Abigail Smith
Irish multi-instrumentalist, composer and vocalist
What the critics say…
“Multi-instrumentalist and composer Abigail Smith, who has just released her debut solo album, is also one to watch. Night Time Walking is a wonderfully bizarre collection of Smith’s own songs that sounds like Kate Bush and Bjork had a love-child with Schubert and the Cocteau Twins. …”
“…her album, Night Time Walking, a series of songs arranged for voice, piano, viola and cello, is a thing of rare beauty indeed. It is to be tracked down and devoured immediately….”
“Expect it to feature prominently when critics come to assess their favourite Irish records…”
“I love this one [Oh Sam], it gets stuck in my head…..I could listen to it over and over again…”
Irish multi instrumentalist, composer and vocalist Abigail Smith’s original style of music is the result of a diverse musical up bringing. Fall into Silence is her second album of her own compositions.
Abigail was fascinated with the storyteller cassette tapes as a child. The music enhanced the stories and fired her imagination. Describing the inspiration behind the work, Abigail says, 'I wrote this song cycle with this idea in mind. I tried to create a work that ignites the listeners imagination as mine was. Fall into Silence tells the story of creativity and the different art forms: music, dance, visual art and the written word. This story is about the struggle to remember our creativity.'Fall into Silence is presented with funding from the Arts Council Music Recording Scheme, managed by Music Network. The album was produced by Kieran Lynch.
She released her first album entitled ‘Night Time Walking’ in 2009. Cormac Larkin of the Sunday Tribune wrote of her debut album, "Abigail Smith, sounds like Kate Bush and Bjork had a love-child with Schubert and the Cocteau Twins. …"Abigail’s music has been featured on Introducing with Tom Robinson on BBC 6 Radio. Her group has performed at festivals including the Electric Picnic and Beyond the Bookshelf. They performed at the Kilkenny Arts Festival.
In 2021 Abigail was awarded an Agility Award from the Irish Arts Council for a new project. She will write, record and produce a new set of songs. She was awarded the Dublin City Council Incubation award with Lioba Petrie for their on going collaborative work entitled Fragments.
She was commissioned to write music for the animated film “Trolley Boy”. It was nominated for an IFTA award in the animation category. It was screened at the LA Comedy Short Film Festival. This score was shortlisted for the Peer Raben Award in Cologne. She was commissioned to write a piece for the internationally renowned ‘Diversus Guitar Ensemble'. This artistic collaboration continued with the inclusion of an arrangement by their director of her song ‘Light A Match’ on their album. In 2013 Abigail and her partner were selected by Dublin City Council for the Albert Cottages Residency. Abigail was selected as one of the composers for the IMRO scoring for Film program in 2014. Her score was performed and recorded by the RTE Concert Orchestra. She lives and works in Dublin with her partner and their children.
Ed Power, in the Independent on Friday, wrote of her "Sounding like Kate Bush's wacky niece...expect it to feature prominently when critics come to assess their favourite Irish records…"