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Sinead O’Connor Leads Second WOMADelaide Announcement

By Kelly Noble

Posted on October 28, 2014

WOMADelaide, Australia’s favorite four day outdoor festival held in Adelaide’s Botanic Park March 6 -9, today announced its second round of artists for the 2015 festival. Leading today’s announcement is Grammy nominated rock chanteuse Sinéad O’Connor.

WOMADelaide, Australia’s favorite four day outdoor festival held in Adelaide’s Botanic Park March 6 -9, today announced its second round of artists for the 2015 festival. Leading today’s announcement is Grammy nominated rock chanteuse Sinéad O’Connor.

One of the worlds biggest music stars as well as one of the most iconic Irish artists of the past thirty years Sinéad O’Connor is a powerful force both on and off the stage who has created a hugely critically acclaimed body of work over that time, including ten studio albums.

An unrivalled singer, gifted songwriter and a unique voice in pop-culture, Sinéad O’Connor has bravely challenged the status quo with her music and messages. Sinéad returns in 2014 with her new album – I’m Not Bossy, I’m The Boss; a tour de force that signals a new confidence in songwriting and expression for the Irish superstar.

WOMADelaide Festival Director, Ian Scobie said “What makes WOMADelaide a truly unique festival is the extraordinary diversity of musical experiences for audiences who will get the opportunity to experience not only one of contemporary music’s biggest stars in Sinéad O’Connor, but also her non-western contemporaries including the talents of a complete maestro like Toumani Diabate”.

Joining Sinéad O’Connor on the second WOMADelaide announcement is the father and son duo of Toumani & Sidiki Diabate, one of Mali’s most important musical and ancestral lineages. More than any other kora player Toumani Diabate, has brought the unique 21-string West African harp to global attention.

“He’s the sort of player you only encounter once in a lifetime, on a par with Glenn Gould or Rostropovich.” – BBC (UK)

A true griot enabling communication between people through his master musicianship, Toumani established the kora as one of the world’s great instruments, an accomplishment that has led to his being a key musical and cultural ambassador of the African continent.

Sidiki Diabate, Toumani’s eldest son is a kora-player and acclaimed hip hop producer in his own right and the latest addition to the celebrated Diabate musical dynasty, extending the family lineage of 71 continuous generations of kora players. Now twenty-three and considered to be a musical genius, Sidiki is at the forefront of furthering the ancient traditions of the kora and forging it into the 21^st century and digital age.

Heading the extraordinary list of Australian artists in today’s announcement is The Painted Ladies. An historic collaboration revisiting Australia’s first black protest album, The Loner, led by emerging singer-song writer Luke Peacock, collaborating with The Medics and Australia’s next generation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists.

Joining Sinéad O’Connor, Toumani & Sidiki Dibate and The Painted Ladies on the second WOMADelaide announcement is:

Astronomy Class, featuring Srey Channthy (The Cambodian Space Project), draw on an exciting blend of Khmer pop music from 1950s to 70s interweaved with the Cambodian psych revival (AUS)
Musician, educator and social activist Buffy Sainte-Marie (CAN)
The Eclectic blend of of Latin folk, flamenco, afro-beat rock, and blues from Spain’s Depedro (ESP)
The new musical coupling of Emma Donovan and Melbourne’s soul outfit The Putbacks (AUS)
Exclusively for WOMADelaide; British psych-folk veteran Robyn Hitchcock and Australia’s own Americana songbird Emma Swift (AUS/UK)
Australia’s favorite Swedish sweethearts First Aid Kit (SWE)
Sydney’s acclaimed string quartet, FourPlay (AUS)
Welsh musician, composer, producer, filmmaker and author Gruff Rhys (WAL)
The beautiful sounds and emotive tones of Adelaide’s Julia Henning (AUS)
Queensland’s internationally renowned folk group Kamerunga (AUS)
Highly talented and visionary composer renowned for her work as a toy pianist, Margaret Leng Tan (SGP)
Blending vintage rhythm and blues sensibilities through songs of heartache and redemption, Max Savage and The False Idols (AUS)
Crossing the Tasman comes the drumming powerhouse of Myele Manzanza and The Eclectic (NZ)
Rhythmic soul with a stoic croon of Californian, Nick Waterhouse (USA)
Robert Forster, co-founder of the much loved The Go-Betweens, presents a sparkling cross section of his catalogue – old, recent, borrowed, and new – with Jherek Bischoff and the Zephyr Quartet (AUS)
Sharon Van Etten brings her arresting voice and bittersweet songs – all raw intimacy and dramatic sweep (USA)
Icelandic multi- instrumentalist and creator of delicate melodies and beautifully dark lyrics Soley (ISL)
Stretching the boundaries of classical Persian singing Tara Tiba (AUS/IRN)
Unifying melodic blues guitar and cryptic songwriting is Adelaide’s Timberwolf (AUS)
Innovators of ‘desert reggae’ Tjintu Desert Band (AUS)
Australia’s and China’s classical & contemporary musical collaboration, Typhoon台风(AUS/CHI)
Willow Beats is the uncle and niece duo forging electronic landscapers amid soulful vocal melodies (AUS)