Julianne Quirke is a West Cork-based singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and cellist making richly layered indie folk-pop. Her songwriting sits with the moments when certainty breaks down, the space between wanting and having, between independence and intimacy. Quirke’s music has sonic touchpoints of Feist, Laura Marling and Billie Marten as she weaves between acoustic closeness and expansive cinematic arrangements.
Quirke previously released music as Julia-Maria before returning to her own name, a decision, she says, that came from the work itself: “In creating work that is, at its core, honest and vulnerable, it didn’t make sense to be using an artist name anymore. Julia-Maria represented an important time of self-discovery, but I know who I am now.” Her last release as Julia-Maria, an EP titled The Skin I’m In, earned support from Irish press and radio for its lyrical depth and emotional candour.
She is currently preparing her debut album under her own name, written after her return to the West Cork coast. Recorded with a focus on live feel, the record holds onto breath and imperfection rather than polishing them out, and moves through transition, grief, friendship and belonging with the same emotional precision that’s defined her work to date.