West Cork singer Polly Barrett set to release new single 'Sparrow' 

WEST Cork songwriter, Polly Barrett, renowned for her ethereal and meditative music, is set to release her first single of 2024, Sparrow, on February 23rd.

It is the fourth single from her critically acclaimed album Sapling Be, which displays Polly's love for traditional Irish music.

Recorded in her home in Schull, her third album, Sapling Be, is fully dedicated to her son, Arthur, who came up with the name as he strummed on a guitar as a toddler.

Commenting on the upcoming release, Polly said: “The song is like a wish for my son that he grows strong and tall like a great oak tree, with his roots firmly in the ground. That he never forgets his connection to nature.

Sparrow will speak to those who have felt meaning in those small encounters with nature. To the buried wild spirit inside the modern human who yearns to reconnect with the wilderness."

The single features a range of musical instruments played by Polly, including mandolin, cello, and tongue drum with a soft bodhrán backing. Saturated in Polly’s new home life, Sparrow is centred around her struggle with writer’s block and the unknown path of motherhood.

Polly is a well-known name on the Irish folk scene, with two prior successful studio albums, and her single, Thinking About You, previously chosen for a Discover Ireland Campaign for West Cork.

Recent singles Huge Mistake and Sapling Be both released in 2023, saw Polly earn support from a range of Irish radio broadcasters featuring on RTÉ Radio 1, Today FM/98FM, Lyric FM, Dublin City FM and Newstalk.

The Sapling Be single was mixed by Grammy-nominated producer Chris O'Brien and mastered by Richard Dowling at WAV Mastering, Limerick.

In 2022, Polly performed at Folk Alliance in Kansas City, as well as a performance at Milwaukee Irish Fest in Wisconsin alongside the Coronas, and Wallis Bird.