CQAF have been supporting Ciaran’s career for a long time now, appointing him Artist in Residence last year, so we’re very proud to be involved with the launch of his new album, a work that fulfils all the promise we first saw in this most talented of local artists.
He may wield an acoustic guitar and write achingly beautiful universal truths, but Ciaran Lavery doesn’t conform to the sensitive singer-songwriter archetype. The County Antrim native’s second album, Let Bad In, blends Americana and hip-hop influences in a grainy voice with a deep soul impulse over processed beats and sumptuous strings.
Let Bad In is essentially an album based on the naivety of childhood & the loss of that innocence with age. In 2014, Lavery’s Kosher EP and Not Nearly Dark album went global, with the tracks, Shame and Left For America leading the charge racking up more than 30 million listens on the Spotify streaming service and inspiring a raft of renditions from other countries.
The release of Sea Legs, a mini-album on which Lavery collaborated with electronica artist Ryan Vail, won them a nomination for best album at the Northern Irish Music Prize. And then, later in the year, he won the Big Break, a search for the brightest of Ireland’s bright young things hosted by Hot Press magazine.
It’s all about momentum. And there is a real sense that this time belongs to Lavery, that his star will continue to soar in the ascendant just as the instinctive approach to his craft nudges him in other directions.
