In early January, a bunch of Eoin French’s talented music collaborators, family and companions came together to perform a song on the Tommy Tiernan Show in tribute to the Cork artist who passed away in August last year.
The official studio recording of the song ‘We Didn’t Know We Were Ready’ is officially out today, after it’s performance on TV received 1.5 million views on Instagram since.
The song was originally created at Cork festival Sounds from a Safe Harbour when Eoin French of Talos, Icelandic composer and producer Ólafur Arnalds wrote it with Niamh Regan and Ye Vagabonds in 2023, and subsequently performed the song at the River Lee Hotel.
The song starts with French’s poignant vocals, and features contributions from his friends, family and collaborators: Sandrayati, The Staves, JFDR, Memorial, Christof van der Ven, Laoise Leahy, Niamh Regan, Ye Vagabonds, Myles O’ Reilly, Ross Dowling, Eoin’s wife Steph French and Icelandic orchestra, SinfoniaNord.
It was recently recorded in Dublin in Windmill Lane Studios on the morning of the RTE performance, as told to Eoghan O’Sullivan by festival director Mary Hickson in the Examiner.
“It was the first time we were all together since Eoin passed. So there was a lot of trepidation when we stepped into the room to begin with, and we began straight into the work. I remember standing behind everyone going, ‘We need to do something before we sing,’ and it all obviously just fell apart. I called everyone together and we had a group hug, and took a minute and acknowledged what we were in the room for. So it was really important to just stop for a second and take a breath, because it’s really heavy emotionally for everybody. And it was easier — not to say that it was easy — but it was easier then to move into the work.”
Mary Hickson
The song was also performed at rench’s funeral in Connolly’s of Leap last August.
Listen here:
“This song was always an expression of community and creativity. But with Eoin’s untimely passing, it has now taken on meanings we could never have imagined back when we wrote it,” said Arnalds. “Barely a day goes by where I don’t think about how fortunate we are to have this platform to channel our grief into.”
Full artwork by Eoin himself and credits on the track below.
Sound recording credits: “We Didn’t Know We Were Ready”
by Ólafur Arnalds, Talos feat. Niamh Regan & Ye Vagabonds
Choir features: Sandrayati, The Staves, JFDR, Memorial, Christof van der Ven, Laoise Leahy, Niamh Regan, Ye Vagabonds, Steph French
Orchestra: Sinfonia Nord
Piano: Ólafur Arnalds Synth: Myles O’Reilly, Ólafur Arnalds
Mixed by: Ross Dowling
Mastered by: Zino Mikorey
Executive Producer: Mary Hickson An OPIA Community and Mercury KX release
