| BIOGRAPHY
Born
in May 1956, Co.Galway, Ireland, this acclaimed Irish singer's troubled
upbringing manifested itself in an erratic career path, including stints
as a model and a street-sweeper.
After moving to London in the mid-70s she married and began raising
a family, before terminating the union and returning to Galway with
her children. She began her singing career in 1984, working with Dutch
producer Erik Visser (who became her long-term collaborator).
The following year she made an acclaimed appearance on the Late Late
Show and recorded her first album, which showcased her powerful and
bluesy jazz stylings and became an unexpected bestseller in her native
Ireland. Despite her ongoing personal problems, Coughlan continued to
reap praise for her recorded output on WEA Records. On Under The Influence
she revived the 1948 Peggy Lee hit "Don't Smoke In Bed" and
the Billie Holiday ballad "Good Morning Heartache", as well
as Christy Moore's "Ride On".
In 1988, Coughlan made her acting debut in Neil Jordan's High Spirits,
and released Ancient Rain. Her fourth album, Uncertain Pleasures, was
recorded in England with producer Peter Glenister, former musical director
for Terence Trent D'Arby.
It included new compositions by Mark Nevin (Fairground Attraction) and
Bob Geldof as well as cover versions of the Rolling Stones' "Mother's
Little Helper" and the Elvis Presley hit "Heartbreak Hotel".
Coughlan began straightening her personal life out in the mid-90s, and
signed a new recording contract with Big Cat Records. The label issued
an excellent live set and her US debut, After The Fall. In June 2000,
Coughlan presented a series of multimedia shows in Dublin celebrating
Billie Holiday, a singer whose life story has close parallels to Coughlan's
own.
She embarks on the next phase of her career with an extraordinary new
album. Entitled ‘The House of Ill Repute’ – its thirteen
songs represent the end of a thirteen year relationship in Mary’s
life. The album re-unites her with Erik Visser, whose previous work
with Mary has inspired them both to career best performances on the
albums ‘Tired And Emotional’ and ‘After The Fall’
albums. Seldom has there been a better matched maestro and muse; as
the immaculate song selection, sympathetic arrangements and matchless
performances on this record reflect.
The first single is the late Kirsty MacColl’s wry discourse on
misadventure ‘Bad’, an early highlight of an album that
runs the gamut of emotions like a long night of Reeperbahn madness.
Flirtatious on ‘Love Is Extra’, salacious on ‘Pornography’,
outrageous on ‘Tootsies’; Madame Coughlan knows the intimate
details of all the visitors to The House of Ill Repute. And in the cold
light of the morning, we find them adrift on the emotional tundra of
‘Antarctica’ or clinging to the barren (Celtic) rock of
‘The Whore Of Babylon’.
It’s often said that an artist’s best work is made under
the most trying of personal circumstances. With the release of ‘The
House of Ill Repute’; Mary Coughlan emerges from the catharsis
of record making, waking up to a new day; confident in the knowledge
that she has produced an album which will stand up as one of the very
best of her stellar career to date.
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