Off the Laoise

Leeside is set for a pop treat tomorrow night as Galway electro-pop queen Laoise kicks off her debut headline tour in Cork.

Laoise Ní Nualláin, aka Laoise, has garnered attention this year with a smattering of powerful pop anthems including new single ‘Again’, which was released in September.

Since releasing her ‘Halfway EP’ last year, the 21 year old has amassed over 300,000 Spotify plays for her single ‘YOU’, performed at Electric Picnic and was selected as a Rising Artist of 2018 by 2FM.

Growing up in a musical family (she is the niece of singer and accordion player Mary Staunton), Laoise’s music has an unrestrained pop sensibility that combines ‘80s drum elements with modern synth and traces of her trad background.

“I grew up playing the fiddle and classical piano,” she says. “House music is based on riffs and melodies – it sounds far away from trad, but it didn’t feel like that for me because it was so harmonious.”

Written after a period of writer’s block in the thick of the Repeal Referendum debate earlier this year, new single ‘Again’ evokes strength and resolve with lyrics like ‘You'll let me bleed and tell all your friends/But I won't, I won't let you again’.

“There were so many comments that weren’t nice to hear as a woman,” the singer admits. “And it felt weird even saying ‘as a woman’, because I was literally just turning 21, and was still a girl in my eyes, and probably to many people. And at the time it made me unsure of how I felt about who I was, or how people saw me, or if I cared. Looking back, it’s quite obviously about not letting people walking all over you anymore, and having the power to say you won’t let them do that.” With another EP on the way next spring, for now Laoise is content to take her time on releases, although she concedes having someone to light the fire under her would be no bad thing either.

“Right now it feels nice to be independent, as I’m still figuring out who Laoise is. But my time management is awful!”

Laoise plays Cyprus Avenue on Friday 23 November at 8pm. Tickets are €10 and are available from Eventbrite.ie.