Society of Sound 78: Cara Dillon

Having won the All Ireland Traditional Singing Trophy aged only 14 she has earned astonishing critical acclaim and been showered with countless awards and accolades. In keeping with her traditional heritage Cara has herself become a well from which a plethora of contemporary artists draw upon. The likes of Ed Sheeran, Ellie Goulding, Above and Beyond, Sam Smith, Mike Oldfield and Timothy B Schmit (The Eagles) are all fans and Cara’s voice has graced the soundtracks of Hollywood and Disney movies, Trance hits and numerous TV shows. Her long time musical collaborator (and husband), Sam Lakeman, have worked together since the mid nineties when they were signed to a major label at only 19 years old.

Sam has arranged, composed, engineered and produced all of Cara’s albums and recorded work to date and it’s their deep, shared knowledge of folk music and their ability to reach inside the soul of a song that imbues the material with not only profound sweetness but also great poignancy and depth. Equally at home singing ancient traditional ballads or contemporary songs, Cara and Sam prove that with unfaltering attention to quality and with bags of empathy they can tackle almost anything with success.

A great deal of time was spent trying different combinations and positions of microphones to achieve the best possible blend without having to constantly reach for the EQ or something else. It has to be said, we were thrilled with the results, there was energy and dynamics like a live performance but also great detail and a punch that can only be got from great studio recordings. The album was mixed by Mike ‘Spike’ Drake who has a truly A list pedigree, and it was mastered by the wonderful Dick Beetham at 360 Mastering. We had both 16bit/44.1 and 24bit/96 masters done with each being approached from a differing objective. To me there’s no comparison, the Hi-Res masters were given far more room to breath, have much greater detail and the dynamic is far greater.”

Musicians

Sam Lakeman, Ed Boyd, Niall Murphy, Luke Daniels, James Fagan, Jarlath Henderson, Aoife O’Donovan, Eamon Murray, Timothy B Schmit, John Smith, Joe Francis, Martin Smith, Ben Nicholls, Andy Tween.