Nuala takes the plunge

Acoustician-turned-rocker Nuala Honan reckons it helps to know she’s a winter dipper. As one of the hardy group at Henleaze Swimming Lake she’s committed to getting in the water every weekend of the year, whatever the weather. “I’ve now swum in water as cold as 5 degrees! I know, rationally, I’m being totally mad but ever since I was a kid I’ve had the attitude ‘I’m scared but I have to do it, anyway.’ It’s like while I love performing on stage I have massive struggles with self-doubt – but I always know I’ll feel amazing afterwards. For me, being onstage and being immersed in water are my two spiritual homes!”

In the midst of 2020’s wider craziness she’s taken another plunge, too, releasing and self-promoting her second album Doubt and Reckoning. It’s a sparkling set of new material that reflects her recent rebirth as a Strat-wielding rock goddess that was immediately grabbed by BBC 6Music as their Album of the Day for August 25. The album’s release on Friday August 21 will be marked by a livestream performance on the day, filmed (weather permitting) on the shores of her favourite Bristolian waterhole.

The album has a raw, post-punk edge that reflects her determination to reclaim what she missed out on as a young woman. “Growing up in rural South Australia we had no DIY culture, no Riot Grrrls – without the internet you just got whatever was most popular. When I finally left for the city I discovered this whole scene had been happening when I’d needed it. It was real fun to re-engage with it by making this record: I think it’s a record I would have wanted to make as a teenager and my teenage self would really enjoy.”

Her many fans will be pleased to know that, of course, the songs are a showcase for her remarkable voice as well, while careful listening to the vocals reveals themes that draw on Nuala’s recent journey of self-discovery. “I took two years out of music – I was having a really tough time with work and my mental health. Things weren’t working for me any more so I went to get help, which was hard because you have to face up to painful things. Some things that have come out of that are on the record, about me reconnecting with myself and learning compassion. And there’s a couple of songs which are just a real middle finger to some people who caused me pain.”

Nuala Honan (pic: Paul Blakemore)

“People say ‘It must be painful to sing those songs and revisit those memories’ but it’s the opposite: it’s so cathartic. I really think it’s a beautiful process and I don’t know how anyone else copes without having this way to deal with it! It was a great realization to find I had this method and I sat down and wrote an ode to the person who had bullied me as a child. It became the track  ‘How To Shame You’. Every time I sing that song it heals the trauma of that bullying a little bit more.”

Nuala says she owes much to her band for bringing the music and arrangements to life: “I chose them all because they’re not just great players but also writers and producers. We’d mostly worked the songs up live which also saved time when we were in the studio. I wanted to keep that live feel but there’s such a battle in me between perfectionism and being playful. For ‘Slow Down’ – originally intended as a single – though we recorded it pretty much live I brought it home and Alice Low and I completely pulled it apart and rebuilt it. When we played it back to the band their positive reaction – happily – was really important. It taught me to trust my ideas.”

After the stadium-punk of ‘Part of Something’, the portentuous slow-burn of ‘In This City’ and the rock-out energy of ‘Head Undone’ the album closes with a reflective ballad. ‘Day To Day’ gives Nuala’s soulful vocals full range, while the chorus ‘Making myself whole, day to day’ perfectly catches the philosophy of defiant survival that underpins both her life and the infectious energy running through ‘Doubt and Reckoning’. It’s a neat ending to an album that combines well-crafted words, splendid musical flourishes and the kind of stand-out vocal performance that should see it making waves way beyond that chilly lake in BS10.

You can access Nuala’s livestream performance at 7pm on Friday August 21 via her Facebook page.

Copies of Doubt and Reckoning (including limited edition pink vinyl, deluxe bundle and other merchandise) can be bought from Bandcamp.

Main photo by Paul Blakemore

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