Culture Clash: Lisa Hannigan

Irish singer on her extra-curricular activities...

London can be a difficult city at times. Lisa Hannigan knows this more than most.

A new relationship meant the songwriter was splitting her time between Dublin and London, and she found the sprawling metropolis a difficult beast to manage.

A struggle at first, it took a chance encounter with The National's Aaron Dessner to help rejuvenate her. Re-discovering the spirit of collaboration she knew in Dublin, London seemed to come sharply, suddenly into focus.

New album 'At Swim' is the result. Out now, it's a marvellous return from a real talent – so Clash invited Lisa Hannigan to open up about her extra-curricular activities…

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Book…
At the risk of being boring, I’m loving Elene Ferrante’s Neapolitan trilogy. I’ve been very sporadic with my reading the past few months but this has held my thoughts through weeks of not picking up a book.

Film…
I saw a great film called Mustang recently. It was by a Turkish director called Deniz Gamze Erguven and is the story of five sisters growing up in a very oppressive environment. Warren Ellis wrote the very beautiful soundtrack too.

Album…
I’m really loving Little Scream’s ‘Cult Following’ at the moment. She’s such a brilliant and interesting writer. 'Love As A Weapon' is the catchiest song I’ve heard in ages.

TV Show…
The second season of Fargo was the best series I’ve seen in a long time. Incredible story, acting and art direction through and through.

Gadget…
I got an OP1 synth recently but still don’t know how to use it!

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'At Swim' is out now. Catch Lisa Hannigan at the following shows:

October
13 Cardiff The Tramshed
14 Brighton The Old Market
16 Oxford 02 Academy
17 Bristol Thekla
19 Glasgow Oran Mor
20 Salford St Philip’s Church
21 Liverpool Arts Club
22 Leeds Brudenell Social Club
24 London Islington Assembly Hall
25 Birmingham Glee Club
26 Leicester 02 Academy

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