Róisín McCarney
Photo provided by Róisín McCarney
18th August 2023
Róisín McCarney, a 27-year-old singer from Glasgow is back with her new country inspired track, ‘Dancing with the Devil.’
This comes after the the success of her previous single ‘Sidelines’ which reached Track of the Week on BBC Radio Scotland.
Originally, ‘Dancing with the Devil’ was destined to be a sad song, capitulating the low feelings after weekend parties. However, it soon transformed to connect with Róisín’s headspace: “I wrote it a couple months ago and when I came back to it, my full reality had changed.”
After talking to her producer, Sean about how she wanted the track to feel, it no longer suited the emotional tone: “I no longer am sad, and love to party. So I ended up taking the OG chorus turning it into my first verse about how I was spiralling partying and now I just love it and accept that it’s a part of me.”
Photo provided by Róisín McCarney
Compared to her other tracks which have centred around breakups, ‘Dancing with the Devil’ takes a contrasting turn: “This is one just for your own self love for the little devil you have inside that’s fun to get out, time to time.”
Róisín delved into the world of music from a very young age: “Like Ken does beach. I started dancing at 2, I don’t remember ever not singing while being young. Santa always brought fake microphones, karaoke machines, I’ve always liked the attention.”
However, after working as a sound engineer for 5 years, she felt it was time to say goodbye to her backstage role and begin pursuing her career as a dedicated singer and songwriter, or as Róisín expresses, a ‘popstar!’
Growing up, Róisín listened to strong female pop musicians such as Avril Lavigne, Anastasia, P!nk and Paramore as well as gives special mention to 70s icon, Stevie Nicks. Each artist has inspired Róisín to shape her pop rock sound but cites she does not want to be limited when it comes to exploring musical styles: “I know myself, I listen to all different genres and it really depends where the song takes me.”
“Like Ken does beach. I started dancing at 2, I don’t remember ever not singing while being young."
When writing music for other artists, there is more structure to Róisín’s creative process. However with her own, everything is inspired by her emotions which can be challenging: “I actually find it more diffuse writing for myself because it’s trying to put your exact emotions into words which can be hard, or even emotionally tiring.”
To get ideas flowing, Róisín focuses on the first line of the song which progresses onto the hook before working on the melodies: “Most of my ideas come when I’m in the car or out a run/walk alone with my thoughts. A quick voice note is recorded then home to piano to get a basic structure.”
Róisín’s songwriting has allowed her to play at numerous venues across Scotland including her headline show at the Hug n Pint: “It was almost a sell out… it was almost like reading my diary aloud to a room full of people. It was the first time I had shown people a lot of my new material and where my music was going.”
Photo provided by Róisín McCarney
With such a positive response, it became Róisín’s most memorable gigs to date: “It really set me up for a fabulous year even if I did almost cry a couple of times on stage, but it’s the emotion in the break up songs.”
What else was sure to be a memorable gig was her main stage spot at Butefest last month. Ahead of the big date, Róisín said she had been feeling incredibly excited and nervous but ensured adrenaline would always pull her through. Her next gig will be taking place this weekend at the Best of the Boof Fest in Cumbria.
As for new music, the next single will follow on from Róisín’s ‘bad girl’ image, sparked by 'Dancing with the Devil.’ We hope to hear it soon!