Glasgow-born twenty-two-year-old Maeve O’Boyle chalks up much her her musical influences to her dad, introducing her as a young teenager to albums from the likes of Sheryl Crow, Tom Waits, Patti Smith, Bruce Springsteen, Rosie Thomas and Martha Wainwright. Those voices, an acoustic guitar at 13, a demo funded by her art teacher and some open mic gigging when she was just 16 got O’Boyle local notice and a pair of “rising star” national awards. She began writing with fellow Scotsman Ricky Ross (of Deacon Blue), Gordon Goudie and Teenage Fanclub’s Francis MacDonald and two years ago entered the studio with producer/instrumentalist Calum Malcolm — best known for his magnificent recordings of the legendary Scottish band The Blue Nile.
Emanating from those sessions is All My Sins, O’Boyle’s excellent folk/pop debut solo album released last fall by LINN Records, an offshoot of the high-end, hand-made Scottish audio equipment company (and home of The Blue Nile). True to her influences, Sins is a sumptuous combination of masterful songwriting, gorgeous sound and O’Boyle’s rich, head-turningly-great vocals. “There’s not a weak track in the bunch here, but we’re particularly fond of “Swimming Upstream”, an irresistible melodic gem reminiscent of KT Tunstall’s best work, and “Facing Home”, a simmering Blue-Nile-ish number with a pulsing bass line and O’Boyle’s lovely voice sharing the spotlight.”