Day Four Other Voices 8 - Evening

The legendary Brett Anderson, he of 90’s Brit pop legends Suede, was the first on in St. James’ Church this evening. Dressed in shirt and trousers, we are all wondering if Mr. Anderson has a picture of Dorian Gray in his attic, he looks AND sounds as good, if not better than ever. Brett performed five tracks from his gorgeous new solo album Slow Attack, which was released in November to huge acclaim. Songs included ‘Ashes Of Us’, ‘Frozen Road’ and the breathtaking 'The Hunted', each accompanied on piano. He engaged the still audience with every second of his performance.

Jesca Hoop made her Other Voices debut wearing a stunning headpiece creation that looked like a beautiful work of art. Jesca is originally from L.A. and is now living in Manchester and came to Other Voices on the recommendation of Elbow’s Guy Garvey. Jesca performed five songs from her new album Hunting My Dress. She opened her set with ‘Murder of Birds’, which on her album is performed with Guy. Other tracks included ‘Four Dreams’, which she explained was about a tooth fairy and title track ‘Hunting My Dress’. Her unique vocals were perfectly suited to the quiet stillness of St. James’ Church and there is no doubt that Jesca will soon be a household name.

Aussie indie rock band, The Temper Trap, much beloved by Irish radio, totally changed the tempo of the evenings proceedings when they hit the Other Voices stage. Dougy Mandagi’s vocals filled the hallowed halls of the church, reaching such high notes that at one point we feared for the safety of the stained glass windows! They kicked off their set with the track ‘The Fader’ followed by ‘Love Lost’ before the audience lost the run of themselves for the big track ‘Sweet Disposition’. They brought the set to a close with ‘Resurrection’ and ‘Science of Fear’. All the songs are taken from their debut album Conditions, which is building into one of the albums of 2009 across the world. They certainly left the Other Voices stage with a whole bunch of Irish fans, old and new, under their belts.

Last up this evening was Bray born troubadour Fionn Regan, who has been nominated for both the Choice Music Prize and the Mercury Music Prize for his debut album The End of History. Tonight, Fionn and his band treated the Dingle audience to brand new tracks from his forthcoming debut album The Shadow of an Empire, which will be released next February. Songs included ‘House Detective’, ‘Catacombs’ and ‘Lines Written in Winter’.

Retreating to Benners, the mood was a little calmer this evening, the result of three days of Dingle merriment no doubt! Gathered around the fire, sipping on pints of plain and the odd glass of water were Universal Music’s David Harris and the gorgeous Chantal Hourihan, blooming with mini baby bump, which had apparently began dancing up a storm when The Temper Trap launched into their first track in the church. Holding court in the bar, was Pias lady Bernie Divilly, who had earlier spent the day in Foxy John’s and, as happens in Dingle, met a long lost cousin five times removed. Richard Hawley has arrived on the scene – everyone in Dingle knows Richard after his visit to Other Voices last year and in fact, we knew he had arrived in Dingle earlier today before he actually had. Vanessa Anderson, sister and travelling companion of Brett, took matters into her own hands, whooshing everyone into the back lounge for a session with Richard, which began on a serious a note and quickly descended into rounds of Christmas caroling. Many sloped off to bed early in an attempt to catch up on much needed sleeps and we all know there’s another big night in it for the last days recording.