West Cork based songwriter Polly Barrett releases her second single of 2023, the uplifting and evocative ‘Sapling Be’ and reveals details of her upcoming album. ‘Sapling Be’ is set for release August 25, 2023.
Ethereal and rhythmic, ‘Sapling Be’ is the title track and second release from Polly Barrett’s upcoming third album out October 6, 2023. ‘Sapling Be’ continues the discussion of her journey through motherhood. Inspired by both her son and her love of nature Polly says “The song is like a wish for my son that he grows strong and tall like a great oak tree, and with his roots firmly in the ground. That he never forgets his connection to nature.”
Struggling with writer’s block Polly had the idea of a song based on the sapling analogy for many years. It was following a meditative sensory forest therapy course in her local Glengarriff Nature Reserve that she found her creativity start to flow again. This meditative and spiritual release is captured thoroughly with Polly’s use of steel tongue drum and loop pedal to create a hypnotic other-worldly sound as the basis for ‘Sapling Be’ that continually brings her back to a place of pure creativity. On top of this dreamy base Polly layers looped vocals, bodhrán, cello and bass guitar. ‘Sapling Be’ was mixed by grammy-nominated producer Chris O’Brien (Clannad, Aslan, and Emma Langford) and mastered by Richard Dowling at WAV Mastering, Limerick.
‘Sapling Be’ follows up the success of recent single ‘Huge Mistake’ that saw Polly earn support from RTE Radio 1’s Louise Duffy, Today FM/98FM’s Claire Beck, Lyric FM’s Marty Whelan and Newstalk’s Sean Moncrieff. ‘Huge Mistake’ is an ode to finding beauty and one’s peace in an unexpected place. Infused with Polly’s own very personal experiences of motherhood, love, and loss ‘Huge Mistake’ offers an intimate look inside the life of the Cork singer and a glimpse of what to expect from her upcoming album Sapling Be out October 6.
Polly Barrett is a well-known name on the Irish folk scene. After releasing 2 albums, 2011’s Mr Bookshop and Probably Me in 2014 she took a break from music to focus on family. However, the experience of motherhood, surrounded by the beauty of living in the wilds of West Cork continued to inspire her. During the Covid-19 pandemic Polly quietly recorded and released “Dark Garden”, an EP of four new songs, one of which, ‘Thinking About You’ was chosen for a Discover Ireland Campaign for West Cork. Since then, Polly has been fervently writing songs and experimenting with new musical sounds instilled by her own experiences and magic of the natural world. Using a loop pedal, bodhrán, guitar, tongue drum and low whistle, Polly has developed an exciting new sound which is as compelling to see being created on stage as it is to listen to. Polly performed an Official Showcase at Folk Alliance in the US in 2022 and has just returned from performing at Milkwaukee Irish Fest in the US alongside the Coronas, Wallis Bird and a host of other Irish acts. She has also played alongside Jack O’Rourke, Caoimhín O’Raghallaigh and recently wowed at Tradfest.
