Nina Hynes

Nina Hynes plays Stage II at this year's Lisdoonvarna festival.

In the mid-90s Nina Hynes left college to develop her music. She moved to Donegal to practice the guitar and develop her voice. When she felt ready, she traveled to Paris, to busk on the streets. This journey led to an offer of management and a recording opportunity, but Nina was not yet ready for that.

Instead, she moved back to Ireland and continued to practice and develop her music, frequenting singer-songwriter nights in places like The International Bar. She shared those times with other struggling musicians on Dublin's scene, such as Mundy and Paddy Casey. Like them, she has come a long way in those few years.

The first step was her mini debut album, Creation (6 tracks), which was completed in 1999 with the help of independent label Reverb Records. The album received mixed reviews, but few indifferent ones. Its detractors complained of lack of definition, concealed behind tricks, loops and other distractions. Its admirers reveled in the effect achieved by these same peculiarities: dreamy, organic, hypnotic.

Her second album, Staros, was released in April 2002. It shares the shortcomings of Creation, with Nina's beautifully soft singing voice competing with a bounty of sound effects. These criticisms may be unfair however. Her style defines itself by an elusive day-dreamy feel, achieved by blending her voice with the sounds around it rather than letting it dominate the songs.

She pushes this style further on some of the racks from Staros, such as 'Zhivago Blue' and 'He turned the light off'. And for the most part, it pays off.


Nina Hynes will also play at Hard Working Class Heroes at the Project Arts Centre on August 4th.

Lisdoonvarna '03
RDS
Merrion Road,
Dublin 4.