Adrian Crowley

All Music Guide:

Adrian Crowley is an Irish singer/songwriter based in Dublin. Crowley's music is steeped in the popular folk tradition of the 1970s, calling to mind storytelling songwriters such as Leonard Cohen and Nick Drake with a strong, often central emphasis on lyrics. Increasingly, as his career has progressed, his music has become informed by electronic music; this influence that has been reinforced by his ongoing relationship with producer Stephen Shannon of Dublin "folktronica" act Halfset, while his reputation as a multi-instrumentalist has led him to employ a vast array of acoustic instruments and guitar pedals.

Crowley was born in Galway, in the west of Ireland, and moved to Dublin in the early '90s. In 1998, he spent a year writing and performing in the southern French city of Toulouse, before returning to Dublin to record his debut album. A Strange Kind was recorded alone in a rented accommodation in the Dublin suburb of Rathmines and released independently in early 1999. Crowley's first music video, the 8-bit recording for "Capricorn," would receive welcome patronage from influential indie music show No Disco. This minor success would give Crowley the confidence to contact legendary producer Steve Albini to produce his second album the following year. Much to Crowley's surprise, he accepted.

An arts council grant paid for Crowley, drummer Thomas Haugh, and cellist Kate Ellis to fly to Chicago in 2001 to record the album, which was recorded and mixed within five days. When You Are Here You Are Family was released on independent label Bed of Rockets Records in October of 2001, and caught the ear of Ben Goldberg, owner of New York-based Ba Da Bing! Records. Ba Da Bing! released When You Are Here You Are Family in the U.S. in January of 2002, and gave A Strange Kind its first label release the following September. A U.S. tour followed in 2003, which included dates with the likes of Animal Collective and Black Swans, before Crowley returned to Ireland to record album number three.

A Northern Country was released in July of 2004 by Misplaced Music in the U.K. and Ba Da Bing! in the U.S. That year he became involved with a collection of Scottish musicians dubbed the Fence Collective, based around the boutique Edinburgh label Fence Records and featuring the likes of King Creosote and James Yorkston. He also became involved with producer Shannon of Halfset at this time, and the pair recorded 2007's Long Distance Swimmer together. Released in December on London label Tin Angel Records, the album received an unexpected amount of critical attention, culminating in its being short-listed for the Choice Music Prize in early 2008.

Buoyed by the record's success, Crowley pulled together a group of songs written around the same time as Long Distance Swimmer and recorded his most ambitious record to date, with Shannon again at the helm. Season of the Sparks was released by Tin Angel in Ireland in April of 2009. May saw the release of The Invaders Salute Captain America, a collaboration with James Yorkston in tribute to, and featuring the songs of, underground U.S. songwriter Daniel Johnston. Season of the Sparks was released in the U.K. in June.

Wikipedia:

Adrian Crowley is a singer–songwriter from Galway but based in Dublin. Despite being born in Sliema, Malta, much of his success has come in Ireland.

Beginning his career at the age of 25, Crowley has released five albums, with his debut A Strange Kind arriving in 1999. He followed this with When You Are Here You Are Family (2002), A Northern Country (2004), Long Distance Swimmer (2007) and Season of the Sparks (2009). He has performed on TV shows such as Other Voices and Ceol Ar An Imeall and is also curator of the Homelights Festival in Dublin.

In a 2005 Rolling Stone interview, Ryan Adams cited Crowley when asked "Who's the best songwriter that no one's heard of". The Irish Times placed this artist at number eight in a list of "The 50 Best Irish Acts Right Now" published in April 2009.

Crowley has won the Choice Music Prize for Irish Album of the Year on one occasion for Season of the Sparks and been nominated on another occasion for Long Distance Swimmer. After winning the award for Irish Album of the Year 2009 he was among the first acts to be announced for Electric Picnic 2010.

Early life

Crowley is from a multicultural background. He was born in Sliema in Malta but reared in Galway. Crowley's parents met in Southern Africa but moved to Crowley's grandmother's home in Malta due to political turmoil in Sierra Leone. His mother rescued a drowning swimmer from the Mediterranean Sea when she was pregnant with him. After his birth they departed Malta for Cameroon. Crowley has been based in Dublin since the 1990s but has also spent a year living in France. He is married with two children.

