Shane warms the heart with his new song ‘Molly’s Lullaby’

‘Molly’s Lullaby’, the third single from Shane’s forthcoming album is a simple and beautiful ode to family close to his heart and that sentiment comes through in the song.​

“It's very personal,” Shane told the Newry Reporter when we met for a chat. "Molly is my niece. She's a twin, Tom and Molly and they're both non verbal. They've just turned five. I wanted to write a song about them but I'm not really one to sit down and try to formulate a song, I'd rather that it come natural. It was sort of in my head for a while and then I woke up one morning and the whole lullaby was in my head. I always sleep with a pad and a pen beside my bed because sometimes I wake up and a lyric or something is in my head so I write it down so I won't forget in the morning. I wrote Molly's Lullaby really quickly once I had that lullaby formed."

The first single off Shane's album, which he hopes to release around Easter is called , ''I Wish Loving You Was Easier Tonight'. That came out last year, followed by 'What Will I Do'.

“'Molly's Lullaby' is the third single off the album, so I haven't really done as much promo as the first two, but it's doing better than the first two combined and I don't know if it's the sentiment or it's the time of year, but something resonates with people. I suppose everybody understands a lullaby, it's universal and everyone can put their own interpretation on it.”

And how does Molly feel about it.

“She's been sung to a lot,” said Shane with a laugh. “She loves it. If she gets a bit agitated or upset I'll sing it to her and it seems to calm her down. It feels familiar to her at this stage I think.”

In terms of getting music out there and heard, the music industry has changed drastically since the days of producing an album and selling it in record shops.

“You can download a song now anywhere in the world on any platform from Spotify to iTunes, Amazon music etc. I am going to put a vinyl record out too. It's nice and vinyl has had a renaissance of sorts, It's a novelty really, not for monetary reasons. I just want to write and put it out there and it's kind of my vehicle for my performing life which is my first love anyway. Being on stage, that's what it's all about for me.

“Before Covid I was flat out, doing voiceover work, gigs and I was working with the Three Tenors as well as acting and panto - basically whatever I could fit into my schedule.”

Shane had moved from London back to Ireland where he was getting more work and was home in Rostrevor to say goodbye before going to America to take to the stage in the musical 'The Choir of Man' . Then came lockdown and of course that was that and he was stuck in Rostrevor,

“But I love being here. It was beyond my control and while you can only look at things in hindsight, I really think it was the best thing for me in many ways. I had just come out of a relationship and I was going straight off to do a tour, which of course was a distraction, but being at home gave me time to think about it and just get over it really. And being in Rostrevor I was able to walk everywhere and get out and about during lockdown so it was good physically and mentally.”