A star is born
With a new single out and an album in the works, Cork singer Lyra is one to watch. Janice Butler talks to her about growing success, writing about exes and staying true to herself
I decided very early on to just be myself on and off stage, otherwise it’s just fake and it will come out in the wash eventually
Lyra, a powerhouse of a singer, aka Laura Mcnamara, is at her family home in Cork city when we catch up on Zoom, or the ‘mad house’ as she calls it, with her niece running riot downstairs. “She’s a tornado,” she laughs. Fresh from a rousing performance on e Late Late Show, Lyra is sitting in her bedroom, pared back with her hair and make-up, much more casual than we’re used to seeing her on her live shows. e 28-year-old is still pinching herself a er sitting on the couch with Ryan Tubridy. “It was nerve-racking, but so much fun. You spend so long working to get to a certain point, so when you have moments like sitting on
e Late Late and actually being interviewed; that’s a real pinch myself moment and you have to let that sink in. It’s really cool.”
Loved for her candid conversation and no- lter approach to life, with her recent rise to success, she’s stayed very much true to herself. “I always just go o on a tangent and say whatever’s on my mind and speak at 50 million miles an hour.
“But when I was starting out – and I’ve said it before a few times – people were trying to mould me into something else. I was told to be more mysterious or not to speak much in between my songs, or be more pop with my music, but I wasn’t comfortable with that and I decided very early on to just be myself on and o stage, otherwise it’s just fake and it will come out in the wash eventually.”
While it appears she has been an overnight success, her fame has come a er years of gra ing and honing her skills as a singer-songwriter, spending her time between her home in Cork and the UK. In 2020, she was shortlisted as an artist to watch out for by Universal records, along with Gary Moore’s daughter, Lily, and Inhaler, the band fronted by Bono’s son Elijah Hewson. Before the rst lockdown in March 2020, she was riding high a er opening for Gavin James at the 3Arena in Dublin and a string of sell-out gigs that included most of the summer festivals. Sadly, they didn’t happen and she was worried she’d lost her momentum.
“I was so down for the rst month or two. I was just nished the rst leg of my Irish tour and was booked for almost every festival taking place that summer, for the rst time; everything was planned. I was scared that I would have missed the boat or that people would forget about me and all the momentum I built up would have been for nothing.”
ankfully, that wasn’t the case: an appearance on Virgin Media’s Big Deal as part of the judging panel and her latest dance anthem Lose My Mind have kept her very much in the limelight. “I’m extremely grateful that people didn’t forget about me and now I am just pushing harder and harder to make up for the lost time,” she comments.
O en compared to Florence and the Machine, Lyra has a unique sound, inspired she says by Enya and the Celtic drums from Riverdance with a more electronic pop edge. “I love Enya and she was very in uential with my rst album Wild; quirky melodies and loads of harmonies. Now I’ve developed more as a singer and songwriter and have delved into a bit of producing too, so I’ve developed more of an electronic sound with my tribal drums to bring me more into the commercial market,” she says.
“Lose My Mind is the most stripped back I’ve done in terms of production, which was challenging for me, but I really enjoyed it.”
Not afraid to open up about her life and experiences in her songs, she has an upcoming single about her ex-boyfriend, which she says she’s nervous for people to hear. “It took me six months to actually be able to sit down and write those songs, but it was great for me to realise I had got to the point where I could write it down and stop crying. Songwriting is quite magical for me in that way, but I’m still scared about putting it out there.”
Music was always my main focus and any opportunity I got to sing, I would be entertaining, you couldn’t stop me”
ere was never another plan for Lyra than to be a singer, having grown up in a musical family, “My mum, sister and aunt are all amazing singers.” She spent her childhood dressing up and performing for anyone that would listen. “I was never going to be good at anything else, really. I wasn’t amazing at school, I had no interest in it. Music was always my main focus and any opportunity I got to sing, I would be entertaining, you couldn’t stop me,” she laughs.
Lyra credits her family for their “amazing” support, in particular her older sister, who she sounds a lot of her music o . “I used to send a lot of my stu to my sister, before she had twins seven months ago. Now if I send her something, I don’t get a reply until two days later and you know with the music industry, it has to be instant. But she’s a brilliant support, she would tell me exactly what she thinks cos she knows my ability and will always push me a little further.”
Her self-released debut EP, Wild, was produced by Rupert Christie, who has worked with the likes of Kate Bush, Coldplay and Aurora, and following its success, she was with Universal, who released the hugely popular single ‘Falling’ in 2019. e song was featured in the hit TV series Grey’s Anatomy and was nominated for Single of e Year 2019 at the RTÉ Choice Music Awards. Before lockdown, she was invited to Los Angles and Nashville to work with some of the biggest names in the business and she describes the experience as eye-opening. “It was a di erent level. It’s like a machine over there; they churn out the songs. It was a great experience and opened my eyes to how things work over there.”
A self-professed homebird, she spends her time between Cork and Brighton, having tried living in London but nding it too hectic. “I did London, for a year and a half, but I found it too much for me, especially when I was trying to write songs, so I moved to Brighton and I love it, I love being by the sea, it’s so calming.”
Fashion is important to Lyra and her stage performances, and anyone who follows her on social media will know that she loves nothing more than dressing up to the nines. “I love clothes so much, style has always been a huge part of my life. As a child, I would go around with the big clip-on earrings, the high heels with the plastic handbags you’d get in the pound shop with a tiara. I always had to have everything matching,” she laughs.
“Being an artist, I love it because I can express myself through what I wear. I gure why not wear something amazing when you’re on stage? I just want to enjoy it all now, while it’s happening and that’s the same with my clothes.”
She says she’s ready to show the world what she’s all about. With a new album due to be released next year, a tour and performing at Dublin’s New Year’s Eve gig, Lyra is catching up on lost time and doing it her own way.
“I’m ready to show people what I’m made of. Growing up, my mum always said be the best version of yourself, so that’s what I’m trying to be: the best singer, the best performer and just be myself.”