German fans sure had to bide their time for Lisa Hannigan. Her first album Sea Sew was never officially released in Germany and accordingly, she had never toured here other than with Damien Rice, whose background singer she used to be. Her second album Passenger was released in Germany on Feb 21st via PIAS while the UK version was already released in October last year.
While Damien Rice never made another album after firing Lisa Hannigan, she has released two successful albums since. Passenger made number 1 in the Irish charts – and I usually don’t give much for the charts but occasionally a great album makes it.
Early this year Lisa Hannigan played an acoustic set at Schokoladen (review) to celebrate the release of Passenger. Overwhelmed by the crowd that came to see her, she played the same set twice so everyone who couldn’t get in got a chance to see her.
Then again I find her sudden popularity little surprising. Lisa Hannigan is one of those musicians that do their own thing and can’t be easily fit in into current trends. Her suave voice and playfulness create a momentum of timeless beauty which after all is what all music should be.
Tonight, there’s another chance to see her live at Bi Nuu (formerly known as Kato).
