Sinead Harnett is not afraid to set her ‘Boundaries’
Writer Andre Lawes Menchavez talks to the Thai Irish singer, whose third studio album is her most personal project yet
Sinead Harnett.
Courtersy of Sinead Harnett
Words by Andre Lawes Menchavez
Thai Irish superstar Sinead Harnett has made her mark on the music industry since the release of her debut EP, N.O.W., in 2014, with her repertoire of three studio albums becoming soundtracks to the ebb and flow of pursuing love for fans around the world.
Her discography ranges from power ballads that voice the shattering of a broken heart, to warm melodies in her viral love songs, and even sultry confident anthems for us independent girls who don’t need a man. While Harnett flawlessly weaves R&B and soul in each of her tracks, she serves as a pivotal figure of Southeast Asian representation in the music industry at large.
Her ethereal third studio album, Boundaries, was released to fans in April. The 16-track project was heavily inspired by Harnett’s mental health journey over the last two years. Harnett expresses how therapy has helped her confront and heal her inner child, establishing new boundaries for herself that led to the album’s creation. Boundaries features two of her recent singles—“Burn,” a heavy and haunting ballad that sounds like it came straight out of a Bond movie, and “The Most,” one of Harnett’s most sonically powerful displays in the R&B genre.
Harnett will be embarking on her North American and European Boundaries Tour this month. But before hitting the road, she performed at the Live On The Lawn concert in Los Angeles hosted by MusiCares, a charity created by the Recording Academy that provides critical support like mental health and addiction services to members of the music community.
Shortly before taking the stage as the event’s headliner, Harnett was able to chat with me backstage about Boundaries, the influences of her Thai culture, and why the event’s message of supporting the mental health and care of music artists is so important to her.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Andre Lawes Menchavez: I felt like Boundaries does an incredible job in taking you through the good, bad, and the ugly of when therapy requires you to look so deeply inward in yourself. With this project, which songs do you feel really speak to that message and the heart of this album?
Sinead Harnett: Such a lovely question, so deep. I can tell we swim in similar waters! I think the obvious choice, even though it was written to someone, would be “You First,” because the message is sort of directed to that person, but it’s also directed to my younger self. You know, boundaries can't be implemented until you find a way to put yourself first.
But also, the real core of Boundaries for me probably would be “Burn.” Because I think without boundaries, you push away the good. Toxicity is, for most people, all we may know, and so the familiar feels comfortable even though it feels bad. And sometimes we just, sadly, settle for a lesser life because we don't know what we deserve. So, I think the message of “Burn,” though not necessarily a huge celebration, is the core, actually. Like, "Look, I push you away, but through putting myself first and doing the work on my boundaries, maybe I will be able to let love in." Because essentially, we all deserve to let the love in. It's just easier said than done.
ALM: Absolutely, and this definitely resonates with tonight’s MusiCares concert that you’re headlining! How important do you think seeking therapy is for music artists, and how pivotal was it for you?
SH: Therapy, I think, is the start of us finding our ability to ask for help. I didn't believe that I deserved therapy, because if you have a home and you have food on the table every day, and you get to wake up and have a stab at your dream, what have you got to complain about? But then I realized, actually we, all of us, especially artists, we're such sensitive souls. Why are we artists? It’s because of that inner pain! So, really, without [therapy], I don't think I would have had an album because I was so removed from who I was until I started it.
ALM: Yeah, and it’s incredibly important to talk about, especially considering Asian communities are less likely to seek help given the stigma and accessibility to it.
SH: Yes, like I'd love for therapy to be free! Everyone deserves it, and everyone has trauma, whether it came in childhood or later in life. That is life, isn't it? But that’s why MusiCares is such a beautiful movement who provides this. What a beautiful organization that actually thinks about the human behind the artist and behind the persona that people are presenting. I'm really grateful that it exists. I think we artists all wake up and think, like, how do I make things happen? Or how do I fulfill my purpose? We're all suffering alone. And what's beautiful about MusiCares is that they’re like, "Let's grow from this together instead of suffering alone."
ALM: Well, throughout this process of taking that step with therapy and creating your album with the lessons gained, what are some boundaries you have discovered were important for you to uphold, especially as a woman of color in this industry?
