Returning Weather is the latest work from Dublin-born multi-award-winning vocalist and songwriter Christine Tobin. Celebrated for her versatility and nonconformist musical spirit, Returning Weather imaginatively weaves song, spoken word, visual effects and a stellar group of musicians from diverse disciplines together, creating a multi-dimensional sound world which blends influences from folk, 20th-century art song and jazz.
This album charts a journey that is part homecoming, part memoir. Inspired by Christine’s return to Ireland after many years abroad, it explores themes of finding home, dwelling and landscape, reconnecting with a cultural background, and reshaping a sense of identity and belonging.
The songs are set in the countryside around Frenchpark, Boyle, and Ballaghadereen. There are many songs of leaving and farewell. This is the music of homecoming and return.
She was commissioned to write this evocative new song cycle by The Dock Arts Centre, with an Arts Council, Music Commissions Award.
“It's a tribute to the quality of Tobin's writing that there are no weak spots in this excellent collection….. There’s a thrilling, dark timbre to Tobin’s voice that moves you like no other…a 24-carat voice”. The Guardian
“What sets her apart is her intensity and the sheer beauty of her voice, a deep soulful thing that she seems to summon from somewhere deep inside…”. Time Out Magazine
“Tobin has followed a studiously personal path as a singer and songwriter that has won her the kind of accolades bestowed on only a few. This rare and thoroughly personal artist is, a one-off.” The Irish Times
“A masterclass in songcraft.” BBC Music Magazine
“The Voice is a killer”. fRoots Magazine
