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Ironically perhaps, 'Finding Me' owes its existence to a period of profound creative doubt on Ciaran McAuley's behalf. After years of forward momentum, the Irish artist found himself questioning not only his own direction, but his relationship with music itself. At that crossroads, rather than forcing (what now only had the appearance of) progress, he chose to pause and fully acknowledge the rift. Then he turned into its headwind and harnessed that turbulence as the start-point for his recalibration.
And that became the core of 'Finding Me'.
That type of reset often requires a little help from your friends and Ciaran found a wealth of that through a truly standout cast of collaborators. Amongst that cadre are studio mainstays like Paul van Dyk, Roger Shah, Ferry Tayle, and Sean Tyas, and singer-songwriters like Audrey Gallagher, Christian Burns, Sue McLaren, Zara Taylor, Sarah Howells, Clara Yates, Deirdre McLaughlin and Shelby Merry.
Amongst the album's track titles, 'Finding Me's primary through-line isn't hard to spot. Numbers like 'Alone' (with Chloe) and 'Runaway' (featuring Sean Tyas & Clara Yates) reflect on the period where McAuley confronted his growing disconnect head-on, even going so far as to abandon substantial tranches of already-recorded material. That moment of reset is echoed in 'Why Do We Hide' (sung by Deirdre McLaughlin), which questions the human urge to conceal self-doubt. 'The Road Less Travelled' (on which he partners with Ferry Tayle) makes a quiet statement about authenticity over alignment. This thread resolves naturally on the album's title track (one of his two 'Finding Me' collaborations) with singer-songwriter Zara Taylor.
'Finding Me's 'false start', says Ciaran 'came at a time when I felt lost in many areas of my life, foremost amongst them music and my relationships'. As they say, 'to be found, one must first be lost', and I certainly related more to the latter around that time.
