Music
"I'm not 'the next Florence' – I'm just Lyra"
Is she Ireland's next big pop star? The Cork musician talks comparisons, influences and hitting those pant-splitting high notes
She is fast making a name for herself with her distinct brand of emotive, rousing electropop thanks to releases like 'Mother' and 'Falling'.
With a big year ahead of her, we caught up with London-based Cork native Lyra McNamara - aka Lyra - to chat about her musical background and her success so far, as well as her plans for 2020.
You grew up singing in church - did anyone ever take you aside and say 'Actually, you've got something there?'
No! They didn't. Oh my god, I was like, 'Will somebody please discover me? That's what happens in the movies (laughs). My sister used to run the choir and then I took over from her – so I kept doing that every Saturday evening. And my mum and dad put me in Speech and Drama lessons, so I was in all the 'Annie' plays, and stuff like that, when I was growing up. But no one turned around and told me I was talented or had a great voice. I'd always get asked to sing wherever I went, but I was never the standout person. I wasn't until I discovered how to write my own music that I really discovered my voice. I suppose when I was younger, I was just singing the people I'd hear on the radio; if it was something like The Carpenters – because my mum loved them – I'd sound like Karen Carpenter. Whereas when I started writing my own material, I started sounding like myself – and that's when people were like, 'Oh. This is different.' But it took fecking ages. I was like, 'Louis, come get me!' (laughs)
'Emerald' was the first song you ever wrote and it remains a fan favourite – what can you tell us about that?
It was about my nan, and it was just because she had fallen ill. She was always worried about me because I was the one doing music, and in some people's eyes it's a pasttime as opposed to a job, which I totally understand. So I wrote it for her as a way to say 'I write songs, and I can actually do this; you don't have to worry about me.' It's so funny, because the first thing she said when she heard it was 'I'm not sure about that beat.' (laughs) Granny, you're so funny.
Did you go straight into music when you left school?
When I left school, I tried a few things – uni, this and that. Then I just started writing, and I thought 'No, this is where I need to go with it' and started taking it seriously from there. My dad's an education man and he's very 'You have to get your degree, you have to do this, you have to do that' – so I said 'Right, I better keep him happy because I'm going to need him to pay the bucks if I want to go on to make a solo career' (laughs). God bless him, he paid for my EP – he's so cute. Then I started working on the EP which I self-released, and my dad helped me pay for it, along with me getting 15,000 jobs... and now this is my full-time thing. Thank god. I'm very lucky.
He must have been pleased about the Polydor deal, in that case – how did that happen?
When I went over to England to work with producers – having released the 'W.I.L.D.' EP – they started to hear about me. I think people just started hearing about me and saying 'There's this Irish girl over here who's a bit weird'. They started contacting my management then, and called me in for a meeting. I just got on with Ben Mortimer at that meeting; he's the head of Polydor and he signed Florence and the Machine so I'm not too far off her; so I knew he had good taste in music (laughs). I'm obsessed with her, I love her. Obviously then a lot of labels get in contact with you, but I just decided that this was the best home for me.
You mentioned Florence there; you've had a lot of those comparisons already, along with Kate Bush and even Enya. Does that get frustrating when you're at the beginning of your career and trying to forge your own identity?
At the moment, because I'm quite new on the scene, I take it as flattering to even be in the same sentence with those three women, who are literally fecking amazing. Some people ask me if I get annoyed when people call me 'The Next Florence', but I'm like 'Yeah – but it will become evident that I'm not 'the next Florence' – I'm just Lyra'. I think when people really sit down and listen to the music, they'll see that. I get why people say it and it doesn't bother me, because I know in the future those comparisons won't be there. That day will come, when I establish myself like they have as artists. So for now, I just take it as a compliment.
You are a new artist, but people might be familiar with some of your songs without knowing it; 'Falling' was used on 'Love Island' over the summer, for example. Has that helped, in terms of getting your name out there?
Yeah, totally. I did one of my first headline shows, and I'm sure people had been dragged along by their friends (laughs). One girl told me 'I didn't have a clue who you were – but the second you started singing 'Emerald', I thought you were doing a cover.' It's so funny, because you can see the phones going up the second that intro comes in (laughs). So that is pretty cool. The TV stuff definitely has helped because you get such a wide audience – and people who definitely would not click on my music will look at 'Love Island' and 'Striking Out', and everyone watches the Virgin Media ad that 'Mother' is on. So it brings your music to people who would never have found you.
Is that your mum on the cover art of 'Mother', by the way?
Yeah, that is mom. I love her to death, she's like, the tiniest woman in the world. I think that picture was taken on her engagement day, and it was the first time she'd ever got her eyebrows plucked. (laughs). All her other photos, I was like 'Mum, you've a unibrow, we need to sort this out.' It was so funny, she's going to kill me. But the song is about mom, because when I found my voice and started writing music – I mean, it's a loud voice, I'm not going to lie. It's marmite; you either like it or you don't. And I don't mind if you don't, but I'm delighted if you do. I was a bit nervous about it at the start. When I went to England, they'd say 'We can't understand what the fuck you're saying'. They used to make me record my Ts and my Ss and just chop them into the song. I'd get the song back and it'd just be AutoTuned to death. I was like 'This does not sound like me', so I got really insecure about my voice.
Even growing up, when I'd sing a bit different, my mum was always there and she'd say 'Baby, if you want to do it you just need to make the best out of this. They're talking about you for a reason, be it good or bad – and you need to take the best of it and just rise above everything negative. Just go for it.' So I went back to England to write, and I was extremely homesick. I felt a bit down that day in the studio and myself and Phil Cooke, who I write a lot with and literally tell him everything – I said 'I just want to write a song about my mum' and I came up with the verse. It just went from there. That's kind of what it's about; just making the best of a bad situation. I used to be so embarrassed when I'd hit the high notes because I'd get really loud. But in that song, I literally go hell for leather – my pants do nearly be splitting, singing that high note (laughs).
What about your plans for an album?
Well, I have a lot of songs written because I'm constantly writing at home on my own anyway, and that's how most of these songs have started – just me at home, wailing away in my room. I definitely have enough for an album and I've just started to chat about next year – do I want to continue with singles, or do I want to go balls-deep into an album? I'm not too sure myself, yet. I still feel, being this new, that people would go 'We don't have a clue who you are, why would we listen to an album?!' (laughs). So maybe I might do a few singles, just to get my name out there a bit more. But things change fast in the music industry, so we'll see. I'll definitely let you know.
Lyra plays the 2FM Xmas Ball at the 3Arena on December 21st. Her headline tour includes dates in Limerick (February 29th), Cork (March 1st) and Galway (March 3rd), as well as Dublin's Academy on March 5th.
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