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Recordings
Glenaphuca, the debut album has been broadcast on RTÉ1 by Lillian Smith, BBC Radio Ulster by Lynette Fay and Eve Blair, BBC Radio Scotland by Iain Anderson, Raídio na Gaeltachta, BBC Radio Cambridge by Mark Liversidge and regional radio across Ireland and the UK
Fisherman
00:00 / 05:01
Amhrán Fosuíochta
00:00 / 04:19
Twa Corbies
00:00 / 03:54
White Dress
00:00 / 03:54
Sister Lover
00:00 / 05:46
Transmission Complete
00:00 / 04:34
Sweet Dreams
00:00 / 04:27
Ballinatray
00:00 / 04:46
Diddlage
00:00 / 04:09
The Fox
00:00 / 02:37
Rise Up
00:00 / 03:21

‘A gorgeous album that condenses modern maturity into a melodic simplicity’ 

BILL GOLEMBESKI, FOLKING

'What a beautiful voice she has, just gorgeous'

EVE BLAIR, BBC RADIO ULSTER

Glenaphuca 


Released 5th March 2021
 

Drawing on her dual heritage Glenaphuca is a folk prayer to the ancestors, an album full of evocative, autobiographical original compositions and reinventions of traditional songs from Ireland and the UK. Named after her Grandmother’s farm in East Cork, now an abandoned stone site weathered by neglect and home to birds, briers and lost memories, Glenaphuca sings straight to the wounds held by the maternal lineages of Ireland. Profound and poignant, Lewis pays homage to her Irish roots and the women who came before her. "It is a prayer to their lives and a liberation of the suffering they went to the grave with. It is also a gentle acceptance and reverence of death. Our one constant companion in life."

She balances compassionate musings and reflections on life, death and loss with the deepest grace. In the elegiac lament for Lewis’s mother White Dress, she ponders life after death, in the lullaby Sweet Dreams her musings on the afterlife extend to its connection with the land of the living and with The Fox and Twa Corbies she honours the natural cycles of death in nature. 

 

In Sister Lover she celebrates the many journeys that Lewis has taken women on when delivering her ‘Embodied Archetypes’ workshops.  Sisterhood, unity, solidarity and community underlie the strong vocal message.  ‘Rise with me and I’ll rise with you, step on my shoulders sister, I’m coming too’. Elsewhere in Ballinatray, Lewis gives voice to the untold story of the women in her family in Cork whose had been incarcerated, silenced and shamed at the hands of the church and state. Glenaphuca gives voice to those silenced, honours those that came before and serves as a permission slip for others to speak up, share their stories, celebrate the natural cycles of life and death and reclaim their female power.

Glenaphuca was produced by Lewis at Soup Studios, London and mastered by Pete Maher. Featuring guest musicians Elisabeth Flett (Fiddle, BV’s) Matt Dibble (Clarinet, Piano), Hannah Thomas (Cello, BV’s), Maria Rodriguez Reina (Cello on White Dress), Ansuman Biswas (Percussion) and Jonny Huddersfield Helm (Drums)

 Videos

White Dress | Official Music Video

26th Feb 2021

Filmed and edited by Kate Bean

From the album 'Glenaphuca'

Fisherman | Official Music Video

6th Nov 2020

Animation by Narae Kim. Co-directed by Narae & Lewis.

From the album 'Glenaphuca'. 

Sweet Dreams | Official Music Video

29th Jan 2021

Filmed, Edited & Produced by Lewis on a mobile in lockdown. From the album 'Glenaphuca'.

Tabhair Dom Do Lámh | Official Music Video
22nd Oct 2021
Filmed and Edited by Alex Foster
 

WHAT PEOPLE SAY

FOLK RADIO

Underlying the whole album, and at its core throughout, are Lewis’s undeniably beautiful, crystal-clear vocals, vocals that could melt the hearts of angels. 

FATEA

Her crystal pure voice variously compared to Ane Brun, Lisa Hannigan and early Joni Mitchell, this terrific debut amply warrants the same accolades.

SOPHIA HADEF

Have you ever loved an album so much that you feel the need to listen to it every time you need to soothe, to relax, like a magical pill to help you to press pause and move on?

FOLKING

A gorgeous album that condenses modern maturity into a melodic simplicity that, somehow, ignites  the vivid colours of her childhood.

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