Singer songwriter Lyra spoke to Eimear O’Dwyer about her latest single, performing at Electric Picnic, and imparted some advice for budding artists in her native West Cork
‘WE just need people to notice us because we have the talent in abundance around these small little towns.’
That’s the sentiment from Bandon native, singer songwriter Lyra, who believes that just because someone is from a small town in West Cork, doesn’t mean they won’t have the same opportunities as someone from a big city – particularly with the opportunities social media now presents.
The singer released her new feelgood single Lovers earlier this month, the first track on her debut album which is due early next year.
And she is now going from stage to screen too, as a star of the new Celebrity Gogglebox Ireland. The West Cork singer has been paired with RTÉ Radio 1 host and influencer Roz Purcell – making for a bubbly and entertaining duo. The show airs every Wednesday night on Virgin Media One at 9pm.
Lyra says she is a true romantic at heart. The single Lovers explores love, heartbreak, and hope.
‘I wanted it to be something fun and I wanted it to be something that when people listen to it they feel great, and it kind of excites them – which is exactly what love does,’ she said.
Lovers is also a song of hope – that everybody will find their somebody, some day.
‘Love comes in so many different forms and it’s such an amazing feeling and everyone is touched by it. I don’t want to pigeonhole it into one basket – that this is a love about men and women,’ she added. ‘This is love. It has a very universal meaning, and that’s something that I wanted to bear in mind when I was writing about it as well.
‘Two things I always say that I’d never give up on in life is myself and love, because I’m such a hopeless romantic. No matter how many times my heart gets broken, I know that there is somebody there at the end. There is light at the end of the tunnel.’
While writing Lovers, Lyra drew from her own experiences of young love and heartbreak and she refers to what love was like for her growing up.
‘At the point when I was writing it, I had been through a few heartbreaks and I kind of thought to myself, “Jesus when am I ever going to find him, is this going to happen for me?” And you go through break-ups and people say to you they broke up with you because of x, y and z, and then that kind of stays inside of your soul and you’re like “oh my god, maybe I’m not loveable, maybe I need to change or maybe this.”’
But with this song, she said, she wanted to show that despite all of the heartbreak, there is still hope. It was been reported recently that Lyra is in a relationship with a former Ireland rugby star. The singer says she believes she is living proof that perseverance wins out.
‘This one is like you know what, I’ll hang on and the right one will come at some point.’
Lyra’s bubbly personality shone through as she burst into song during the interview, exclaiming ‘Finally she has arrived!’ – referring to her new album.
‘Singles are hard work as well to get them together, to get the production right, get the artwork right, get everything right. But an album is a body of work that people haven’t heard before that, you’re putting out into the world – I feel like I’m finally doing it.’
She said the whole album is written now. ‘It’s just piecing it all together and getting the artwork together, I like to be a bit extra.’
‘It’s so exciting,’ she added. ‘It is the hardest, most thrilling job I’ve ever had in my entire life. I’m like – bring it on!’
For Lyra, September has been a very exciting month. Not only did she release her new single, but she also had the ‘best time’ performing on the main stage at Electric Picnic.
‘I’m like, can we just do it again? Did somebody knock a song off my setlist because this seems to be going very fast!’
The day after EP, Lyra was back in West Cork, this time in Kinsale visiting her sister.
‘My sister lives here, so I come here a lot,’ she said. ‘She has three kids, our first three kids of the family, so I’m obsessed with them. I was on the main stage [at EP] and I literally was in a car the morning after, to come down to see them.’
Lyra launched her music career in 2016 with the release of her debut EP WILD, and she hasn’t looked back since.
Her 2019 song Falling featured in Season 16 of Grey’s Anatomy and also on ITV’s popular dating show Love Island.
The star from Bandon imparted some advice for aspiring artists in West Cork.
‘I know everyone says it, but it is actually true, you cannot give up,’ she said.
‘I feel the more resilient you are, people will start to notice you because you’re just not going away. It’s not that you have to be in front of a record label anymore, you can actively start your career yourself.
You can write songs, you can put them on TikTok, Instagram, Youtube, there are so many ways to get your music out now that you don’t have to wait for anyone.’
Her advice is to start today, otherwise somebody else will take your place tomorrow. ‘Start today and just go hard,’ she said.
Referring to another international name from Bandon, she said: ‘The likes of Graham Norton, he went worldwide, everybody knows who he is and he came from a small town. So it kind of just shows us we can do it,’ she added.
And the Bandon star did not see living in a small town as an obstacle to her own career. Of course, the support of her family also helped Lyra achieve her huge success.
‘I know it’s easy to say, but it really is true that my family were massive supporters of me. I could have given up a few times but they’re always saying “no, you’re really good like, you can do this, keep going.” ’
‘And my Dad helped me a lot, like just getting in front of people, and even if I needed some money to get over to London to do something, or if I needed money to try and put a song out, he was always there to help me as much as he could.’
She said no matter where you come from, just know that you can do it. ‘We just need people to notice us, because we have talent in abundance around these small little towns.’
‘Lovers’ was released on September 8th.
