Eleanor McEvoy – Naked Music album and exhibition

Naked Music

Released on Friday, 5th February 2016, Naked Music is the title of Irish star Eleanor McEvoy’s new album, recorded alone in the studio to create an intimate collection of her music at its most raw – one instrument, one voice, performed live.

Best known for her songs Sophie and the Irish standard ‘Only A Woman’s Heart’, Eleanor’s new album features exclusive artwork by the famed painter Chris Gollon. The album will be first heard at the sold-out opening of Chris’s Exhibition in Gallery Different in London on the 28th January, 2016.

The seeds for Eleanor and Chris’ artist collaboration were sown after Eleanor bought Chris’ painting ‘Champagne Sheila’ after spotting it in a London gallery. Before leaving, Eleanor left some of her music for Chris and his agent to listen to.

Cut to Norwich in February 2015 and Chris Gollon’s national touring exhibition “Incarnation, Mary and Women from the Bible” in the beautiful Norman Cathedral has just opened with the artist in attendance. Eleanor visits the exhibition, lunches with Chris and David and squeezes them both into her sold-out ‘Alone’ club show at the city’s The Bicycle Shop venue. The outcome: heaps of chat, mutual respect and admiration and a wish to find some way of working together.

Eleanor was, at the time, finishing some recording where she was “studio-performing”, playing hers and others’ songs as she might at her solo shows. The recordings have a very exposed intimacy, so it seemed a possibility that Chris should be asked to do a painting for the cover in this solitary context.

As a body of work, Eleanor’s recordings acquired the name Naked Music, which would give a better focus to the two artists’ desire for mutual expression. Being offered this title, and with some song suggestions, Chris was so taken with the songs he completed four paintings in response –  two on the ‘Naked’ theme, and two others related to song titles and lyrics. The first ‘Dreaming of Leaving’ was written by Eleanor and Lloyd Cole. The other ‘Lubbock Woman’, a downtrodden cameo, is a song by West Texan legend Terry Allen. The paintings were such a hit, that all four talked their way into the Naked Music CD artwork.

The images, the CD artwork, sat in pride of place in the Metropolis Studio and exerted some influence on the mastering and final track order.

Now there is going to be a full Chris Gollon exhibition on the theme of  Naked Music, with his latest series of paintings inspired by all the new album tracks by Eleanor McEvoy, some co-written with Dave Rotheray (from The Beautiful South), Lloyd Cole and Nat Johnson. Visitors can come and experience the new Eleanor McEvoy album and the new Chris Gollon imagery side-by-side.

The exhibition at Gallery Different (in association with IAP Fine Art) will run for three weeks from 25th January, 2016. Having performed at the opening, Eleanor will be touring England and Wales.

Artist’s website: http://www.eleanormcevoy.com/