Though Hannigan’s musical start owes much to her collaborative efforts with Damien Rice, her professional relationship with him was anything but symbiotic. She acted as his drummer, keyboardist, and guitarist, but separately showcased her talent early on, playing eclectic setlists of originals, traditional songs and covers. Hannigan provided support for Rice both on the road and in the studio (contributing vocals on his landmark albums “O” and “9”), but by 2007 ceased from any further collaborative efforts with him.
Hannigan spent over 6 years working with Rice, but over the course of that period also appeared on other artists’ recordings such as Mic Christopher (specifically on his album “Skylarkin”). She has since lent her vocal skill to Glen Hansard’s Dublin rock group The Frames and to jazz legend Herbie Hancock. In 2006 she joined The Cake Sale, a predominately Irish folk collective led by Brian Crosby. Their 2006 self-titled album was immensely successful in their home country and the hype surrounding the release later led to it’s worldwide distribution in 2007.
The following year Hannigan released her debut solo album “Sea Sew”, which debuted at No. 4 on the charts and garnered her nominations from the Meteor Music Award and Choice Music Prize. The album received significant airplay and critical praise in Ireland and likewise was warmly welcomed in the US, being endowed with glowing reviews from the Los Angeles Times and New York Times. This year also saw her opening for Jason Maraz on both his Canadian and US tours.
In 2009 Hannigan was performing regularly at festivals like Glastonbury and Electric Picnic as well as TV talk shows such as Jay Leno, The Colbert Repot, and the BBC’s Later...with Jools Holland. Her 2nd studio album “Passenger” came out in the Autumn of 2011 and housed the singles “A Sail” and “Knots”. The track “O Sleep” was also a stand out on the record and featured guest vocals by Ray LaMontagne. The album was a critical and commercial feat for Hannigan, debuting at No.1 on the Irish Album Charts and No. 2 on the U.S. Top Heatseekers.
After this release Hannigan’s musical talent was sought out for films. In 2013 she provided vocals for the music featured in Alfonso Cuaron’s masterpiece “Gravity” and in 2014 she teamed up with John Smith for a song which was placed in Brad Pitt’s commercial hit “Furry”.
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Two Door Cinema Club
