After two decades performing in a variety of duos, bands and singing groups in London (UK), Bróna returned to her native County Down to launch her solo career in 2017 with her first single Under the Pines.
Pioneering her own brand of ‘cosmic’ folk, she reimagines traditional folk and crafts her own nature-inspired songs with a rich mix of ethnic and electronic instruments. Her debut solo album We Are the Wildlife, released in January 2018, earned her a string of four star reviews from MOJO, Uncut, The Guardian and The Independent garnering high praise from critics including Nigel Williamson and the late Andy Gill.
The album’s single Under the Pines was featured in Lauren Laverne’s best-of-2018 list. And before her WOMAD appearance in 2019 Bróna was interviewed live by Cerys Matthews on her BBC 6 Music festival highlights show. That year she also performed with her trio at Dublin’s National Concert Hall, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, London’s Kings Place and the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival.
Her second album The Man in the Mountain, released in September 2020 was Folk Album of the Month in The Guardian. Later that year Jude Rogers ranked it 4th in her 10 Best Folk Albums of 2020. In her words “You’re put in the place of a bird navigating wide open landscapes, absorbing light, space and air. This is music that takes you on its wing, and gives you fresh visions”.
The Man in the Mountain features notable collaborations with avant-garde Nordic composer Arve Henriksen and electronica trailblazers Isan. The title track, inspired by the local legends and lore of Bróna’s homeland, tells a tale of a battle between Irish and Scottish giants. While she breathes new life into traditional folk songs, following her immersion in the London Irish music scene (for many years she was lead singer for 6-piece trad outfit The London Lasses); she weaves her longtime love of electronica, jazz and improvisation into her own songwriting, which is harnessed in a deep reflection on the natural world.
Bróna released her third album The Woman in the Moon in October 2022. The title track was launched as a digital double A-side single – along with her version of traditional Irish ballad Tiocfaidh an Samhradh (Summer Will Come) – at a sell out show as part of the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival in Belfast. The autumn 2022 UK album tour saw her headline venues in Birmingham, Manchester, Oxford, Brighton and Belfast. In Spring 2023 she launched the album to her London following at the Camden Club accompanied by Marius Rodrigues (drums) and Oli Hayhurst (double bass), who both played on the album.
In Spring 2024 she toured across Ireland as part of a Music Network collaboration with Cormac Breathnach, Niamh Dunne and Seán Óg Graham performing at some of the finest arts and cultural centres in Galway, Wexford, Dublin, Limerick, Kerry and Wicklow including the Pavilion Theatre, Wexford National Opera House and the National Folk Theatre of Ireland: Siamsa Tíre. The quartet were interviewed on RTE Radio 1 and Bróna’s newly commissioned peace song Ten Thousand Tiny Fingers had its debut broadcast on RTÉ lyric FM.
Her work has been broadcast on BBC Radio 2 by Mark Radcliffe, BBC Radio 3 by Sara Mohr-Pietsch, BBC6 Music by Iggy Pop and Gideon Coe, BBC Radio Scotland by Roddy Hart, BBC Radio Ulster by Lynette Fay, Eve Blair and Brian Mullen; RTÉ Radio 1 by Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh, RnaG by Cian Ó Cíobháin and Lyric FM by John Kelly and Ellen Crannitch; with international radio play in Italy, The Netherlands, Sweden, the USA, Canada and Australia.
Currently working on her fouth album with producer Thomas Gandey she divides her time between County Down, Northern Ireland and Granada in Spain, and is supported by Help Musicians UK, the National Lottery and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.