New beginning

Damhnait Doyle's new CD happened by accident. Before sitting down to write a song at friend Danny Michel's studio, she and her pal shared a glass of wine.

The Bob Marley song "Is this love" was on the radio and, according to Doyle, one of them said, "Let's do a weird recording of this song."

They did.

Doyle's manager, Sheri Jones, later heard it and suggested they do a few more like it.

Two years and a couple of projects later - including Doyle's work with Shaye - those songs comprise the 10 on "lights down low."

It's Doyle's first solo album since 2003's "dav-net."

"We wanted to make a dinner party record," she says, "one like Nora Jones' was a couple of years ago, when it first came out."

All of the songs are covers, with Doyle and Michel - a Toronto-based singer/songwriter, guitarist and producer - each selecting five.

"We really forced the songs on each other," Doyle says.

She notes the arrangements on each of the tunes are totally different from the originals.

They turned each song on its head, she says.

"What the song was, we did the opposite thing with its tempo."

The only exception was "Essence" by Lucinda Williams. Doyle says they didn't change it because they felt it was already presented in its pure form.

The lone Canadian song on the CD is the Tragically Hip's "Bobcaygeon," but Doyle wishes she had included "White Hot" by Tom Cochrane.

Last month's East Coast Music Association convention and awards weekend marked one of the first times she performed songs from the album live.

She did one during the ECMA's 20th anniversary gala and played a complete set with Cape Breton's Slowcoaster.

Those experiences were liberating, she says.

"I just felt so free on stage. I was, like, dancing, and I never do that. I was like, 'What's going on here?' I just felt so comfortable and felt like a different person. I felt like it gives me permission to be a different person or to be an actor."

Doyle is excited to sing the songs again and wants to tour the record.

She says there isn't so much performance pressure because the songs are tested and true, allowing her to try to bring them to another level.

But the ultimate goal for "lights down low," she says, is to have fun.

With the industry in turmoil because of rampant music downloading and sliding CD sales, she says it's impossible to hope for fame or money when a new recording is released.

"(If huge success) happens to you," Doyle says, "it's a freak of nature. So, I'm not hoping for those things. I'm hoping to enjoy myself."

After this record, she'd like to do another solo album.

She's written a couple of songs she'd love to record.

"In many ways, it would feel like a first record all over again. I'm so excited that I am even feeling so unjaded about what's going on in the industry and my career. In some ways, it feels like I'm just beginning."

Listen to Damhnait Doyle's new single, "Gimme, Gimme, Gimme" at www.thetelegram.com

sbartlett@thetelegram.com