ALBUM REVIEW : Hot Press ****
21-10-10

“On the surface, Una Keane could be regarded as just one more singer-songwriter elbowing her way into an already over-crowded genre. But listen a little closer and her classically-developed piano, beguiling voice, her literate songs and her provocative arrangements will set this majestic debut apart from the one trick ponies out there.

The swaggering ‘Alice’ has a Brecht-Weil quality, driven by Bryan O’Connell’s shuffling snare. ‘The Sailor’s Waltz’ belongs in a dubious Parisian bar, and there’s an especially appealing vulnerability in Keane’s vocal as it flows through the dreamy ‘Saw a Wave’. Indeed, water is a recurring image. ‘Down by the river’ has her rippling piano, ‘Antarctica’ reflects the beauty of nature as she reminds us “all this comes for free”, and in ‘Mr Icarus’ she warns “don’t fly too close to the sea”. In the rock’n'rootsy ‘Easy’ she sings “I like to notice smaller details, like the curve, the learning curve of your back”, and that theme comes up again in the exuberant ‘Microscopic’. This long-awaited debut will evoke mutually-favourable comparisons with Julie Feeney, Kate Bush, Tori Amos and Carole King, among others, but it’s so much more than the sum of Keane’s influences. Her inventive piano invariably adds lustre and atmosphere to songs that avoid any sense of formula or predictability. In Trees she has delivered a noteworthy work that deserves not to get lost in the forest of new releases”.

ALBUM REVIEW :
The Irish Times ***
05-11-10

“..It is to Una Keane’s credit that we can’t decide whether she’s in thrall to the often charming, always likeable kookiness of Rosie Thomas, or whether she’s a low-rent Tori Amos in cahoots with a superannuated Kate Bush. Such fluctuation is fine, however, particularly when there are tracks as out-there beguiling as The Sailor’s Waltz, Down by the River, Antarctica and Victory..”

ALBUM REVIEW : The Galway Advertiser | 09-12-10

WHAT IS it the difference between male and female singer-songwriters? Most lads opt for the ‘one guy and his guitar/three chords and the truth’ style. Female singer-songwriters though are more willing to let their imagination flow freely, letting their eccentricities become an asset, and being a bit more ambitious about their music. Think Julie Feeney or Lisa Hannigan, and with her debut album Trees, Dublin singer/pianist Úna Keane shows she has the potential to join them. ‘Saw A Wave’ and ‘Down By The River’ feature little more than piano and voice, but the darkness of the words and the way the music swells and ebbs – much like the water forms in the songs – make them Trees most powerful moments. There are many beautifully arranged songs such as the French tinged ‘The Sailors Waltz’, and ‘Teardrop’, with its clarinet passages, accompanied by birdsong. More conventional are ‘Microscopic’ and ‘Easy’, which deserve to enjoy heavy airplay. Trees is an engaging listen that announces the emergence of a fine new talent.

ALBUM REVIEW : Oxygen.ie
13-12-10

Trees is the long-awaited debut offering from Dubliner Una Keane, in which she proves that  she also knows how to perfectly weave lyrics which will carry the listener away. It has become a sad fact of today’s music scene that singer/songwriters are consistently elbowing their way to words such as “quirky” or “different”, but somehow newcomer Keane has managed to make the genre of quirkiness her own…”

ALBUM REVIEW : GCN Magazine
December 2010 Issue

“Una Keane delivers a quirky fairytale-like atmosphere on her first Album ‘Trees’. With sweeping piano melodies underpinning Keane’s delicate vocals, it’s a beautifully conceived debut in the vein of Tori Amos, showcasing a talent next year’s Choice Music awards should definitely shortlist.”