By Sean O' Driscoll

Galway singer/songwriter Julie Feeney is hoping to tour the U.S. next year after receiving a powerful review in The New York Times, which described her debut album, 13 Songs, as “a charming, urbane and dreamy record.”

Feeney has also received strong backing from the Irish media for an album that has some comparing her to Joni Mitchell. Music magazine Hot Press said that Feeney “announces herself as the most intriguing female voice...to come out of Ireland since Sinead O’Connor...for sheer originality, courage and raw talent, Feeney deserves to soar above and beyond even the merely excellent.”

The Irish Times says that her album “represents a new eclecticism...lyrically sage, musically taut, 13 Songs is a wonderful, wistful collection.”

This album of haunting tracks has become a surprise media favourite in the U.S. and looks set to be one of the biggest hits in years for the Irish label Claddagh Records. Feeney, who has beauty to capture attention as well as very acute songwriting skills, graduated from Trinity College in Dublin in 2002 with a master’s and began working as a professional choral singer and composer, recording for shows in Ireland, the U.K. and the U.S.

She also composed the music for Nun, a short film shown at the Venice Film Festival. She was last seen in New York performing at the Bitter End in Greenwich Village in July, before returning to Dublin to do a bit of trad crossover by supporting John Spillane and Tir na nOg at the Purty Kitchen. She is not too intimidated by the U.S. market, she says, and hopes to tour New York in the near future. “The New York Times review was amazing,” she says. “I’ll be back soon. I can’t believe the last few months. I’m just trying to get ready to record again and move on.”