Sinéad O'Connor
Theology

Sinéad O'Connor's artistic journey has always been characterized by unexpected, totally anti-commercial choices, improbable and inexplicable stylistic changes that went hand in hand with the instability of her controversial persona.

So after two albums of Irish and Jamaican covers and traditional songs (and following various announcements of retirement from the scene), here she is back with a double album of original songs (plus a handful of covers) entitled Theology; however, in reality, the actual album is just one, as the two discs present the same songs. The first disc is subtitled Dublin Sessions, presented almost in demo form, just voice and acoustic guitar, while the second, London Sessions, features complete and more electric arrangements. Below is the description of London Sessions, probably more suitable for grasping the differences between the various pieces.
Her last album of original songs, Faith And Courage, dates back to 2000 and like that album (and the subsequent cover albums), this Theology also incorporates reggae sounds and melodic lines (as in the pleasant 33) that are accompanied by the hip-hop rhythms with which O'Connor has always flirted (the dark and fascinating Watcher Of Men and Whomsoever Dwells enriched with strings, descending from that Famine included in the beautiful and underrated Universal Mother of 1994); stylistically, a particular cover of We People Who Were Darker Than Blue by Curtis Mayfield also aligns with these.

However, while Faith And Courage was an almost pandering album that desperately (and unsuccessfully) sought that radio hit to relaunch her (it was produced by Dave Stewart, Wyclef Jean, Brian Eno, and Sly And Robbie), this time she preferred to dedicate herself to more introverted and intimate melodies that undeniably require multiple listens to be grasped... even her voice, always beautiful, has long since renounced those famous "broken" and angry high notes in favor of a more whispered and trembling singing style that still manages to move in pieces like the initial ballad Something Beautiful, the delicate Dark I Am yet Lovely, and in an almost radio-friendly cover of I Don't Know How To Love Him (from Jesus Christ Superstar). When she dives into a couple of semi-acoustic up-tempo ballads (The Glory Of Jah and Out Of The Depths), it truly feels like hearing the more folk O'Connor of the good old days.

The acoustic album, Dublin Sessions, is obviously much more homogeneous and slow, in which the more rhythmic pieces come out transformed but no less beautiful (with perhaps the exception of the Mayfield cover which loses something)... another perspective of the same songs that highlights O'Connor's interpretative abilities and especially the beautiful and profound lyrics inspired by the Old Testament and the figure of God mystified (according to the author) by various religious interpretations.

Ultimately, I find this Theology to be a beautiful, inspired, and profound album, delicate but also not very flashy and thus not recommended for those who are looking for (if there still are any) a new Nothing Compares 2U or another Mandinka; an album that perfectly represents her musical (and spiritual) journey of the last 12 years.