Finding Neema

INTERVIEW:Spicy folk is on the menu when Canadian folk singer and Leonard Cohen protege Neema is in town, writes GRAINNE FALLER

HOWING HER MUSIC to Leonard Cohen was “a little terrifying” for Canadian poet and folk singer Neema, but it has proved worth it. Cohen’s fingerprints are all over her new album, and Neema (her full name is Nadine Neemeh) is often described as his protege. Now touring Europe with her band, she is doing solo shows, as well as supporting acts such as Jeff Beck, Cyndi Lauper and Elton John. She laughs. “It’s really random isn’t it? Kind of like my music. An eclectic mix.”

The current record, Watching You Think, is folk with added spice. There are touches of world music, while Neema’s sweet but slightly gravelly voice prevents the whole thing from becoming too saccharine.

Neema lives in the same Montreal neighbourhood as Cohen and they first ran into each other on the street there. “I don’t remember exactly how we started talking, but I said something like, ‘Hi I’m Neema,’ and he said, ‘Hi, I’m Leonard.’ I think I laughed from shyness and said, ‘I know’.”

As they frequented the same haunts, they would run into each other. They clicked and became friends. “I was just finishing recording my first album, but I left the music aside initially. I think the first thing I did was to give him a copy of that album. Then when we would be chatting, lines would come out and we’d start writing.”

Eventually, encouraged by Cohen, Neema started to show him what she was working on for her next album. “I started to share full pieces with him and get his feedback. It’s tough when you’re doing that with someone you respect so much . . . and it’s difficult to receive if the feedback isn’t wonderful, but it’s so helpful. And then when it is wonderful, I know that it’s genuine, because he’s very honest.”

They discussed everything from the writing of the songs, to recording, production and instrumentation. The advice wasn’t always easy to hear. “I had one song written and Leonard was like, ‘It’s a great melody and idea but I don’t really hear the song. I think you should start over.’ I was like, Oh God. I’m never going to share anything with him any more. I was just shattered.”

She thought better of it later, however. “I had a long bath and I had a night to think about it and I thought, well, why don’t I just try to start over and see what happens? And you know? Something wonderful emerged.”

Neema says she is looking forward to playing here next week. “I love Ireland. I first went there in 1994. I spent about a month, intending to backpack around, but I got as far as Co Kerry – Dingle and Ballyferriter – and I stayed for the month. I fell in love with the place.”

Her music bears the accents of her wanderings. She has travelled and worked in a number of places, including India, Egypt and northern Canada. In seeming contrast to this almost hippy-ish lifestyle, she also holds a first-class honours degree in financial management and economics.

Some of that has to do with her background. Her parents are Egyptian of Lebanese descent, and education was very important to them. “My father was a doctor and I was pushed very much in the sciences and math. I was very good at that,” she says. “I wanted to do photography and my father wouldn’t have it, so I followed in my sister’s and my brother’s footsteps into management. I hated it . . . But as it turns out, I spend so much time managing my career – there’s so much to manage in an artistic life – that side of my brain is definitely useful.”

She’s delighted with the way the album has turned out. “I had the idea that I wanted to make an album that was kind of sparse, that had space and that was a bit raw in feel and was organic really,” she says.

“One thing I learned from Leonard was how to let something emerge . . . working to uncover the song rather than trying to write the song I had in mind. This album is much closer to my voice I think.”

The name of the album is taken from the title of a portrait of Neema done by Cohen, which now adorns the cover. “He’s very present in this album,” she says. “He’s an amazing mentor, and not just for music. He’s definitely a wise old being. He’s lived a lot you know?”

Neema plays the Sugar Club, Dublin, on Monday and Triskel Arts Centre, Christchurch, Cork, on Tuesday. See neema.ca. Watching You Think is out now