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The Barbican today announces a new concert with Irish singer-songwriter Lisa O’Neill. O’Neill – who last appeared on the Barbican stage as part of the line-up for Imagining Ireland – will return with her band for a headline show on 23 March 2023 as part of a UK-wide tour.

Having quietly built a reputation for herself on the Irish and international scenes, O’Neill has cultivated a devout following, drawn to her unique folk sound, her distinctive voice, and powerful songwriting. Addressing themes of love, loss, heartache, and sorrow, she has long been noted as one of the most evocative singers and writers in contemporary Irish music. 

To date, she has released four critically acclaimed albums, with The Guardian giving her most recent record, Heard A Long Gone Song, a five-star review and awarding it ‘Best Folk Album of 2019’. She was nominated in four categories at the 2019 UK Folk awards and five categories at the 2019 Irish Folk awards, going on to win for best original folk song.

Recently, her song Blackbird featured prominently in the sixth season of TV series Peaky Blinders and her version of Bob Dylan’s All the Tired Horses was the closing track in the show’s season finale. 

Utilising the time spent in lockdown to write new music, O’Neill has recently finished recording an album, which will be announced soon and released via Rough Trade.

“At a time when sameness threatens to drain the world of charm and surprise, Lisa O’Neill stands tall for difference, as an outlier with a mission to frame the world as she sees it and to perform it accordingly” — The Irish Times

“Uncompromising, stunning, soul-shaking stuff” — The Guardian

“This is as beautiful as it gets” — The Irish Times

“With a voice emitting the power of Eliza Carthy, the conviction of June Tabor and original songs that instantly sound so right, she surely is among the best things to be found performing in the folk world today” — Danny Neil, Folk Radio UK

Produced by the Barbican

Tickets on-sale for members and patrons Wed 9 Nov 2022

General on-sale Fri 11 Nov 2022

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