Sisters score major role in Sinead’s documentary

TWO sisters from the Old Head of Kinsale, who are accomplished and revered composers and musicians, have composed a score for the new Sinead O’Connor documentary, which is on general cinema release. 

Irene and Linda Buckley, the two youngest from a family of nine, composed the score for Kathryn Ferguson’s ‘Nothing Compares’, which examines the singer’s early years and her  sudden rise to fame.

Speaking to The Southern Star, Irene said they had been approached by editor Mick Mahon last year about composing a score because he knew and liked their work.

‘He liked our style and thought it would be an interesting match for us. 

‘We loved the idea as we love her music so we moved some things around and there were a lot of late nights trying to complete the whole project,’ said Irene.

Linda says they work well together as they both have similar music interests.

‘We are the youngest of nine children and we seem to work in a way that feels very natural and seamless. This was also the first time we worked in a more fast paced score due to the different changes in Sinead’s life in the film,’ said Linda.

Their score can be heard throughout the documentary and Irene said it was different  from other projects she has worked on as they had to weave their music between Sinead’s songs, which was different for them.

‘We were trying to connect her songs together and also get different themes for different parts of her life, like when she moved to London or went to the Grammys. The music is quite subtle and it’s to create atmosphere and mood within a music documentary.’

Irene and Linda completed a two and half hour live score for the screening of ‘Metropolis’ at last year’s Cork Film Festival and they are in the middle of preparing 12 students from Ballincollig’s Coláiste Coilm to compose and perform a live score for ‘A Trip to The Moon’ in the Triskel Arts Centre at next month’s festival. 

As part of their packed schedule, the Buckley sisters are off to Berlin next month to perform an electronic live score with renowned German musicians Gudrun Gu, to mark 100 years since ‘Nosferatu’ was released, a work which is being commissioned by the Irish Embassy in Germany. They composed and performed a score for the very same film at the Cork Film Festival back in 2018.