Sea Sew
Studio album by
Lisa Hannigan
ReleasedRepublic of Ireland 12 September 2008
United States 3 February 2009
United Kingdom 4 May 2009
Recorded3–16 March 2008[1]
GenreFolk, indie
LabelHoop (Ireland) / Barp/ATO Records (US)[2]
Lisa Hannigan chronology
Sea Sew
(2008)		 Passenger
(2011)
Singles from Sea Sew
  1. "Lille"
    Released: 25 August 2008
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
entertainment.ie[3]
Slant Magazine[4]
RTÉ Entertainment[5]
AW Music(mixed)[6]
Entertainment Weekly(B+)[7]
The Daily Telegraph(positive)[8]

Sea Sew is the debut studio album released by Lisa Hannigan. It was released in Ireland on 12 September 2008, with the lead single, "Lille", made available as a free download on lisahannigan.ie on 25 August.[9]

Sea Sew was a critical success, earning rave reviews and being named by some music critics amongst the best Irish albums of the year.[10][11] It garnered airtime on American radio station KCRW and earned early praise from press across the US, including the western Los Angeles Times, which called it "charmingly idiosyncratic" and the eastern publication, The New York Times, which described it as "exquisitely ethereal".[12][13] The album was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize and Choice Music Prize.[14][15][16]

Lead single "Lille", released on 25 August 2008, became an airplay hit on Irish and American radio stations.[17] Her song "I Don't Know" was also featured as free single of the week by iTunes UK in 2009.[18] The admiration of Jason Mraz led to Hannigan supporting the Grammy-nominated Californian singer-songwriter on a 42-date US tour in late 2008.[19] Hannigan signed with ATO Records in the US, where the album was released on 3 February 2009.[20]

Sea Sew was released in the United Kingdom in May 2009, where The Daily Telegraph described it as "wonderfully creaky and raw", a record of "welcoming intimacy and ear-pleasing consistency".[21]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Lisa Hannigan except for track 7 by Bert Jansch[22]

No.TitleLength
1."Ocean and a Rock"4:21
2."Venn Diagram"4:20
3."Sea Song"3:23
4."Splishy Splashy"3:16
5."I Don't Know"4:56
6."Keep It All"4:11
7."Courting Blues"4:06
8."Pistachio"3:25
9."Teeth"4:08
10."Lille"4:06

Recording and production

The album was recorded in a cold barn in the Irish countryside and produced in the studio of one of Hannigan's friends over the course of a fortnight. Jason Boshoff produced, recorded and mixed the whole album.[21]

Prior to its release in Ireland, Hannigan previewed tracks "Lille", "Pistachio", "Some Surprise" and "Sea Song" on her MySpace page.[23] The album also features musical personnel such as Donagh Molloy, Tom Osander, Shane Fitzsimons, Lucy Wilkins, Vyvienne Long and Gavin Glass,[24] whilst Cathy Davey and Rhob Cunningham provided backing vocals on some of the songs.[24]

Personnel

  • Lisa Hannigan - vocals, guitar, harmonium
  • Tom Osander - drums, xylophone
  • Shane Fitzsimmons - bass
  • Donagh Malloy - trumpet, melodica, glockenspiel
  • Lucy Wilkins - violin
  • Vyvienne Long - cello
  • Gavin Glass - piano, harmonium
  • Justin Carroll - hammond organ
  • Cathy Davey - vocals
  • Rhob Cunningham - vocals

Artwork

Hannigan knitted the needle-work featured on the sleeve herself along with her mother, Frances.[21][24][25] US television host Stephen Colbert quizzed Hannigan on this when she appeared on his show The Colbert Report, asking if she had sewn the instruments as well[26] – Hannigan is reported to be sewing Colbert a note of thanks for asking her to perform on his show.[13]

Title

Hannigan chose to call the album Sea Sew because of the number of references to the sea in the lyrics.[25]

Chart performance

Sea Sew entered the UK Albums Chart at number 58 after an appearance on Later... with Jools Holland in May 2009.[27]

Chart (2008) Peak
position		 Certification
Irish Albums Chart 3 Platinum[28]
UK Albums Chart 58[29]
US Billboard 200[30] 135
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[31] 3
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[32] 19

Awards

Sea Sew was nominated for both the Choice Music Prize[33][34] and Best Irish Album at the Meteor Music Awards[35][36] in January 2009, with Hannigan's artistic prowess leading to her recently obtaining tax-free status from the Office of the Revenue Commissioners in Ireland.[37]

Choice Music Prize

Sea Sew was nominated for the Choice Music Prize in 2009. It lost to Jape's third studio album, Ritual.[38][39][40][41][42][43][44]

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2009Sea SewIrish Album of the Year 2008Nominated

Meteor Music Awards

Sea Sew led to Hannigan receiving two nominations in the Best Irish Female and Best Irish Album categories at the Meteor Music Awards in 2009.

