Originally from Cork, but now based in Dublin, singer songwriter Sarah Buckley released her debut single, ‘You’ve Got Me’, last month to critical acclaim.
‘You’ve Got Me’ has been described by Hot Press as
“Sarah Buckley’s debut single is a beautifully rendered acoustic love song that could easily have been penned by Dolores O’Riordan.”
and by JOE.ie as
“A voice not a million miles away from the sadly departed Dolores O’Riordan in that she doesn’t hide her accent and there is real honesty and heart”
Accompanied by her acoustic guitar, as well as some light bass and percussion, Sarah Buckely tells the somewhat sad story of a couple who know they’re bad for each other, but they are bound to stay together. “You’ve got me you’ve got me – I’m caught in your world/You’ve got me you’ve got me – down to my toes”. The song is accompanied by a somewhat humorous – if only on the surface – video, told from the point of view of the male partner, played by Irish comedian Francis Cronin, as he tries by various means to escape from a pair of handcuffs. The symbolism of these is all too clear: he feels trapped, he can’t get away – and he sees Sarah everywhere, in the mirror as he brushes his teeth, on the cover of a magazine held by a woman at the bus stop (Sarah also features in an ad on the side of the bus as well), reflected in a foil balloon outside a hardware store, where he’s caught trying to prise off the handcuffs. It almost becomes too much when he sees Sarah’s face looking back at him, reflected on his phone – she’s even on the back of a spoon as he tries to have a cuppa – it’s as though “two have become one” – he and Sarah are inseparable.
Very cleverly, they’ve incorporated parts of the lyrics alongside some of the pictures of Sarah. For instance, on the bus it says “Down to my toes”, while on an ad for one of Sarah’s performances, attached to a light pole, it says “Sign Up To A Life Like That”. Finally, after the lyrics somehow become written all over his hands and face, the man discovers an angle grinder, and is able to rid himself of his shackles, and we guess, that also means the relationship is finally over.
Sarah started her 2019 winning a spot in “Whelan’s Ones To Watch”, and ‘You’ve Got Me’ was released on all platforms in February, spending four weeks on RTÉ Radio 1 Recommends playlist, and selected for Spin FMs “Plan B” Ones To Watch. It was also on heavy rotation on radio stations across Ireland, and was featured in both Hot Press, and Golden Plec, and on Pure M, and JOE.ie, among other music blogs and magazines.
While all this was going on with ‘You’ve Got Me’, another of Sarah’s songs, ‘Magic Powers’, was chosen as a semi-finalist in the International Songwriting Competition, whose judges included the legendary Tom Waits, and The Scrit.
Sarah has been gigging extensively, supporting the likes of Aine Cahill, HamsandwicH, Mick Flannery, and Cry Monster Cry, as well as a number of festival slots both sides of the Irish Sea, including Electric Picnic, Vantastival, Cork Jazz Festival, Sligo Live, Le Cheile Festival, Claremorris Fringe Festival, Achill Battle of the Lakes, Glendalough festival, youBloom, International Pop Overthrow at Liverpool’s Cavern Club, and RTE’s Reflecting on the Rising.
You can find out more about Sarah Buckley online on her official website, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. See here for upcoming gigs.
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