text: cathy davey catherine " cathy " davey ( born 1979 ) is an irish singer - songwriter . she has released one extended play , " come over " ( 2004 ) , and three albums , something ilk ( 2004 ) , tales of silversleeve ( 2007 ) and the nameless ( 2010 ) . her second album garnered her a choice music prize nomination , meteor award for best irish female , and spawned a number of successful singles including " reuben " , " moving " and " sing for your supper " . the nameless was the top selling album in ireland upon the week of its release . it was also nominated for the choice music prize . davey has performed at several international events , including representing ireland at the eurosonic festival in groningen , the netherlands , and performing at the south by southwest festival in austin , texas . she has also performed at other large exhibitions and festivals in ireland , including electric picnic , indie - pendence and the music show . davey has worked with autamata , elbow and the duckworth lewis method as well as providing support for graham coxon , r.e.m. and supergrass . the irish times placed davey third in a list of " the 50 best irish acts right now " published in april 2009 , saying " there 's no better female songwriter in irish music right now " . tales of silversleeve was named sixth best irish album of 2007 by john meagher of the irish independent and ninth best album of the decade by jim carroll , tony clayton - lea and lauren murphy of the irish times . background davey was born in dublin , daughter of composer shaun davey and sculptor agnes conway . at the age of ten she moved with her mother to wiltshire , where they lived for several years . on their return to dublin they settled in where davey spent the rest of her teenage years . the first live performance davey attended was an emotional fish with the stunning on st stephen 's green . she initially intended to be an artist and to develop her interest in music in her leisure time but the offer of a record deal changed that . she is an animal lover . style davey has been referred to as " ireland 's björk " . the comparison caused the irish independent 's ed power to comment in one 2009 review : " alas , such comparisons are probably inevitable when your favourite mode of communication is an ethereal yelp and your songs are populated with a - of , outsiders and freaks " . his colleague john meagher opined , " you won 't see björk heft a guitar half so diligently " . hot press compared the music on something ilk to the works of pj harvey and nina hynes . the magazine 's reviewer also compared her to joni mitchell after one 2007 show in cork . davey 's second album , tales of silversleeve , based its sound on the rhythm of the drums . notable fans of davey 's music include broadcaster ní . her records have achieved platinum sales . davey was initially uncomfortable with being described as a singer - songwriter but is now more accepting of the term . she describes her songwriting style : i write in short quick spurts of manic creativity , which are followed by spells of borderline writer 's block where the writing comes really painfully and laboriously . i ’ m sure it 's a universal experience for anyone who writes , but it 's difficult to get out of , you can 't just wish it away — it just disappears when it 's had enough . it ’ s completely independent of whether i ’ m happy or blue , up or down . it tends to lift as soon as i stop fixating on it — i remember thinking my house was the problem , and i 'd need to go to france in order to write , and i would have been scared without rex [ her dog ] . i got through it . you can 't chase the muse , or you 'll scare it away . career cathy davey first came to be known as a backing vocalist alongside carol keogh for ken mchugh 's project autamata . mchugh and davey subsequently collaborated on what hot press described as " a mixture of otherworldly indie and soft space age melodica " . davey signed to emi / parlophone in 2003 in a deal which hot press later described as having " eclipsed even the high - profile signing of the thrills " . her rise had been low - profile ; she did not perform live until she had signed her record deal . her four - track debut ep , " come over " , released in 2004 , and in which she " swoops and yelps her way through proceedings with her distinctive voice " , was described by the magazine as " inviting comparisons with others before deciding that she 'd rather be completely unique if it 's all the same with you " . davey 's debut album , something ilk , was recorded at a studio in wales , produced by ben hillier whose previous credits included blur and elbow , and released in 2004 . rté reviewer harry guerin said it was " high on presence and very low on filler " and gave it three out of five stars . hot press remarked , " not only is her voice elfin , immediate and distinct the songs are also hugely compelling . they are digestible without being lightweight , austere in places without seeming detached " . the irish independent 's paul byrne described it as " one of the best irish albums of 2004 " . davey performed a nationwide tour in september 2004 . she also supported graham coxon and supergrass during tours they undertook that year . the singer later dismissed something ilk , saying " i think the record company [ emi 's regal recordings ] thought i was an indie rock chick when they signed me and that album is very much other people 's idea of what i should sound like . [ ... ] i didn 't have the confidence to say no to some of the things [ ben hillier ] suggested " . davey claimed not to " know my arse from my elbow when i signed for them " and did not like performing those songs in a live arena . despite this , the irish independent described her as " very talented — far more so than [ gemma ] hayes " but regretted that she had " failed to find an audience for her fine debut something ilk " . davey performed a nationwide tour in late may 2007 , debuting