Since arriving in Australia from Ireland in 2010, Áine Tyrrell has become a popular presence at Australian festivals and venues. She is proudly bold, outspoken and her songs have been described as “anthems for humanity”.
In February 2019, Áine released Return to the Sea; her third studio release. Throughout the album, there is a clear narrative that explores Aine’s Irish heritage, her experiences in Australia and the history of Australia’s indigenous community, with whom she has come to strongly identify.
One track from the album, In This House was added to Australian schools curriculum and led her to being invited to schools across the country to talk about songwriting as a vehicle for discussions around colonisation and Indigenous Australian culture.
A few weeks ago, Áine released a mainly spoken word track titled We Call You Now featuring celebrated indigenous singer, Emily Wurramara.
It’s a raw, straightforward and powerful appeal to Irish-Australians to recognise and reconsider the role colonisation has played in both Irish and Indigenous histories.
Since its release, the video has been viewed and shared by thousands of people online, however, among the positive feedback has come a predictable backlash. In the comments on her Facebook page, Áine has been called a moronic idiot, patronising, self-indulgent, narcissistic, irrelevant, aggressive, venomous, a black supremacist, guilt blaming, told to go back home, she’s a load of crap and an antifascist.
Some of her rusted-on followers have withdrawn their support citing this latest work as having gone one step too far.
In this interview, Áine talks about the online trolling she’s been exposed to, and what brought her to release the song in the first place. It also explores notions of Irish and Australian identity and narratives surrounding colonialism, racism, and Indigenous identity in Australia.
It’s also a conversation that has made me re-consider the underlying assumptions of some of the questions and comments I myself made during the interview. Surely a sign of a good conversation. – Ruth
You can watch We Call You Now HERE:
YOU CAN SUPPORT ÁINE VIA HER WEBSITE & PATREON PAGE and follow her on social media at these links:
Featured Blog Image by Donatella Parisini
A Hidden Culture 
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