''At Swim'' is the third studio album by Irish singer-songwriter
Lisa Hannigan. The album was released worldwide on 19 August 2016, through Hoop Recordings and Play It Again Sam.
Background
Hannigan had been touring for more than two years with her 2011 album ''
Passenger
A passenger (also abbreviated as pax) is a person who travels in a vehicle, but does not bear any responsibility for the tasks required for that vehicle to arrive at its destination or otherwise operate the vehicle, and is not a steward. The ...
''. The words, she says, just dried up.
Lisa Hannigan decided to leave
Dublin and travelled to Paris where she resided for a number of months
and then travelled onwards to London in an effort to overcome a period of writer's block and hoping her new adventure would inspire her to begin songwriting again.
However, Hannigan failed to write any new material before returning to Dublin. Hannigan decided to leave Dublin and move to London more permanently. Here she began writing new material and began putting down demos, but struggled with songwriting.
Her songwriting was finally encouraged by an unsolicited e-mail from
Aaron Dessner of
The National. Dessner requested Hannigan and himself should work on her new material, both artists met in
Copenhagen over a weekend in an effort to come up with some ideas for the new album with particular focus on the album's theme and sound. They would both later meet up again at
Lismore Castle and
Cork City to tie down the album's identity.
Dessner soon became the producer of the album, sending her music and lyrics by email. Hannigan finally went to Hudson in upstate New York to begin recording.
The work of Irish poet
Seamus Heaney inspired her songwriting,
to the point that one of his poems ''Anahorish'' appears on the album. Themes of friendship, bereavement, homesickness and a new life in a vast city such as London have all inspired the album songs.
During the recording of the album Hannigan found herself split between
Dublin and London, before some of the recording moved onto New York City.
Singles
Both "Prayer for the Dying"
and "Ora" have been used in promos. NPR Music debuted "Prayer for the Dying" on 8 June.
The single was made available on iTunes and Spotify on 9 June 2016.
"Fall" is the first commercial single release revealed on 9 July 2016. A video for the single also appeared online the same day.
"Ora" was released on 16 August 2016 as a download. A music video for the song premiered online a day earlier. The video was directed by Jamie Hannigan and Lisa Hannigan.
Formats
The album was released as a download on iTunes, with pre-orders beginning on 9 June 2016. "Prayer for the Dying" became an instant download upon pre-ordering.
It was also released on CD and vinyl.
Critical reception
Writing for ''
Exclaim!
''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...
'', Laura Stanley praised the album, calling it "a dream you won't want to wake up from".
Tour
In the lead up to the album's release Lisa Hannigan confirmed a summer 2016 tour of Ireland.
A European tour was confirmed for autumn 2016 with dates in Ireland, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, France and the Netherlands.
She also confirmed a date for US festival Eaux Claires on 12 August.
Track listing
Charts
References
{{Authority control
2016 albums
Lisa Hannigan albums