Rachel Goode – Western Highway (2025)
Rachel Goode has produced a wonderful piece to help usher us all into spring with her new single, ‘Western Highway’. At its core, this is such a simple composition, but it works well to highlight the vivid ideas of love and travel that songwriter Gerry O’Beirne was trying to convey. It needed a vocalist with character and class to do it justice, which it found in Goode.
I was not surprised to learn that she is a classically trained soprano who has honed her skills whilst studying a Bachelor’s degree in music from DIT, a Master of Arts in Performance from Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, and a Masters in Music Education from the University of Limerick. Her passion can be heard throughout the ‘Western Highway’; she really is a great artist.
Being completely new to Rachel Goode and her work, I was interested to discover she already holds some serious accolades in her native Ireland, including finalist in the 2022 Eurosong competition on The Late Late Show on RTE, and a finalist in the 2022 series of Glor Tire on TG4. I think the comparisons to greats, such as Maura O’Connell and Eva Cassidy are just. Goode, for me, has a classical yet fresh voice that takes its place amongst the ever-growing exciting contemporary folk movement going on at the moment.
Lyrically, ‘Western Highway’ masterfully explores how a journey can be both geographical and emotional. It offers something all the best folk and Americana songs do: relatable escapism. Offering you a glimpse into the contemplation we’ve all experienced when mapping out not only a journey but our lives and the things we love.
‘Western Highway’ is paving the way for Goode’s upcoming album due out later this year, and if the track is anything to go by, it’s going to be worth the wait. Until then, let’s just enjoy this great single.
Find out more about Rachel Goode on her official website, X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Spotify.
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