Ríona Sally Hartman
“A rising star”
- Lyric FM
“The craft of the songs draws you in - delicate vocal harmonies and sparse acoustic settings, fresh and unclichéd”
- The Irish Times
“A wonderfully crafted pop record with jazz and classical sensibilities”– Le Cool Dublin“a poet, singer, thinker all rolled into one and I really feel Hartman is currently one of our most unique and interesting artists.”
– Remy’s Music and Film Blog
Ríona Sally Hartman released her debut album on June 14th in Smock Alley. Her music has become known for its lush vocal harmonies, acoustic softness and the surrealist stories that accompany the songs.
Songs are sung from the point of view of a cast of characters; there’s Tom Peeping who falls in love with every woman he sees but never speaks to them, there’s the Fish who’s so obsessed with Frida Kahlo it chases a spinner to wear it as an earring and then there’s Sally a very talented but frustrated fortune teller.
She is influenced by musicians who blend pop sensibilities with contemporary jazz and classical compositional ideas such as Becca Stevens, Julie Feeney and Bjork. Lyrically her main influences are contemporary storytellers who seamlessly blend surrealist and fantastical elements with astute observations on universal experiences, such as the short stories of Miranda July and Neil Gaiman.
She draws “waters from many wells, from folk and jazz to alt pop and contemporary lieder.” (The Irish Times 2015). The album is available to stream and download from all the usual places online (Spotify, iTunes...etc.), available to buy in CD format from Tower Records Dublin, Plugd Records Cork and to order form www.rionasallyhartman.com.
