Having just graduated from the British and Irish Modern Music Institute (BIMM) with a degree in songwriting, Dubliner Aoife has spent the summer honing her craft.
Capsule, the title track off her upcoming EP, is an expression of both anger and strength which highlights some of the issues that victims of sexual violence are forced to face in today’s society.
Aoife says that she wrote the song with the intention of highlighting how sexual violence stays with the victim and is near-impossible to bury. She also expresses anger for the way she thinks victims can be portrayed when they speak publicly about what they’ve been through.
Taking influence from a range of genres, Aoife Carton has developed her sound since she started writing songs at the age of fifteen. A writer before a songwriter, lyrics are at the heart of her music with themes ranging from love to depression too – in true country style – heartbreak. She cites country-era Taylor Swift and Una Healy’s latest sound as major influences.
Aoife took a big step towards her music career in 2017 when she booked a solo flight to Nashville, Tennessee on her 21st birthday, determined to play at the famous Open Mic Night at the Bluebird Cafe – which she did. The following summer she returned to the States, this time to New York, where she played at the Rockwood Music Hall, opened for Mick Flannery at a private gig in New Jersey and gigged open mic nights every chance she got.
Recently, Aoife performed the late Mic Cristopher’s song Heyday on The Ray D’Arcy Show on RTÉ One television with a range of well-known Irish artists, for Aidlink for Turkana. “The fact that we were singing Mic’s songs made it really special,” says Aoife, as Mic was her second cousin and a major inspiration in her decision to become a musician.
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