Drones abound, and a pensive ambiance crammed the workplace when Lisa O’Neill and her bandmates started one in all my favourite songs of 2023, “Previous Word.” The deep, harmonic drones comprise a bowed hammer dulcimer, a shruti field, a harmonium and a bowed upright bass. Then the Irish singer’s plaintive voice tells a story she describes as “orality” and “how we communicated earlier than we began writing stuff down. It is a music additionally about listening to the music in nature.

There are various methods to conjure pleasure with music. Some intention for occasion music, with uplifting beats that get your physique shifting, however Lisa O’Neill walks a special path. For her pleasure is about connecting with the crops, the animals, and our environment and feeling grateful for the world round us.

The songs carried out right here come from her 2023 album All of This Is Likelihood. The music is stark and cerebral, the voice singular and private with few prospers, and I discover it charming. With all the burden of tales and music, there are moments of cheer, particularly on the one non-album observe, “When Money Was King.” Right here, we’re speaking robots and King Charles and a nod to the cusp of change we witness each day.

SET LIST

• “Previous Word”  
• “Silver Seed” 
• “When Money Was King”
• “Goodnight World”   

MUSICIANS

• Lisa O’Neill: vocals, banjo, guitar, harmonium, shruti field
• Joe Doyle: double bass 
• Brian Leach: hammer dulcimer 
• Mic Geraghty: shruti field, harmonium  

TINY DESK TEAM

• Producer: Bob Boilen 
• Director/Editor: Maia Stern
• Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin
• Sequence Producer: Bobby Carter 
• Videographers: Maia Stern, Joshua Bryant, Sofia Seidel
• Audio Assistant: Josephine Nyounai 
• Manufacturing Assistant: Ashley Pointer
• Photographer: Catie Boring
• Tiny Desk Crew: Suraya Mohamed, Kara Body, Hazel Cills
• VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins
• Senior VP, Programming: Anya Grundmann