In 2019 my life fell apart. My sweet dear Mum Bridie, passed away after 5 years of illness. Her brightness left the world and I was left in darkness. They say “life goes on” but I thought, “how does it — go on?” My world had changed irreparably and my dreams and hopes seemed futile and pointless in comparison to the loss I felt.   

I remember being in the midst of shock and grief when Julián, my husband, encouraged me to take a trip – to relax, and take my mind off things. So, quite randomly, and I don’t remember why, I flew to Colombia for a month and ended up learning Spanish in Cartagena, a beautiful city on the Caribbean coast. It was during this time I reflected upon life and took stock. 

I started singing at the age of 8. I was on a scholarship for voice with the Leinster School of Music in Dublin until I was 16. Then I started playing guitar and writing my first songs. However, even though I was immersed in music, I kept my musical side to myself. I started a career in design and music was relegated to a pastime.

The loss of my Mum, the finality and its ramifications randomly propelled me back to my music. As “The Smiths” song goes “shyness is nice but it can stop you from doing all the things you want to.” I finally decided to release my music to the world. I had written and home recorded 2 full albums of material over the years – but both “Life Begins” and “Survival” remained on my shelf, like unpublished relics, hidden from the world. In my mind they were Acts 1 and 2 of a trilogy and I was compiling a 3rd album – which was going to be the finale!

As I sat in my rented apartment doing my Spanish homework, making pancakes and thinking about filling the void I decided to work on releasing my 1st song! On a whim I reached out to a local Colombian producer called IFO. We recorded *That’s Why I Love You.* a song with a happy message of love. I had realised that life is tough so I wanted to contribute something positive to the world. If I was to share my music – it should be honest and heartfelt. 

So I continued working with IFO, remotely from Ireland, working on many songs together. I learned the craft of recording music, working with many talented people (through a global pandemic). I began to believe in myself as an artist, to share vulnerability and trust in others to help me actualise my vision.

My songs have been mixed and mastered by Charles Connolly in the UK and Thomas Juth in Sweden. In 2022 I moved to Puerto Vallarta in México and met Carllos Charlie Santana – who was a godsend. Together we worked over the course of a year finalising the album – he understood my “Tropical Indie” sound and elevated it, adding delicious refinements and we even created vignettes that capture the spirit of Latin American life.

So my soul searching turned out to be the beginning of an album and a 5 year journey transpired – which resulted in a collection of 14 songs and vignettes which I call *Blue Skies.* This album is an antidote to melancholy, a tonic for the lost and lonely, a movement towards self belief, and a thank you to all that have helped me along the way (and there have been many).

Overall the album brings a message of hope and love and the optimistic side of life that Bridie instilled in me – and to whom I dedicate this album. Gracias de corazón a Julián – who has been my unofficial manager: listening to countless demos, guiding me on which songs to select for release and enduring hours of me focusing on living my dream.

This journey has helped me overcome my darkest times and my deepest fears, using my intuition over my reason – to find a place of tropical healing. I hope you get some of this value from the album too. Ultimately we must not stagnate, we must move forward with our best memories and for sure blue skies will come again.

Un cordial saludo. Séa Byrne. Guadalajara, México. 03 December 2024

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