Suzanne Joubert & Declan Sinnott - The Pat Kenny Show - 3rd April 2006
Also on Michael Carr's "Green Room" - 96FM, April 2006

Profile.

Suzanne Joubert is a South African born singer-songwriter who moved from Cape Town to Ireland in 2004 and has since been recording and performing live with legendary musician and producer Declan Sinnott. During the past year, Suzanne and Declan have performed at numerous well-know music venues throughout Ireland, as well as appearing at the Cork Folk festival last year.

Suzanne's debut album, Come on home, has been well received by critics and listeners alike. The songs Sunday Afternoon, You and No Guarantee have already received extensive airplay. Come on home was recorded in a small music room in Muizenberg, Cape Town, South Africa and in Declan's studios in Kilkenny and Cork, Ireland.

Press.

South African singer/songwriter Suzanne Joubert .. has become the latest protegè of musician and producer Declan Sinnott. More so than with any of his previous finds (who include Sinead Lohan, Mary Black and John Spillane amongst others), it's a true gelling of styles: Joubert's smooth, silky voice is a perfect foil for Sinnott's polished production.

In addition to singing harmony vocals, Sinnott duets with Joubert on the arresting 'No Guarantee', a musical dialogue between a man jilted for misbehaving once too often and the wary ex-partner he's trying to win back.

Sarah McQuaid - Evening Herald.

 

Songwriters come in two categories. The majority design songs deliberately for the short-term popular marketplace. Then, there is a more rare band of perceptive and incisive writers, original artists who craft lyrics and melody lines into timeless art; grappling with life, love, and the eternal truths of human existence.

When genuine artistic innovation is as attractive and readily accessible as the songs of South African-born, Irish-based writer Suzanne Joubert, it is indeed rare and special.

Suzanne Joubert's creative flair is matched by her natural talent as a singer. The 11 self-penned tracks on her debut album "Come On Home" comprise a gorgeous and exciting new collection; produced, recorded, mixed and mastered by leading Irish producer Declan Sinnott.

Singer/songwriter and RTE Radio 1 music presenter Mary Greene guests on backing vocals, as does Sinnott, who also provides most of the instrumentation on "Come On Home". But how Suzanne came to be working with one of the most respected producers in the business is a story in itself.

"At home in South Africa, I had been talking to a friend of mine about how much I admired the production and the guitar playing on Mary Black's "By The Time It Gets Dark" and Sinèad Lohan's "Who Do You Think I Am" albums, Suzanne Joubert recalls. Initially, I had no idea who the guitar player was but was very taken by the way he was connecting with what the song needed, rather than the 'well, I'll just play a solo here' egotistical mentality. There was a new understanding of the dynamics within the songs, allowing the singers the space to be creative, and I loved that.

Anyway, my friend talked me into sending Declan a demo - but I didn't really expect anything to come from it."

"I wasn't producing anything special when I got Suzanne's letter", Declan Sinnott says. "It was at a time when I was working on absolute crap to pay the bills. In that kind of situation, if something good comes in the letterbox, I kind of think, great, I can do something worthwhile."

"There is an intelligence behind Suzanne's writing, and her whole approach to it, that made me think, yes, this is good music. When she actually arrived from South Africa and played a few songs for me, I felt that they were even better than the demo."

"The making of "Come On Home" became something of a labour-of-love for Joubert and Sinnott, stretching over almost five years of recording in Cape Town, Lacken, Kilkenny and Cork. It is a kind of slow process that Sinnott has previously employed in the case of two of the 1990's most critically-lauded collections: John Spillane's "The Wells of the World", and Sinèad Lohan's aforementioned "Who Do You Think I Am".

The strong melodic element of Suzanne Joubert's songs, combined with thoughtful and finely-crafted lyrics, make them both easily accessible and rewarding on a deeper level. As Declan Sinnott sees it: "her songs are quite catchy but they don't sacrifice anything to be that way and I love that about them. Serious songs also have to be able to get on the radio!"

"She writes from the inside out, seducing the listener into following the voice and music to the core of the song. Her voice is warm, sensuous, understated and emotive, without being overly dramatic."

Words by Paul Dromey - Arts critic for the Irish Examiner and Evening Echo.

