Laytha
Irish folk duo Laytha, cousins Niamh and Philana, are becoming best known for their carefully crafted vocal harmonies, their greatest and most unique asset. Their debut album (Nov 22) recorded with producer Declan Legge (SOAK, Jealous Of The Birds) is a reminiscence on the formative times of their shared youth, encompassing themes of daughterhood, womanhood, life in their hometown and the raw rugged landscape of Ireland. Receiving great praise from Tony Clayton-Lea's 'Irish under-the-radar acts' in The Irish Times and supported on RTE Radio 1, BBC Radio Ulster and Hot Press Magazine, their debut body of work has sparked the beginning of an exciting music career for Laytha.
Performing live, the duo not only showcase their haunting vocals accompanied by Philana's gentle acoustic guitar but also bring an earnest and playful energy to their intimate gigs, something the comfort of a familial bond on stage brings naturally. This first gained the attention of the late Lyndon Stephens (Quiet Arch Records) in 2019 who admired their sound that echoed genre peers such as The Staves and Ye Vegabonds. Earning some notable support slots over 2021 and 2022 including Nell Mescal, Saint Sister, Joshua Burnside, Ciaran Lavery and Niamh Regan, Laytha continue to win over audiences and ‘are performers that leave you wanting more,’ - Gemma Bradley ATL Introducing Presenter (2022)
2023 has seen the duo complete a headline Irish tour, support Martha Wainwright at the Galway International Arts Festival in Monroes and The Coronas at Custom House Square Belfast and receive an NI Music Prize nomination for their debut album. They are currently finishing their follow up release, a 4-track EP featuring songs co-written with renowned alt-folk singer/songwriter Ciaran Lavery (>96 million worldwide streams) and production by Julie McLarnon (International Folk Music Awards - Album of the Year Finalist). Coupled with an appearance at Folk Alliance in Kansas City in Feb of next year, Laytha are set to continue their growth on the island of Ireland as well as internationally.
Hozier - Francesca
There are many Hozier songs that have influenced the music we make. With Francesca in particular, we adore his vocal arrangement, particularly at the end of the song where lyrics and melodies overlap and intertwine. It feels almost hypnotic as a listener and its something we try to emulate in our vocal arrangements, particularly at the end of our song ‘Autumn’s Sweet Bay.’
Laura Marling - Song for our daughter
Laura’s style of songwriting has always been inspirational to us. Her ability to tell a story in a song that paints such a vivid picture for the listener is unmatched, something we really tried to capture with our EP, often keeping production stripped back to let the vocals really carry the song. Her style of guitar playing, from finger style to lively folky strumming patters is also a big inspiration to us when writing.
Joni Mitchell - Little Green
Joni is the master of moving gracefully through a melody line with her incredible vocals, jumping from low notes to high notes within one breath which she makes seem effortless. This is something we truly admire about her as a vocalist and writer and it has definitely infiltrated our writing in tracks such as Autumn’s Amphora Wine and Autumn’s Haze.
Madison Cunningham - Looking Alive
Madison’s finger style guitar playing has inspired a lot of how we write and build our own songs. Her rhythmic choices created not only with percussion and drums but also with guitar is something we take great inspiration from, it adds a playful element to her music which is something we tried to emulate in particular at the end of our song Autumn’s Haze.
Fleetwood Mac - Never going back again
Similarly to Madison, Lindsey Buckingham has been a huge inspiration to us when it comes to creating guitar parts for a song. Never Going Back Again was probably one of the first songs that taught us how impactful a song can be with just vocals and a guitar, something that definitely inspired the production choices for our song ‘Autumn’s Dying Light.’
Kate Bush - Wuthering Weights
Kates dream-like and ethereal songwriting is hauntingly beautiful, something we tried to capture in tracks such as Autumn’s Amphora Wine and Autumn’s Sweet Bay. We will forever try to aspire to capture emotion and performance in a song like Kate Bush does, she is a gold standard that we will consistently strive towards as artists.
Neil Young - Harvest Moon
Harvest Moon was a big inspiration for our song Autumn’s Haze. We were inspired by the catchy and beautiful guitar riff throughout Harvest Moon and the light percussion that adds a swing type beat to the track.
Beverly Glenn-Copeland - Colour of Anyhow
This song feels otherworldly. We can only hope that the feeling we get listening to this song can be felt by some people listening to our EP. The beauty in how it builds with unexpected little note changes is so perfect and its a song we always listen to when we need to feel inspired.
Iron & Wine - Naked as We Came
This stunning track deals with a theme that’s lyrically quite dark but handles it with such care and
beauty, something we really respect and kept in mind when writing our song Autumn’s Dying
Light.
Dolly Parton - Little Sparrow
Many songs of Dolly’s have inspired us through the years from her guitar playing to her beautifully
written melodies, but the harmonies in this song in particular really stood out to us. This track is a
good reminder that sometimes less is more when it comes to production and to let lyrics and
vocals shine through.