Rockcore (In Spanish)

Podcast:
You can listen to an interview with Declan on the O2 making waves Podcasting Ireland site

Reviews:

BLACKBIRD SINGING IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT

Former frontman of Clann Zú, "Blackbird Song" is the first single to be lifted from de Barra's forthcoming debut , Song of a Thousand Birds. The first thing that hits you about de Barra is his voice: it's full of that quivering emotion found in the vocals of Antony and the Johnstons, and even Johnny Cash. There's an intensity and darkness which stems from the way he wraps his voice around the lyrics. Not since Jeff Buckley has hope ever sounded so desperate and wanting. On the flipside, 'Throw Your Arms Around Me' is equally mesmerising. Desolate and bare, it affords de Barra's voice the opportunity to soar. His phrasing, enriched by his country accent, only serves to highlight the vulnerability he sings about. A passionate, intense and stunning record. Hotpress Magazine (Ireland) - Single of the fortnight

Declan de Barra
Song of a Thousand Birds
Rogue Goat
four stars ****
Waterford's Declan de Barra has a voice of oak, amber, suffering and steel, the baroque quality of a Nick Cave and a range akin to Jeff Buckley. Big words but just listen to 'Throw Your arms Around Me' or 'Blackbird Song' and you will feel like de Barra has just plugged himself directly into your psyche's shadow. Cello, fiddle,piano and guitar adorn this hideously beautiful debut. - Sunday Tribune 26 March 2006

Some singer songwriters take time to win the listener over. Others have voices so evocative that they carry you away at once. Declan de Barra's mesmerizing Falsetto has a strange, erie beauty that can stop the unsuspecting in their tracks. He comes from a trad background but his sparse and lonesome torch songs are closer in spirit to latter-day crooners Antony Hegarty and Rufus Wainright. On his debut solo album, song of a thousand birds, the waterford native is careful to keep his melodramatic impulses in check. For all it's sweep and grandeur, this is a stripped down record at heart, often consisting only of de Barra's voice and a gentle piano note. Singer songwriters rarely stand out from the crowd at first inspection. De Barra takes your breath away from the very beginning. Metro Newspaper Dublin - 4 out of 5 stars

"Declans's voice is the instrument 99% of this worlds bands will never
learn to play. You can give me a piano or violin and Declan and I think
I could live forever knowing it won't get better than that."- Decoy
Music - USA

"It may sound hackneyed but these are songs with a gaurantee of goose pimples. The intensity of de Barra’s voice is breath-taking, as well as the musical mix of rough, sparingly arranged acoustic-folk with a lot of celtic impact. Definitely no album for listening along the way – this piece of work requires calmness and concentration. But who follow this, will be rewarded richly.” Unicum, Album of the month March 06 - Germany

" De Barra singing in Irish and English manages to maintain a frailty
that's shatteringly beautiful" -The Age - Australia

"You will realize on listening for the first time to "Throw your arms around me" or single "Blackbird song", we are not before a conventional work, but before a small masterpiece." - Muzikalia - Spain

"It is one of the most stunning voices I have ever heard, deep and intense, always powerful… Within this Singer-Songwriter-Hype there are only a few candidates, who convince me, because they come across honest and unaffected. Maybe I’m impressed that this man is living art, maybe in the purest, maybe in the most immediate form – namely without ommiting anything.”-sellfish.de -Germany

"Declan de Barra’s Songs almost glow from emotion...The vocal talent is amazing, almost Tim Buckley.” Intro - Germany

" Where Morrissey has always stood above his audience and talked down to
them, de Barra sets himself right in the center of the chaos, drawing
them in as much a true believer himself as a performer. The end effect
is cathartic; an utter lack of pretense that comes from knowing he
can't fool a soul."  - Earshot

"To say that DeClan de Barra is a musical genius is an understatement. To say that his former band, Clann Zu, was everything a band should ever be is absolute truth. To say that de Barra could never live up to the unbelievable expectations his previous works have set is pure science fiction. On his first official solo album, Song of a Thousand Birds, DeClan shows that he may not have progressed mightily, but he also most certainly has not lost a step.
At times minimalist, at others thoroughly drenched in instrumentation, Song for a Thousand Birds is a rare display, an album that allows de Barra's distinctly original baritone to shine, accentuating the positives and downplaying the negatives. His phrasings, which have always been slightly off-kilter, are powerful, precise, and dramatic. His lilting, soaring voice fills space like few others. Whether it be pitted against guitar or violin, DeClan de Barra's voice always comes out victorious.
Much like his voice, his first solo album, Song of a Thousand Birds, is a triumph. Soul-baring and spiritual, it helps to draw a firm line between art for art's sake and art for the good of humanity. Sit this album next to a Van Gogh or a Rembrandt and it's as at home as it would be next to The White Album or The Wall. Shine on, you crazy diamond."
Decoymusic.com - USA

If the singles released thus far are anything to go by, Declan de Barra's forthcoming debut Song of A Thousand Birds should prove a cracker. 'Apple Tree' , the follow up to last year's Blackbird Song" is another sparse haunting and piercing piece of work. Again de Barra's fragile and emotive voice is to the fore, often bringing a spiritual quality to the track. This particularly shines through in de Barra's of t bewitching and poignant lyrics. Another gem and another track to whet anticipation for Song of a Thousand Birds.Hotpress Magazine - Ireland

"Eery-beautifully, gloomy debut of Clann Zú’s ex-frontman. Simply orchestrated and carried by his deep voice, his intimate melodies reach directly where they belong.”
Go münchen - Germany

"You dive into the depths of a man’s soul, who sings passionately and devotedly of lost loves and surviving…Every song is interpreted full of intensity and love. An Album for lonely hearts, for the ones who want to sink into pitifulness, but also an album full of hope.”- Flamingyouth.de - Germany

"An intense and passionate album, on which above all the voice puts one into a spell" Klangdynamik.de -Germany