Sinead McConville is the latest artist to take on our Guestlist series and chat about the 10 songs that shaped her and her music. Sinead is a singer/songwriter from Bray. Her music is Indie Pop with a touch of Folk and Rock. Although she is energetic and humorous as a person, her music takes a different shape. Her songwriting is a mixture of conversational, cut-throat lyrics with catchy top-line melodies. Her upbeat songs are full of driving emotions which allows the listener to get lost in the story with her and get sucked into a world of hardships where we can all dance it off together. As a nostalgic person, Sinead likes to write music that brings her right back to those difficult times, to feel intensely and to feel those raw emotions all over again in a controlled, lighthearted environment. Check out her latest track ‘Break My Heart’ now and take a look at the 10 tracks that inspired Sinead to make the music she does!
It was difficult to choose these songs, but they all definitely inspire me to write better music in different ways. I discovered most of these songs as a teenager and my love for them are enhanced due to growing up and experiencing new things for the first time. Also, I’m drawn to songs with catchy top-line melodies that are filled with emotion. So, please enjoy my list of songs that inspire me to write music!
Daughter - ‘Candles’
I discovered Daughter when I was in secondary school and had just started writing my own songs on the guitar. Candles is the first song I heard and instantly had to learn to play it on guitar. It’s in the tuning of open G, which I had never heard of before. This tuning opened up a whole new world of songwriting for me. I love so many things about this song - the melody, the lyrics, the guitar, the beat, the production. It’s such a perfect song to me.
Radiohead - ‘Idioteque’
My discovery of Radiohead is a weird one. My sister showed me Idioteque when I was about 15 and instantly I had to put it on my iPod. When I was younger, I suffered a lot with travel sickness. Once I started listening to this song and other RH songs like ‘Nude’, ‘Videotape’ and ‘All I need’, my travel sickness stopped. So weird haha. As a teen, it was normal to listen to the charts (2010ish was definitely the golden era of Pop music) but when my sister showed me this song, it was like experiencing a whole new way of life. The driving drum loop, weird production, his voice, song structure - it mesmerized me and still does to this day.
Damien Rice - ‘The Blower’s Daughter’
I’m a huge Damien Rice fan and sometimes think he is my favourite artist of all time (I’m indecisive). I love how he is able to express such strong emotions through his voice and make the audience feel like they’re a part of his pain. I’ve often said ‘The Blower's Daughter’ is my favourite song ever. The chorus in The Blower’s Daughter stops me in my tracks every time I hear it. I honestly can’t cope with the passion and pain every time I hear it.
Bon Iver - ‘Skinny Love’
From seeing Bon Iver’s ‘Skinny Love’ performance on Jools Holland, I was instantly hooked. I heard ‘715 - Creek’ for the first time when I lived in Vancouver and felt quite lonely. I’d go down to the beach on my own and listen to this song on repeat for hours. The vocoder is what hits me the hardest. His voice holds so much pain and honesty. To write such a powerful song with only his voice and a vocoder inspires me so much to write with emotion and minimal instruments.
Adele - ‘Strangers By Nature’
Okay, so Adele’s album only came out last Friday . . . a week ago. The first song on the album is Strangers by Nature. I listened to this song whilst in Lidl and it was the most joyous shopping experience. Her voice, the dissonant chords, the backing vocals, the production …. where do I start? This song transports you to another world. It’s a production masterclass in itself. It reminds me that emotion is what leaves the biggest impression on me when listening to music. Adele is so talented. I love her so much. She is a true queen.
David Bowie - ‘Life On Mars’
I had a dream once where I was asked what my favourite song ever was and I said ‘Life on Mars’ by David Bowie. Kind of spooky. What I love about this absolute masterpiece are the chords! I can’t get over how amazing the vocal melody fits the crazy chord changes so effortlessly. I really can’t get over Bowie’s vocal performance either. The song is a masterclass on instrument arrangement for sure.
Lorde - ‘Ribs’
I really love Lorde. Her vocal arrangements and backing vocals are incredible. I love so many songs of hers, but Ribs is the song that takes my breath away. The swell of synths at the beginning is majestic. The pulsing kick throughout the song matched with Lorde’s vocal performance is hypnotizing. I love dark pop songs with a driving kick - so I feel like this song makes it more acceptable to write sad pop songs.
The Beatles - ‘Here Comes The Sun’
This was a tough one because there are a solid 10 Beatles songs I could’ve chosen for this alone. Haha. I’ve decided to go with Here Comes the Sun. Whenever D. Cullen and I do cover gigs, we always open with this song and it’s associated with so much joy now for the two of us. It’s such a bright, happy song with an incredible chorus. That weird timing in the bridge freaks me out too but in a good way. This song inspires me to write music that makes people happy and hopeful.
Claude Debussy - ‘Clair De Lune’
The piano is my favourite instrument - the purity and delicacy of the sound sends me into an altered state. ‘Clair De Lune’ by Debussy freezes time whenever I listen to it. The quiets, louds, lows and highs tell such a story without using words. I really think it’s one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever created.
Villagers - Real Go-getter’
Finally, I have chosen ‘Real Go-getter’ by Villagers as my last song on this list of very inspirational songs. The Art of Pretending to Swim came out around the same time I was going through a pretty rough time. Once I heard Real Go-getter, I felt so motivated to keep going and grow instead of staying stuck in my sadness. The fact that Villagers produced this on their own inspires me so much to produce my own album, which I am currently in the process of doing! It's important to have a piece of music that motivates you to keep going. I hope I can write a song like this which will help someone like Real Go-Getter helped me.
(Sinead also managed to sneak in an honourable mention track as well!) I couldn’t not include D. Cullen. He’s my partner and I’m constantly in awe of how incredible he is as a songwriter and musician. He recently just released a song called ‘She is a Song’ and it is stunning. The lyrics and catchy chorus are great examples of how talented D is and I am inspired to write better every time I hear him noodling away at a new idea.