Having had very little luck finding information on The Danger Is, one of the acts chosen to perform on the IMRO stage of RTÉ’s Other Voices, I wasn’t sure what to expect. With that name, surely it’s some kind of hardcore, edgy instrumental band? Or maybe a psychedelic indie dance duo? A member of the X-Men?

Actually, The Danger Is comprises one Niamh Farrell, an unassuming and model-esque indie-pop singer whose alluring melodies and warmly honest lyrics have been garnering great reviews. With a voice that effortlessly moves from a sultry jazz whisper to a sweetly vibrating shrill, the quirky vibes of Farrell’s debut EP have earned her support slots with Ellie Goulding and The Coronas. Not bad for a girl who only started playing music seriously two years ago (and no, she isn’t related to the singer from Ham Sandwich).
“I’ve played guitar since I was a kid, and always jotted down vague ideas for songs or scraps of lyrics. And I’ve always sung in a choir. In fact I still do, and am performing in the Wexford Opera House and the RDS soon. But I didn’t do music in college. I did art. After college I was at a bit of a loss. I didn’t know what to do with myself. I ended up coaching gymnastics for nearly a year, and I don’t know how I stuck it out that long – any job that requires wearing a tracksuit every day is not where I want to be! So when I finally went ‘what am I spending my time doing sport for?’ it seemed like a good opportunity to throw myself headfirst into music… and some new clothes.”
After a chance meeting with prolific songwriter and producer Ken McHugh, Farrell recorded her debut EP in Wicklow, and only then began gigging. “It seems a bit backwards doesn’t it, but I think that’s becoming the norm now, that you record on your laptop and then use it to promote yourself and get gigs. And I’d always been very wary of becoming known as an acoustic act before moving on to anything else because I just think, especially at the start when your style could still change, that it’s important not to pigeon-hole yourself. So I knew I wanted to record first.”
Though the EP is in shops now, The Danger Is feels in no rush to release an album.
“I’m not going to release something quickly just for the sake of it. I am writing. I try to be disciplined, but that never lasts very long! It doesn’t necessarily come easily – it’s a challenge. But that’s why I enjoy it, it’s really exciting. And for me it’s quite personal. My themes and lyrics tend to be quite confessional – so you see why I prefer going under The Danger Is rather than my real name (laughs). It keeps me out of trouble! I would like to learn how to write a little less autobiographically while still keeping the sense of honesty I have in my songs, but it’s a learning process.”
Given the hype that’s surrounded her EP, it would be easy to forgive the Dublin-based singer if she happily coasted along in the same vein. But The Danger Is is refreshingly eager to point out her beginner’s status, and her desire to educate herself further in order to develop her sound. “I’m very aware of the fact that I don’t always want to write like this. I do want to change and develop my style quite a bit. I’ve been really lucky. Really I’ve only written a few proper songs – so I want to try out some different directions and see where my music ends up. Even now, one of my favourite songs is ‘Same Face’, which is the only one I don’t have to play guitar on, because I love dancing around on stage! So it’s just learning what works for me as a performer. I think it’s about hitting that tone that you know will last – even now I still love the music my parents played when I was small, because it’s all brilliant and timeless. Singers like Paul Simon and Neil Young were my parents’ music and it always struck me how it never seemed to age as I grew up.
“Obviously my stuff is kind of quirky. But if you can reach people on a basic level the music will always have an impact. That’s all I’m hoping for at the moment.”