Who Do You Think I Am

Sinéad Lohan: “Who Do You Think I Am” (Dara Records)

There can be little doubt that the folky singer songwriter genre Sinéad Lohan has chosen is the most difficult one in which to excel, and be meaningful, in the 1990s. It is hard to have to find the silence which one needs to properly listen to something like Who Do You Think I Am.

The aesthetics of atonality, disharmony and the inventive use of noise often seem the most appropriate means to counteract the dehumanising effects of mindless industrialism and crass urbanisation, if for no other reason than that this form of art drowns out and shouts over the anonymous soundtrack of modern life and forces it into the background. The corollary to all this is, of course, that this ‘quieter’ music – if it is to really grab the attention of the listener – has to be that bit better than its louder, noisier and no less brilliant counterpart.

Sinéad Lohan manages to surmount these considerable obstacles best on the opening, anger-fuelled ‘Bee In The Bottle’, the truly moving ‘Send Me A River, where she manages to generate genuine feeling as opposed to run-of-the-mill emotionality, and the defiant ‘Water To The Well’ which seems to take its strength from some dark and bottomless site of oppression. The single ‘Sailing By’ and ‘If I Go’ after a good few listens also possess the power to haunt in a soft, feminine way.

At times, though, on Who Do You Think I Am the music is just too cautious and correct, too measured and studied. Consequently, some tunes, such as ‘Clearly Undefined’ and ‘This Time The Difference Is’ aren’t as provocative as they might be and are in danger of passing you by unnoticed.

In a style which inevitably places the spotlight on the words, sometimes it’s not just enough to be confessional and intimate. Fittingly enough, however, the title track ‘Who Do You Think I Am’ is also the most lyrically dextrous and poetic. It suggests the promise of greater things to come from Sinéad.

Who Do You Think I Am is a fine debut from someone brave enough to avoid the clichéd young person’s impassioned responses to his or her situations. Sinéad Lohan is setting the foundations, carving out her space and time. There might yet be room for two highly successful Sinéads on our little, much abused planet.

• Patrick Brennan