Death? Grab it by the bollocks
RÓIS — born Rose Connolly in Northern Ireland’s Fermanagh — performs dressed in black with her head covered. Barely visible as a person, but all the more present as a voice. With that voice, she breathes new life into an ancient tradition: caoineadh (‘keening’), lamentations sung by women at wakes in pre-Christian Ireland. Her enchanting singing has been compared to Björk, Meredith Monk, and Hatis Noit.
Okay, a woman in black singing about death — doesn’t sound like a party at first. But appearances are deceiving: RÓIS (pronounced raswh) turns heavy themes like death, life, and mourning into a surprisingly cleansing experience. With synthesizers, beats, and drones, she brings this old Irish custom fully into the present. Moreover, she makes mourning something you go through together during her shows, rather than something you struggle with alone.
For those who get uneasy with heaviness and ethereality: RÓIS once beautifully described her work in Irish as “to grab both life and death by the bollocks.” Death? We tackle it head-on, preferably through the most beautiful things we have: art, culture, and each other.