''Confessional'' is the third studio album by Irish singer-songwriter

Janet Devlin Janet Maureen Aoife Devlin (born 12 November 1994) is an Irish singer-songwriter who competed in the eighth series of ''The X Factor'' in 2011, where she finished in fifth place. Her debut album '' Hide & Seek'' was released in 2013. After a s ...

. It received a general release via Insomnia Music on 5 June 2020 and marked her first release following the chart success of her second album ''Running with Scissors'' almost six years previously.

Background and composition

Following the success of her second album ''Running with Scissors'', it took Devlin four years to write the material that would eventually form her third album. During that time, she released numerous covers on her YouTube channel, including

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran ( ; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...

's "

I See Fire "I See Fire" is a song by the English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran. It was commissioned for the soundtrack of the 2013 film '' The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug'', where it was played over the closing credits. ''The Hobbit'' director, Peter Jack ...

". All of the songs were written by Devlin in collaboration with other songwriters including

Fiona Bevan Fiona Mackay Barclay Bevan is an English singer-songwriter from Suffolk, England, who currently resides in London. She co-wrote the song " Little Things" for One Direction along with Ed Sheeran, which became a number-one single in 13 countries a ...

Lauren Aquilina Lauren Amber Aquilina (born 23 June 1995) is a Maltese-English singer-songwriter, and musician. Born in Bristol, she gained popularity by independently releasing a trilogy of EPs (''Fools'', ''Sinners'', and ''Liars'') whilst studying at school ...

and

David Sneddon David Sneddon (born 15 September 1978) is a Scottish singer, songwriter, musician and music producer of contemporary pop music. He began his career performing on stage and television, singing lead roles in stage musicals in Glasgow. In 2002, ...

. The album was produced in its entirety by

Jonathan Quarmby Jonathan Hugh Quarmby (born 20 December 1961) is an English record producer and songwriter. He is the son of English architect Arthur Quarmby. Born in Huddersfield, England, Quarmby has worked with a range of artists across various genres. ...

. In 2020, before the album's release, she released an extended play named after the album's third single "Honest Men", which contained the title track and two previously released singles, "Confessional" and "Saint of the Sinners".

Critical reception

''Confessional'' received generally positive reviews from critics. Tanis Smither of ''

Hot Press ''Hot Press'' is a monthly music and politics magazine based in Dublin, Ireland, founded in June 1977. The magazine has been edited since its inception by Niall Stokes. History ''Hot Press'' was founded in June 1977 by Niall Stokes, who cont ...

'' stated that Devlin and Quarmby had found "that happy marriage between pop and traditional" and that the album was "an emotional look into an interesting artist". Nick Smith of ''

musicOMH ''MusicOMH'' (stylized as ''musicOMH'') is a London-based online music magazine which publishes independent reviews, features and interviews from across all genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B. History ''MusicOMH'' was founded an ...

'' described the music as "a sterling mix of folk, pop and traditional Irish" and Devlin's voice as "beautiful and assertive", concluding that "''Confessional'' is an honest, brave and knowing cathartic journey, dealing with addiction, self-harm, religion and sexuality. This is a captivating and triumphant work of art from the depth of Devlin's heart and soul." In ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'' Tony Clayton-Lea said that sometimes the music did not match the lyrical themes of independence and survival, with "the assertiveness of one undermined by the ineffectiveness of the other", but that overall "Devlin delivers a stinging riposte to the music business as an entity and to some people in particular".

Track listing

Album and track metadata and credits adapted from

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

and

Apple Music Apple Music is an audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users can select music to stream to their device on-demand, or listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the sister internet radio stations Apple Musi ...

. All tracks produced by

Personnel

All credits adapted from

Qobuz Qobuz (, commonly mispronounced: ), often stylized as qobuz) is a French digital music store and streaming service, launched in 2007 by Alexandre Leforestier and Yves Riesel. Qobuz is now owned by Xandrie SA. In June 2023, Qobuz offers over 100 ...

. *

– vocals *

– producer, piano, programming, mixing engineer, guitar, bass guitar, low whistle, keyboards, acoustic guitar, backing vocals * Brian Fleming –

bodhrán The bodhrán (, ; plural ''bodhráin'') is a frame drum used in Irish music ranging from in diameter, with most drums measuring . The sides of the drum are deep. A Goatskin (material), goatskin head is tacked to one side (synthetic heads or ot ...

, percussion * Nathan Thomas – backing vocals * Peter Brown – accordion * Eoin Dillon – uilleann pipes, whistle * Daniel Bingham – drums * Michael Giverin – guitar, mandolin, bouzouki * Anna Mary Donaghy – fiddle * Gav Skeggs – backing vocals * Paul Statham – cello, programming * Ian Burdge – cello * Anna Phoebe McElligott – violin * Richard Walker – guitar, harp, acoustic guitar, backing vocals * Grace Davies – backing vocals * Oscar Golding – guitar * Nick Ereaut – double bass * Rick Chambers – backing vocals * Jim Molyneux – backing vocals * Esme Allen-Quarmby – backing vocals * Poppy Allen-Quarmby – backing vocals * Harry Harrington – backing vocals * Sam Odiwe – bass guitar * Floriane Blancke – harp * Marc Rapson – backing vocals

References

{{Authority control 2020 albums Albums produced by Jonathan Quarmby Janet Devlin albums