Music
Press
Bursting with intelligence, beauty and amazing emotional depth, Shaz OYE’s (pronounced OH Yay!) debut, Truth According to Shaz OYE is a knee-buckling, hair-on-the-back-of-your-neck-raising, shiver-down-your-back inducing album that will have you hooked after just one listen. It’s that fucking good!
The most extraordinary thing about Truth is her stunning voice. Giants like Shirley Bassey and Nina Simone must’ve been on the turntable in OYE’s youth, because she has their same rare ability to plunge the cavernous depth, then resurface into heart-rending vibrato.
The songs that OYE has chosen for Truth – all self-penned, apart from an absolutely beautiful rrendition “Prisoner”, the love theme from Eyes of Laura Mars – reveal a compassionate soul who loves telling stories through her music.
“Blood on The Bone” for example relates the conviction of Ku Klux Klan member Edgar Ray Killen for the “Freedom Summer” murders, along side Oye’s own experiences of bigotry and prejudice, while “The River Wild” tells the tale of a woman who was raped and killed by “The Rakes”, young aristocrats who had drinking sessions in Dublin’s Temple Bar in the 1700’s.
Instrumentally, Truth is superb, OYE’s wonderful voice jazzily and soulfully accompanied by various guitars, cello, double bass, sax and piano. The album’s photography, artwork, graphic design and sleeve notes are delicious icing on the cake. If this deeply impressive first album is anything to go by, we can expect seriously great things from shaz OYE. Adrienne Murphy, Hotpress, NINE/TEN
- HotPress Magazine
Named after the legendary Radio City Music Hall in New York’s Rockerfeller Centre, the latest addition to the capital’s live music scene is a spacious and airy basement space that is perfect for a chilled and relaxing evening of musical entertainment, in stark contrast to the deafening norm.
Dublin-based chanteuse Shaz OYE (pronounced “OH Yay) is a perfect accompaniment to the venue’s laidback fee, marking the occasion with a launch gig for her first album, Truth According to Shaz OYE, which is an arresting 10-track affair on her own wonderfully named label Radical Faeries.
Resplendent in a smart and striking pin-stripe suit, she is backed by a drummer, guitarist, keyboard player and double bassist. Her voice is truly remarkable; a versatile and velvety croon that is full of rich textures and heart-melting soul. It brings to mind such singular talents as Nina Simone and Kate Bush, but is far too individual to be lazily categorised by the limited lexicon of comparisons generally employed by us hacks.
Her songs are steeped in intelligence and insight, engaging in topical issues and the history of human rights in an original and thought-provoking manner. Easy off the Trigger could be the soundtrack song to the shocking spate of gun crime that has blighted our nation in recent weeks.
Shaz brings us back in time to the Dublin of the 1700’s on The River Wild, informing us that we’ve been a binge-drinking capital for a lot longer than the lifespan of the current boozing boom. The most moving song of the night is the closing track of her debut, Truth. The lyric “truth hurts, she said, truth hurts” is delivered with stunning pathos and intensity. In a local scene packed with lots of players but lacking originality. Shaz is a refreshing and very welcome new voice. Eamon Sweeney, Day and Night, The Irish Independent, Four Stars
- The Irish Independent
Tough urban hymns with a history!
Eamon Carr, Evening Herald - Evening Herald
Discography
Debut Album -
"Truth according to shaz OYE"
EP -
"Child of Original Sin"
Download -
"Do Not Stand at my Grave and Weep" Requiem
http://www.shazoye.com/requiem.html
Photos
Bio
OH YAY, OH YAY, OH YAY!
Shaz OYE (pronounced “Oh Yay”, as in the town crier) released her self-financed and produced debut album “Truth according to shaz OYE” in Ireland in 2006.
The ten-track CD is released on her own label Radical Faeries. Rather than waiting for major label backing, along with her partner and now manager Patricia Kennedy, she set up her own label Radical Faeries Records and set about self-financing the first album.
Born and raised in the heart of Dublin’s Docklands; Shaz grew up surrounded by strong women, her single-parent mother, her granny and her “Aunty” May. She regularly delved into their record collections, which featured Lena Horne, Nina Simone, and Elvis. When she discovered Paul Weller's “A Town Called Malice” shaz realised that working class youth could find their voice through music. Writing songs became an outlet for her growing disaffection with a hostile world.
It wasn't until 2000 that she bought her first guitar in Las Vegas and taught herself how to play it. Her unique voice and expressive guitar playing are all the more astounding when you realise she’s never received any formal training.
Her debut album is a collection of ten tracks each rooted in issues that resonate with shaz, from redemption to injustice, obsession to grief and loss. "My own material has been unearthed from the dark ground of my soul. Truth simply is; a principle born of honesty, strength and valour; chivalrous qualities I admire in others and aspire to myself. It can be weighed and measured yet we cannot see it with the naked eye, but when Truth presents itself, we recognise its unique signature. All I am offering is my Truth, nothing more"
Audiences and critics alike consider her voice outstanding and many have tried to find comparisons; it's complexity is best summed up by Ireland's leading music magazine, Hotpress , “OYE's voice, … has all the weight of a Leonard Cohen or a Nick Cave allied to the swooping flexibility of Kate Bush... Imagine Sade with real balls!” Say it loud and say it clear Oh Yay, Oh Yay, Oh Yay. Shaz OYE’s name will soon be tripping off the tongues of one and all.
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