Elly O'Keeffe Music

Elly O’Keeffe’s debut album When We Live, is an utterly convincing achievement. Its 11 solid and expressive tracks are the brilliantly realised life’s work of a young woman from Knocknagree in County Cork. Singing in her own unaffected natural accent, O’Keeffe’s abilities to perform with genuine heart and an assured individuality marks her out. Her soft-edged and powerful voice is well-controlled but generously expressive, well recorded and tightly backed up by regular collaborators and some fine session musicians. The album is well-paced, moving between powerful ballads and grittier up-tempo songs, with a balance between acoustic tracks that make use of cello and viola textures and a harder rock sound. Stand-out tracks include the moody blues of In My System and So Called Friend and the raw emotion of You Went Home. This fresh voice has every reason to find an international audience as broad and enthusiastic as she has found at home. Nicki French Davis, Cork Examiner Elly O'Keeffe, London based singer/songwriter.