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2009Sea SewBest Irish AlbumNominated
2009Lisa HanniganBest Irish FemaleNominated

References

  1. ↑ Sea Sew at AllMusic
  2. ↑ "Discography - Lisa Hannigan". Billboard. Accessed 4 February 2009.
  3. ↑ entertainment.ie review
  4. ↑ Slant Magazine review
  5. ↑ RTÉ Entertainment review
  6. ↑ AW Music review
  7. ↑ Entertainment Weekly review
  8. ↑ "Lisa Hannigan interview for her album 'See Sew'". The Daily Telegraph. 8 May 2009. Archived from the original on 17 May 2022.
  9. ↑ "Lisa Hannigan heads out on US tour, confirms album date". Hot Press. 1 August 2008. Retrieved 2 February 2009.
  10. ↑ "He came, he busked, he conquered... How Hansard wooed Hollywood". Irish Independent. 27 December 2008. Retrieved 23 January 2009.
  11. ↑ "2008 This year in music". Irish Independent. 19 December 2008. Retrieved 23 January 2009.
  12. ↑ "Loaded: 21/11/08". Irish Independent. 21 November 2008. Retrieved 24 January 2009.
  13. 1 2 "Hannigan shenanigans". The Irish Times. 2 May 2009. Retrieved 6 May 2009.
  14. ↑ "Choice Music Prize Shortlist". Hot Press. 14 January 2009. Retrieved 16 January 2009.
  15. ↑ "Choice Music Prize - Shortlist Announced". IMRO. 15 January 2009. Archived from the original on 3 May 2009. Retrieved 16 January 2009.
  16. ↑ "Choice Music nominees announced". RTÉ. 15 January 2009. Retrieved 16 January 2009.
  17. ↑ "Lisa musters the chutzpah to go solo in spotlight". Irish Independent. 15 December 2008. Retrieved 23 January 2009.
  18. ↑ "Latest Lisa News". Bebo. 2009. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
  19. ↑ "Music: Jason Mraz * *". Irish Independent. 9 January 2009. Retrieved 23 January 2009.
  20. ↑ "We just wanted to let you know that the US release date has been postponed until February 3rd". Official site of Lisa Hannigan. 29 January 2009. Archived from the original on 22 December 2008. Retrieved 2 February 2009.
  21. 1 2 3 Magee, Matthew (8 May 2009). "Lisa Hannigan interview for her album 'See Sew'". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 15 May 2009.
  22. ↑ "Lisa Hannigan - Sea Sew (CD, Album) at Discogs". Discogs.com. 3 February 2009. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
  23. ↑ "WORLD EXCLUSIVE: Lisa Hannigan Irish tour of small towns announced". Hot Press. 30 April 2008. Retrieved 2 February 2009.
  24. 1 2 3 "Lisa Hannigan line_up at discogs". Discogs. 9 August 2008. Retrieved 11 August 2008.
  25. 1 2 "Lisa Hannigan's DEBUT Album 'Sea Sew' Shortlisted For Barclaycard Mercury Prize". Top40-Charts. 22 July 2009. Retrieved 26 July 2009.
  26. ↑ "Lisa Hannigan". ColbertNation.com. 9 March 2009. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
  27. ↑ "Lisa Hannigan moves up the UK charts". Hot Press. 20 May 2009. Retrieved 22 May 2009.
  28. ↑ Irish Certification
  29. ↑ UK charting
  30. ↑ "Lisa Hannigan Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  31. ↑ "Lisa Hannigan Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  32. ↑ "Lisa Hannigan Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  33. ↑ "The Choicest cuts ...or are they?". Sunday Tribune. 18 January 2009. Archived from the original on 25 February 2009. Retrieved 23 January 2009.
  34. ↑ "Loaded: 16 January 2009". Irish Independent. 16 January 2009. Retrieved 23 January 2009.
  35. ↑ "Meteor Awards 2009 - Presenter & Nominees Revealed". Hot Press. 28 January 2009. Retrieved 28 January 2009.
  36. ↑ "Meteor Music Awards nominees revealed". RTÉ. 29 January 2009. Retrieved 30 January 2009.
  37. ↑ "Tax break gives Cecelia more cash to play with". Irish Independent. 11 January 2009. Retrieved 23 January 2009.
  38. ↑ "Jape the surprise choice as Ritual takes the plaudits". The Irish Times. 5 March 2009. Retrieved 5 March 2009.
  39. ↑ "Dublin musician Jape wins Choice Music Prize". Irish Examiner. 5 March 2009. Archived from the original on 6 March 2009. Retrieved 5 March 2009.
  40. ↑ "Jape album wins Choice Music Prize". RTÉ. 5 March 2009. Retrieved 5 March 2009.
  41. ↑ "Dublin musician Jape wins Choice Music Prize". Irish Independent. 5 March 2009. Retrieved 5 March 2009.
  42. ↑ "Jolly Jape admits he's surprised to scoop Choice gong". Irish Independent. 5 March 2009. Retrieved 5 March 2009.
  43. ↑ "Dublin band Jape wins overall prize at Choice Music awards". The Irish Times. 5 March 2009. Retrieved 5 March 2009.
  44. ↑ "UPDATED: Jape wins 2009 Choice Music Price". Hot Press. 5 March 2009. Retrieved 5 March 2009.

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