Eve O'Riordan: Future Icon On The Rise!

Following her fundraiser for war child UK, Eve O'Riordan was invited to play as a semi-finalist in the HotVox's future icons competition, held on the 11th of September in Manchester's The Deaf Institute. With an alt folk sound, Eve and her acoustic guitar brought the room on a journey through self discovery, grief, heartbreak and love through her vocals and lyrics.

Despite the short set O'Riordan held the room as she tuned her guitar between songs, sharing with us the deeper meanings hidden amongst the music. She opened up about her song 'Swings and Roundabouts' a song written in memory of losing someone close to her heart and rebuilding in the aftermath. Heart on her sleeve, O'Riordan's lyrics hold you tight...

Breathe in cold air
sigh out a laugh
leaves turning orange
and a line going flat
chasm in a rib cage
small things feel big
I don’t know how to keep living
like this

A flash in the pan
a blip on a timeline
is what they all say
but I’m right here in real time
knowing resilience like an old lover
only remembering her
never having her

swings and roundabouts
I can’t see clearly
can’t make sense
of a world gone mad
not enough is all that I’m giving
not enough is all that I have

Raw emotion and masterful lyricism, a deadly combo which O'Riordan clearly has on her side. Her future Icons set showcased her other unreleased work 'The jealous Type', 'Crocuses' and fan favourite 'The Rest'. Demo versions of these songs can be found leaked on Eve's Instagram and TikTok reels, all which I recommend you find and listen to!

Following her performance of this piece set, most audience members were left teary eyed yet smiling, I found that Eve's charm, talent and openness as both an artist and a person draws people in. To quote the artist bio on the Hotbox artist introductory...

Eve O’Riordan is a 22-year-old alternative folk artist who uses poignant lyrics and soaring vocals to respectively rip your heart out and make you eat it. You can find her browsing her old diaries for lyric ideas and playing with a packet of antidepressants, or taking the stage with her band, The Night Owls, inviting the audience to scream at the world, dance to the sadness, and smile at the little things.

and rip our hearts out she did! Winning the public vote that night, O'Riordan will be joining her peer Lula Gold in London along with other finalists to compete for a fantastic package designed to aid independent artists further their career worth over £5,000. The winner receives £1,000 in cash, an industry-leading artist development package courtesy of Blinding Talent, and professional studio recording time at Darkwood Studios from Headliner. The way the competition is set up, it also benefits artists by having them play together, allowing them to make connections with one another and showcasing different artists to already established fan groups.

Currently you can listen to O'Riordan's tracks 'Crying Wolf', 'Mascara' and my personal favourite of her recorded music so far 'Inhaler'.

Next week I'll be sitting down with O'Riordan in an interview where we talk about all things from her experiences so far to her favourite snack while writing lyrics! Keep an eye out as we answer the question...