Berlin, Germany-based Norwegian-Irish folk singer songwriter Tara Nome Doyle has featured once before on this blog. It was back in 2021 that we discovered her music through her track Snail I.
By Graeme Smith
Fast-forward almost three years and she’s back with a new EP. The intervening time has been productive for her, with an album released in 2022. Agape sees her strip things back, drawing on the spiritual and the Latin language to celebrate the feminine and the commemorate the passing of a loved one.
A feeling of intimacy runs right through the EP, created at once by opening voice memo Till Till Tara. In Agape, Tara wears her heart on her sleeve, making the emotion of its story all the more poignant and relatable. Melancholic lullaby Hush pours into the cantering acoustic guitar and image-laden lyrics of Blueberry Stains. Mater Nostra is a provocative ecclesiastical wonder before the collection is rounded off by the bittersweet and timeless Elderflower (Love is Long) and final, brief vignette Agape.
It’s so great to have Tara Nome Doyle back on this blog, and her new EP is simply breath-taking. She’s poured some much thought and feeling into its lyrics and is beautifully supported by her collaborators. It’s yet more evidence, if we needed it, of what a true talent she is.
If you happen to be in Berlin next week, Tara will be holding a release party concert at Lobe Block on 18 April. Admission is free with registration at the venue website.
Agape was self-produced by Tara who sings, and plays piano and guitar. It features cello by Sunniva Shaw of Tordarroch. The choir on Mater Nostra includes Lisa Morgenstern, Laen, Fama M’Boup, Farao, Trinidad Doherty, Erika Emerson and Tara Nome Doyle. The EP was mixed and mastered by Philip Show Bova. You can give it a listen below.