Paramour is a concept album inspired by the stories of survivors from Ireland’s now defunct Magdalene Asylums, one of the most shocking scandals in the history of the Catholic Church. The album explores the struggles of women who were branded "fallen" unfit to live in Irish society. They were enslaved, Stripped of their identities, forbidden to speak and forced to work beyond human endurance to "cleanse their souls"...

Paramour is Lisa Cuthbert's second album. It features guest appearances by Dave Creffield (The Sisters of Mercy), G Frequency and Tim Fromont Placenti, and is produced and engineered by Gareth Desmond at Loop Studios, Dublin.

Whether you're familiar with the Magdalene Asylums or not isn't really important. If you've never even heard of them then you'll still enjoy this album, but if you have heard of them then the listening experience takes on a whole other edge.

Cuthbert's vocals are hypnotic, unsettling (given the subject matter) and beautiful. Highlights include the opening track 'Destitute'; the beautiful 'Gartan Mother's Lullaby'; 'The Balancing Act'; and 'The Sooner You Know'.

The album contains 10 tracks and has a running time of approximately 1 hr, 03 min. There isn't a wasted track here and this is well worth adding to your collection

9

Nick Smithson