Universal Mother
Universal Mother is the fourth album by Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor, released on September 13, 1994. Background. In 1993, O'Connor started taking singing lessons in the style of bel canto, which inspired her to "talk about the things that [she] really wanted to talk about". Music and Lyrics. The first track, "Germaine", is a recording of feminist Germaine Greer speaking about cooperation as an alternative to patriarchy. "Am I a Human?" is by O'Connor's son Jake, recorded when he was a child. "Famine" is a hip hop track about the Irish Potato Famine, and how it has  impacted Ireland. The last song on the album, "Thank You For Hearing Me", was written about O'Connor's breakup with musician Peter Gabriel, and featured a trance-like backing track. The majority of the songs use "delicate piano-based arrangements". Artwork. O'Connor painted the cover art herself, which was inspired by a rebirthing session she experienced, and her song "All Babies". Critical reception. Writing in "Hot Press", Bill Graham said that it is "definitely the record of an artist determined to restart, with a totally new set of basic principles". Noting the album had already divided critical opinion, he suggested  that its art-as-therapy approach resembled early solo work by John Lennon. O'Connor explores "the uncharted depths" of "the real loveless family traumas" which mainstream, predominantly male, rock music tends to avoid, and Graham believes that her journey is made more intense by her identity "as both a mother and a daughter". Listening to the album can be "unnerving", as O'Connor "can still sing like an angel but she also sometimes writes lyrics like an emotional dyslexic." Its predominant style is "a bare chamber-folk." For "Rolling Stone", Stephanie Zacharek characterized "Universal Mother" as "record making as therapy", and  described it as tenderhearted and protective. Personnel. Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.