songs from her follow - up album which she initially referred to as silversleeve . all but two of the songs were recorded in her home . the album , released under the title tales of silversleeve and produced by liam howe of sneaker pimps , was preceded by " reuben " , its first single , on 21 september 2007 . davey explained the title choice , " i had a runny nose when i was a child and let 's just say i didn 't wipe it with a tissue " . this proved to be a successful move as it led to a choice music prize nomination for 2007 irish album of the year . rté reviewer harry guerin said it was " even more imaginative " than her debut and gave it four out of five entertainment.ie reviewer lauren murphy described the record as " without doubt , one of the best albums of the year " , noting " there 's a magic about tales of silversleeve that makes it an album you 're almost afraid to listen to twice , in case it 's not as good as you remember the first time " . the irish independent ' ' s reviewer gave the album five stars , describing it as " a record that she can be proud of " . jim carroll , the irish times rock critic , called it " the most charming pop album you 'll hear in zero seven " . after a series of residencies , davey embarked on a pre - christmas tour of ireland in 2007 . she appeared on the seventh series of other voices in early 2008 . the singer represented ireland at the eurosonic festival in groningen , the netherlands , in january 2008 . she performed at rocks in february 2008 , followed by a performance at the south by southwest festival in austin , texas in that march . davey was dropped by her record company in mid - 2008 alongside most of their client list . she headlined the main stage at cork x southwest in in july 2008 . in august 2009 , she headlined the festival in dublin 's smithfield plaza and also performed at that year 's indie - pendence . davey appeared at electric picnic 2008 . she featured at the music show in the rds in october 2008 . the singer performed in dublin 's iveagh gardens during events to celebrate africa day on 25 may . davey 's song " moving " has been used in a prominent vodafone commercial in her native ireland . another song , " sing for your supper " , was described by the irish independent 's ed power as " her biggest smash to date " . the same reviewer described davey 's song " reuben " , a number one single , as " a skewed romantic tirade glazed in sugar - candy vocals " . davey 's third album , the nameless , was released on 7 may 2010 ( ireland ) , with contributions from conor j. o 'brien and neil hannon . lead single " little red " was released on 21 april 2010 and followed by an irish tour in may . davey performed on the late late show on 23 april 2010 . she performed at oxegen 2010 in july . on 16 july 2010 , to promote the second single from the nameless album , davey released a download only ep for " army of tears " . the ep features three tracks : the original track " army of tears " , a previously unreleased track " the wandering " and a demo version of " army of tears " . other appearances davey has appeared on the autamata track " cloud seekers " , taken from the album my sanctuary . she has worked with elbow . she dueted with gavin glass on the track " rag doll " . she sang a song called " " on a 2005 cd titled faction one , released by record label faction . she appears on the david turpin track " red elk " . she lent her vocals to the 2008 charity album even better than the disco thing , on which she performed a cover of donna summer 's " i feel love " . tony clayton - lea recommended the song be downloaded alongside lisa hannigan 's cover version of " upside down " . she performed guest vocals on the track " the sweet spot " from the duckworth lewis method 's eponymous album and three tracks on bang goes the knighthood , neil hannon 's 2010 album as the divine comedy . she also supported r.e.m. during their live rehearsal shows at the olympia theatre , dublin in summer 2007 . davey hosted songs that scare children at the spiegeltent during the dublin fringe festival in september 2008 . her music is available to download from the playstation . she was involved in efforts to raise funds in the aftermath of the 2010 haiti earthquake . davey 's song ' rescue ' has been used in the abc tv series the gates . her song ' holy moly ' is played at the end of the disappearance of alice creed . 2016 in summer 2016 , davey confirmed a new album was due for release in autumn 2016 , this was preceded by the first new single ' the pattern ' released on july 15 , 2016 . discography albums something ilk ( 2004 ) tales of silversleeve ( 2007 ) the nameless ( 2010 ) the pattern ( 2016 ) awards the irish times placed davey third in a list of " the 50 best irish acts right now " published in april 2009 , saying " there 's no better female songwriter in irish music right now " . her closest female rivals on the list were lisa hannigan and róisín murphy at numbers five and seven respectively . tales of silversleeve was named sixth best irish album of 2007 by john meagher of the irish independent and ninth best album of the decade by jim carroll , tony clayton - lea and lauren murphy of the irish times . davey won best pop act at the 2011 digital socket awards in dublin . choice music prize davey 's second album tales of silversleeve was nominated for the choice music prize in january 2008 . surprise was expressed within the irish media when she was beaten by super extra bonus party . the nameless was nominated for the choice music prize in 2011 . meteor music awards davey won best irish female at the 2008 meteor awards . tales of silversleeve was also nominated for best irish album at the same event but lost to paddy casey . casey later admitted he would have preferred if davey had won the award . upon being embraced by and photographed alongside sinéad o 'connor at the launch , davey remarked on how odd it was " to put your arms around someone you don 't know " .