Career

Crowley was a late developer as a musician, having originally spent time on other pursuits, such as studying architecture, painting and photography. Alongside this he wrote songs but did not perform his first show until the age of 25, some days after finding material he had written in the early 1990s in his attic. He departed from a career in photography around 2004 to enter the music profession on a full-time basis.

Crowley released his debut album A Strange Kind independently in 1999. The song "Capricorn" was played regularly on No Disco that year. When You Are Here You Are Family followed in 2002, being recorded at the Electrical Audio studios of one of his heroes, Steve Albini, in Chicago. This successful spell in the United States inspired him to begin communicating with American record labels.

He joined the label Ba Da Bing who were keen to produce his next two albums. A Northern Country was due for release in on 2 July 2004, though was delayed before appearing on a smaller label with little publicity. Crowley later referred to A Northern Country as "the least ceremonious album of them all".

Long Distance Swimmer was released as soon as it was recorded as, according to Crowley, he became "fed up waiting". It was recorded with engineer Stephen Shannon. The record received positive reviews and was nominated for the Choice Music Prize. The NME said it was "a lo-furnished, snug, auburn-tinged folk album which calls to mind Bill Callahan, Johnny Cash, and Edwyn Collins". The Irish Independent's John Meagher named it his favourite album of 2007 and sixteenth best Irish album of the decade, while his colleague Eamon Sweeney suggested Crowley's record was one of the few Irish albums preventing that year from being "an absolute stinker". It was around this time that Crowley began working with The Fence Collective and members of Halfset. He featured on the 12 March 2008 edition of the sixth series of Other Voices. Also that month, he performed a residency at Whelan's.

Season of the Sparks was released on 24 April 2009 and featured an expanded palette of instruments including marxophone, shruti box, upright harmonium, viola de gamba, baroque viola. It was generally well-received by critics in both and Ireland and the UK, and, so pleased was the reviewer with the French magazine Les Inrockuptibles that he wrote a letter of thanks to Crowley. Crowley featured on TG4 music series Ceol Ar An Imeall and returned to perform on an episode of the eighth series of Other Voices, both broadcast in 2010. He was also one of the first acts to be announced for Electric Picnic 2010.

Other work

Crowley collaborated with Estel on "Electric Eels", a track from the 2003 album A Guide in Time of Great Danger. He performed at the Elliott Smith Memorial Tribute Show in Dublin on 19 January 2004. He has performed with James Yorkston on several occasions. The pair have recorded an eight track mini-album as a tribute to Daniel Johnson. Crowley also curates the Homelights Festival in Dublin.

Style

Crowley is renowned for his serious songwriting style, a reputation which has not fazed him. He has spoken about his future hopes to entertain with his music, once saying: "I've always been cast as a very sombre performer, but I don't really care. There's very little you can do after you've been stamped as earnest or serious early on in your career".

Crowley's style has been compared to that of Badly Drawn Boy, Bill Callahan, Nick Drake and Tim Buckley, while Irish Independent reviewer Eamon Sweeney has said the singer is "a master of understatement". The vocals of Noah and the Whale's Charlie Fink are said to be reminiscent of Crowley's. As well as singing Crowley plays the electric guitar and the Rhodes piano; he never plays the acoustic guitar. He experiences music while he sleeps:

Awards

The Irish Times placed Crowley at number eight in a list of "The 50 Best Irish Acts Right Now" published in April 2009, noting his "majestic songs, rich voice and subtle blend of atmospherics and master-level wordplay".

In a 2005 Rolling Stone interview, Ryan Adams cited Crowley when asked "Who's the best songwriter that no one's heard of".

Choice Music Prize

Long Distance Swimmer was nominated for the Choice Music Prize for Irish Album of the Year 2007 but lost to Super Extra Bonus Party's Super Extra Bonus Party LP.

Season of the Sparks won the Choice Music Prize for Irish Album of the Year 2009. Crowley received a prize of €10,000 cheque. He described himself as "totally flabbergasted", adding "I didn't really think it was the sort of record that was going to win awards". Crowley promised to use the money to fund his music. He was one of eight nominees who performed at the awards ceremony. He is a friend of fellow nominee Valerie Francis.