SH: First of all, thank you for identifying me as a woman of color, because I am very white passing—even though I looked so much more Asian when I was little! It just started to reduce! [Laughs] But as an Asian woman, you know, of course, we are in a boy’s club. This is a boy’s game. The world is, sadly, in every industry, pretty much. So, I think just finding my voice has been a challenge, because, of course, a lot of males, whether they've been producers or ANRs or bosses of all of the companies that circle the music industry, there's often been this expectation of, “Oh, she doesn't know this, she'll do this, and she'll do that.” So I think it was important for me to find my own voice.
And with being Asian, I will say that, I think that there's such a just “get on with it,” kind of attitude implemented into us with how we were raised. In our culture, we can sometimes be just too comfortable with being quiet and silenced. So, I think that’s why it's so important for me to wear my Asian flag—and of course I won't abandon my Irish side either, which is another oppressed nation—because I didn't have that role model growing up. And if anyone sees me being Asian, and then they get to see any sort of encouragement in themselves being Asian, then I've done my job.
Sinead Harnett's latest album, "Boundaries," is out now.
Courtesy of Sinead Harnett
ALM: I’m glad we’ve had artists like you prominently take space because Asian representation hasn’t always been this high. When I’d pitch Asian feature stories to publications six years ago, rarely were there any interest in Asian narratives. How important do you think storytelling is for us as Asian Americans, especially in music?
SH: Yeah, I want to say I actually read a book recently called What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma, which is about a Malaysian writer [Stephanie Foo] and her life and how she grew up. It's one of the saddest things I've ever read, but also one of the most unifying things. I’m glad there are more Asian voices now and more Asian representation of our stories. I love that for us, and long may we reign!
ALM: And with more of our narratives coming out, we’re starting to flesh out who we are as Asian people and the range of our different diasporas. How does it feel to be one of these figures taking on this weight of representation in the industry?
SH: It’s a lot to be in this industry, trying brick by brick to represent what it means to be Asian. I actually recently went to a beautiful yearly AA+PI event with the Recording Academy that is kind of like a writing camp and event. There was a man speaking from the production company called The Stereotypes and he was saying, “I'm a Chinese man, and everyone sees me as a Chinese man, and I feel like I had to work harder to be taken seriously and be of excellence as a producer.” And, you know, those things just stick with you. I wish we all had a community where we could talk about what it was like growing up in these sorts of struggles, or of the tough-love households we grew up in, and just celebrate that we exist.
ALM: Well I’m curious, growing up in your household with a strong Thai influence in your upbringing, did that cultural foundation find its way into your career?
SH: I think the Thai culture for me has definitely been a part of why I'm so resilient and hard working. Because essentially, I think I've always just been trying to receive love, and music became a new avenue to try and get love and try to connect with other people that maybe feel that same lonesomeness. And also, Thai culture gave me resilience and a hard work ethic. It's just beautiful to be different and to bring that to the Western world.
ALM: And on the topic of Thailand, especially with your tour coming up, if you could travel to Thailand today for a show, what song of yours would you pick to be the one you’d perform to all your fans back in your homeland?
SH: I went [to Thailand] in 2023 for the first time in 12 years, and then just on a whim, wrote on my Instagram story, “Would anyone come to a show here?” Then I ended up doing a show at the last minute! It was amazing. They really loved that feel-good kind of music. That was the general consensus, like, when it was upbeat, everyone was dancing and going wild! So, for the fact that my first trending song is “Unconditional,” I would do the remix of it and just get everyone moving because, you know what, it's been a tough old time for everyone! Let's just dance and cry it out, together!
ALM: I can only imagine how fun that set would be! But, I want to end our time with one final question. Boundaries marks a new era for you, and while keeping your soulful R&B sound, I feel like this album is different in being your most personal project yet. Why was now the right time for you to release such an intimate project?
SH: The reason why it was time to let this little bubba go, or, well, my 16 bubbas, is because I got to the point where there wasn't anything more to say. It was time to abandon it. And also everything that I learned from therapy and from really trying to build these boundaries was now ready for me to practice. So, it just represented the last two years of my life.
And I often feel, like with Frank Ocean who hasn't released an album since 2016, I don't want to drop anything unless I think it could help someone. I felt like, with this album, there had to be someone [who needed it]. We always talk about things that we wish we would change, why we let a person do something to us, and with all those thoughts, I just thought this is the time now to release it. And hopefully it resonates with my fans, who I really feel so lucky to have.
Published on August 13, 2024