 

"Suzanne Joubert is a South African singer with a soft, smooth, velvety voice who is about to dive into a love affair with the Irish public on the release of her first album.

Produced by Declan Sinnott, a producer who has launched the careers of Sinèad Lohan, Mary Black, John Spillane etc. Suzanne's album promises to win the hearts of the people of Ireland, a country she has taken to like a duck to water. I wish her every success."

- John Spillane, Cork, August 2005.

 

"Suzanne's influences are contemporary folk music and to a lesser exent, jazz. She writes from the inside out, seducing the listener into following the voice and music to the core of the song. Her voice is warm, sensusous, understated and emotive."

- The Irish Examiner.

 

Producer.

Declan Sinnott has been one of Ireland's most important musicians since helping to form two pioneering and innovative bands: Horslips, in the 70's, and Moving Hearts in the 80's.

He then moved on to building a career for singer Mary Black, choosing songs and producing and arranging them in a very sensitive and original way. His style of guitar accompaniment has become the model for much that we've heard since. The brilliance of his playing has been much in evidence over the past three years, since re-uniting with Christy Moore, both on stage and on record.

Declan stopped working with Mary Black to pursue a career of producing and recording artists in whom he saw great potential, such as John Spillane and Sinèad Lohan . Declan has recently produced Christy Moore's album "Burning Times".

An interview with Suzanne.

Tell me about your experience of performing in Ireland?

Great! - I love playing here as people have been so receptive to my music. There are so many wonderful musicians, singers and songwriters in Ireland, and I've found it very enriching to go to different gigs as well as performing live.

What's it like playing music with Declan Sinnott?

Wonderful - I feel very lucky to have such a talented and intuitive musician as an accompanist. Declan's playing adds so much to the overall sound that we make, and his professionalism is evident in everything he does.

He really allows the voice to dominate and the song to come alive. It's a really valuable partnership and I'm lucky to have it.

And the solo gigs?

I play solo gigs because I really enjoy being up on stage on my own. You are more vulnerable on your own and it's a humbling experience sometimes.

Tell me about the songs on the album

Sunday Afternoon is about the street children in Cape Town, and all over the world, and what huge obstacles these children have to overcome just to survive. It's a song that speaks of the fact that each of us has huge potential, and if we could just see it, we could break free of the limited circumstances we are in. It's very difficult for street children to see their own potential, there's just too much of life to deal with and it's heartbreaking really.

I wrote a song, which never made it to the album called A Boy Goes Down, which is about the violence of the Cape Flats, and the vicious circle that young people find themselves in, and the inescapable deaths that result from gang warfare - usually kids playing in the street.

I wrote No Guarantee after reading Steve Earle's book of short stories entitled Dog House Roses, where he captures the doomed relationship scenario so perfectly, I felt I could relate to that, as many others can too. A sense of "This is never going to work so I might as well say goodbye." And In the Morning is a love song, which I wrote late one night in a jazz café, so its not all gloom and despair.

The songs for the album, where and when were they written?

Two of the songs I wrote about five years ago but the rest were written during an intensive song-writing period in 2003, the year that we began the recording process. It was an exciting time for me and my subconscious responded by allowing a bunch of songs to come to the fore.

Then last year I found it impossible to sit down and write anything that I was happy with, so I've realised that songs on the whole kind of fall into my lap, and that if I remain open to melodies or words which come out of the blue, and record them and remember them, then I'll keep on having songs to sing. I can't force songs to materialise and don't want to, it just doesn't work.

Have you ever had formal training?

I've had the odd guitar lesson, and spent a while immersed in jazz chords and charts, but for the most part, I remember shapes and often don't know what chord I'm playing. I love experimenting with different shapes, and spent a while working with alternative tunings, but more and more, I'm enjoying finding out what you can do with normal tuning and a few chords, instead of difficult tunings which are hard to get out of.

What are your plans for the next year?

Promote the album, do some gigs, keep writing but mostly to enjoy the whole experience of playing music. I feel that we have put together a great album,and would like to have it available for people to listen to. If that is happening, I'll be very happy. I also want to keep enjoying the here and now, instead of focusing on the future though.

There is a Buddhist saying that goes; "If you keep a green bough in your heart, the singing bird will come." It's a potent reminder of the power of allowing the "now" of happiness into your life.

Top

 Distributed by
 And in the UK by