Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Lyra JEWEL IN THE CROWN
Letting her Irish lilt florish helped Cork native earn a massive internet hit
One of LYRA’S standout moments as a musician came while sitting in front of the television with her mother. Emerald from her debut EP WILD was to be included in the smash hit American TV show Teen Wolf, but the Cork singer hadn’t been told when or where it would appear.
In fact she wasn’t sure if her track would feature at all.
“I was sitting at home watching it with my mum and the next thing all I hear is the intro, and I was like ‘oh my god’, she told
The Beat.
“I was eating Toblerone at the time and I genuinely nearly choked.
“We were dancing around the place, it was so, so cool – the coolest ever.”
More impressive than the prominence afforded to her debut single on the show, was the reaction by fans.
Emerald flew to the top of the Shazam charts (An app that identifies music) soon after the episode aired.
“Everyone went nuts for it, she laughs. “There was one newspaper article that said something like Lyra is having her own Kim Kardashian moment (breaking the internet) – I was like ‘frame that’.”
Reminiscent of Kate Bush and Florence and the Machine, Lyra has begun to carve out a niche for herself due to her distinctive vocal style.
However, Lyra initially faced a struggle with her voice – more specifically the strong Irish influences that can be heard in all of her work.
Based in London, producers had asked her to tone down her accent when singing.
“I think personally my voice is like marmite – you either like it or you don’t, so I got extremely conscious about it in the studio.”
“A lot of the studios would ask me ‘can you re-sing this or re-sing that, because we can’t understand what you’re saying or some of them would make me stay afterwards and add TH and S sounds onto my words.
“I had started singing with a voice that wasn’t mine because I was extremely nervous and self-conscious of how it sounded.”
Her breakthrough came after Rupert Christie heard her sing Emerald for the first time.
“It’s a song that I really relate to,” she explains.
“It’s about my nan, and it’s something that comes 100% from me, so when I went in to record it I said I’m not f*****g singing this any other way.
“Luckily Rupert Christie was like ‘I get it,
you have to sound like that, because that is you’
“He hadn’t heard me sing like that before – probably because I was trying to sound like someone I wasn’t.
“After that I came out of myself and sang the way I wanted to sing.”
Christie would go on to produce her 2016 debut EP WILD, it’s release signalled the start of a whirlwind year for LYRA. Her latest project is an appearance on an 11-track re-working of U2’s seminal Grammy Award-winning album The Joshua Tree.
She sings Mothers of The Disappeared, the last track on the album, alongside some of the best that Irish music has to offer.
She performs alongside the likes of The Strypes, Imelda May, Kodaline and The Coronas among many others, with proceeds going to the Laura Lynn, Irish Children’s Hospice.
With The Joshua Tree New Roots set to go to number one this week, Bono wrote to JJ Hartigan’s show on 2fm to voice his approval of the project.
“I was listening to the show on the radio the other day for a few hours and I felt more excited about the intensity of the talent on our island than ever before,” he said.
“So great time to re-imagine The
Joshua Tree with some brilliant home grown souls.
“Really moved by the station and your support of New Roots. Up Limerick!!”
Lyra is deep in the process of making more music ahead of a big release around u“the Christmas period as she looks to build on her wildly successful year.
Her star turn on The Joshua Tree New Roots album will likely be followed by a debut album though this hasn’t been confirmed.
She remains optimistic about her future in an industry and is determined to stay on her current trajectory.
“I have a long road ahead of me but I’m going to battle on anyway.”
CHARITY BOOST: The reworking of The Josha Tree with local talent will benefit the Irish Children’s Hospice