Hilary Woods spent the first part of her life as a musician as the bassist of the Irish post-Britpop band JJ72, which in the early noughties aimed to top the tearful drama of Starsailor and Keane. The quick end after two albums was in sight. As a solo artist, Woods then focused on music that no longer had anything to do with the old band.
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COLT, their 2018 debut, defined a form of dream pop in limbo. The records that followed refined the approach, most recently twice without vocals. On NIGHT CRIÚ (the Gaelic “criú” is the linguistic origin of the word “crew”), the Irishwoman now brings together all the insights she has gained – and exceeds all expectations. A variety of faded, dreamy night music from the indie bubbles is released every week.
If you don’t want to drown in this wave, you need ideas. Hilary Woods has lots and lots of them. In “Voce”, slow beats and strings create spooky trip-hop vibes, in “Faults” a wind ensemble plays solemnly, “Brightly” offers space for a virtuoso cello, and in the last track “Shelter” strings play at the end as if they were setting a Hollywood drama from the fifties to music. The remarkable thing is that all of these elements fit naturally into Wood’s compositions, with her reverb-soaked voice as the unifying element.
This review first appeared in Musikexpress 12/2025.