Name: RÓIS
Start: 2025-11-04T19:30:00+00:00
Location: St John on Bethnal Green

$R\u00d3IS$

Baba Yaga's Hut Presents:
November 4th - St John on Bethnal Green
RÓIS
£18 / 7:30
After selling out the Paper Dress Vintage show lightning fast for her debut London performance we are delighted to welcome back RÓIS to London on November 4th at the beautiful St. John on Bethnal Green Church.
RÓIS is a composer, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and electronic artist from Fermanagh, whose songs breathe new life into a forgotten Ireland. Blending elements of folk, sean-nós, electronics, and jazz harmony, RÓIS’ genre-bending sound transports listeners to a different realm. With shapeshifting sets, no two performances are ever the same, as audiences accompany RÓIS into her sound world. Expect twists and turns of tempo and genre, and moments of sheer magic, as she conducts the energy of the room. This is a place where the ancient meets the new.
RÓIS’ ethereal voice has been compared to the likes of Björk, Meredith Monk and Hatis Noit. It is a vocal style rooted in traditional sean-nós singing, as she summons the dead and forgotten, with ancient ‘keening' songs. With RÓIS’ performances the old and the new are enmeshed, alongside encapsulating visuals, in the hope of creating good art. Leading audiences into a realm of mysticism and creating a space for introspection, these live experiences are completely unique. ��In late 2024, RÓIS self-released her acclaimed EP ‘MO LÉAN’. Written and produced by RÓIS with additional production from John Spud Murphy (OXN/Lankum), 'MO LÉAN' is a concept record, taking the listener through the grieving process from start to finish, from the chaos that loss brings, to the intense emotional outpourings and finally, a cathartic release.
‘MO LÉAN' features several new original recordings and reworks of songs and hymns based around the concept of death, life, mourning and catharsis. RÓIS re-imagines the tradition of 'keening' in Ireland that goes back to pre-christian times, a practice in which women would 'keen' a lamenting wail at the side of a coffin during a wake. After discovering the last two recordings of keening songs, RÓIS was inspired by their ethereal melodies to give them a modern reworking yet honouring the original women by sampling them in her adaption. 'Keeners' through their voices, movements and laments, conveyed the communal expression of grief and allowed those suffering a way to release their sorrow and loss. RÓIS aspires to do the same with the release and her live performances, by expressing the power of the voice to transcend death and help us relinquish our fear of it. ��
"RÓIS is a startling singer...Mo Léan heralds an arresting new talent" - The Guardian (Folk Albums Of The Year, 2024)
"Connolly explores wider concepts of death, grief and catharsis that at times reaches astonishing potency" - The Quietus