. Pre-order a signed copy of 'pages' (include the dedication you would like to be written on the album):
Julie works as a composer, a singer, a producer, a musician, a songwriter, a theatre artist and as an educator. She composes instrumental music and also songs with full orchestrations. Before her first album she worked mostly with composition of electronic music, and since her first album she has been exploring the orchestral sound-world.
Her instrumental compositions have been for the Crash Ensemble and Icebreaker, and the electronic scores for Corp Feasa contemporary dance company, Loose Canon Theatre Company and for her own one woman shows where she incorporated live singing. She has orchestrated for and conducted the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra string section and she orchestrated '13 songs' for the 65 piece Ulster Orchestra at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast in 2007 when she sang solo with them. A video link to one of the songs is here http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/atl/omb_julie.shtml
She has worked as a theatre artist with Loose Canon Theatre Company; in a one woman show to her own electronic score; and in ‘Slat’ at Galway Arts Festival and in Paris in 2008 at the Centre Culturel Irlandais.
Her debut album '13 songs' won in 2006 the 'Choice Music Prize - Irish Album of the Year'. She played most of the instruments and did all of the singing, and produced and released the album. (The album cover sleeve and all of the credits can be seen on her main website). After that she signed a record deal and was able finally to pay back all of the money she borrowed to make and it and the first video (seen below which features the Beetle car, her favourite vehicle of all time). Just before her debut album, after graduating from Trinity College Dublin, she worked all over the world as a professional choral singer with various ensembles on numerous cds, dvds and broadcasts. She has her own record label, mittens, called after her mother's favourite cat. She cannot drive a car.
As an educator Julie has worked at primary, secondary, university and professional development level in music education. A qualified primary teacher she has designed and facilitated workshops all over Ireland, in the U.S. and in Brazil and has published 3 music education CD roms. She works part-time as a model.
Influences
Everything and more from Leonin and Perotin to Palestrina to Bach to La Bottine Souriante to Cathal Hayden to June Tabor to Schoenberg to Morcheeba to Stephin Merritt to Meredith Monk to Richard Strauss .......
This podcast gives a good estimate
http://www.rte.ie/radio1/mytunes/1172890.html
There's also http://www.sineadgleeson.com/blog/2008/03/18/musical-rooms-part-18-julie-feeney/
Sounds Like
'13 songs'
"...This album marks the blossoming of a major talent…" The Observer
"... a charming, urbane and dreamy record…" New York Times
**** "...the world will listen..." The Guardian
**** "...Julie Feeney represents a new eclecticism...Lyrically sage, musically taut, 13 songs is a wonderful, wistful collection…" The Irish Times
***** "...2007's first delight...a beguiling mix of the baroque...the pop...sweeps majestically...and the hypnotic avant-garde..." Evening Standard
"...the most intriguing female voice...to come out of Ireland since Sinead O'Connor...for sheer originality, courage and raw talent, Feeney deserves to soar above and beyond even the merely excellent..."
HOT PRESS
You can buy a signed copy of '13 songs' (include your desired dedication on your order):
See all the words of Julie's first album '13 songs' on www.juliefeeney.com/words.html
All of the words of 'pages' will be posted soon too!
Thanks for the add! Really would have loved to have gone to your Crawdaddy gig, but missed it cause of this recording madness over here. Hope ya'll have a gig in Holland soon! :)
Great set at HMV on Friday Julie, and I haven't stopped playing the album since I got home. And well done on being chosen as RTE Album Of The Week - they obviously have great taste.
Hi Julie, thanks for the add! And congrats on all your success with your music and all your other endeavors. My husband, sister and I will be visiting Ireland in September and look forward to enjoying your beautiful country while we're there. Take care.
Great article and lovely portrait in Hot Press, Julie. And congratulations on the 4 star review too. I am looking forward to hearing Impossibly Beautiful again on JK Ensemble. Now, lets get on with this album release !
ah lady...miss you too! and pages is coming out at the end of the month, yahoo! can't freaking wait. : ) yeah, text me when it's a good time to skype. LOADS to catch up on... XXX
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