Mary Coughlan and the House Of Ill Repute
Rubyworks are pleased to release the new studio album by Mary Coughlan. Entitled 'The House Of Ill Repute', the album has been produced by Mary's long time collaborator Erik Visser and has already been hailed by Hot Press as the best of her career to date.

Over the course of nine studio albums, two live albums and countless concert performances in the past twenty-five years, Galway-born torch singer Mary Coughlan has established herself as one of her native land’s most enduring and remarkable vocal talents. From her break through success on 1985’s ‘Tired And Emotional’ to her internationally acclaimed ‘After The Fall’ (1997); and onwards to her faithful and poetic rendering of the songs of Billie Holiday in 2000. She has cast her meditative eye over songs of joy, sadness, mischief and melancholy; and has delivered each one with a voice that effortlessly straddles jazz, blues, chanson and pop in equal, sublime measure.

She embarks on the next phase of her career with an extraordinary new album. Entitled ‘The House of Ill Repute’ – its thirteen songs represent the end of a thirteen year relationship in Mary’s life. The album re-unites her with Dutch producer ErikVisser, whose previous work with Mary has inspired them both to career best performances on the aforementioned ‘Tired And Emotional’ and ‘After The Fall’ albums. Seldom has there been a better matched maestro and muse; as the immaculate song selection, sympathetic arrangements and matchless performances on this record reflect.

The first single is the late Kirsty MacColl’s wry discourse on misadventure ‘Bad’, an early highlight of an album that runs the gamut of emotions like a long night of Reeperbahn madness. Flirtatious on ‘Love Is Extra’, salacious on ‘Pornography’, outrageous on ‘Tootsies’; Madame Coughlan knows the intimate details of all the visitors to The House of Ill Repute. And in the cold light of the morning, we find them adrift on the emotional tundra of ‘Antarctica’ or clinging to the barren (Celtic) rock of ‘The Whore Of Babylon’.

It’s often said that an artist’s best work is made under the most trying of personal circumstances. With the release of ‘The House of Ill Repute’; Mary Coughlan emerges from the catharsis of record making, waking up to a new day; confident in the knowledge that she has produced an album which will stand up as one of the very best of her stellar career to date.

The House of Ill Repute is released on CD and download on Rubyworks on 17th October 2008. ‘Bad’ will be released as a download only single on 10th October

For more information, please contact
Tara McCormack 
Tel : 01 284 1747