Soft spots for Sinead confession

THANK you, Ann Powers, for the Sinead O’Connor piece [“Nothing Compares,” July 1]. I was in the audience that night and found it to be one of the most moving concert experiences I’ve had.

I was first taken by Sinead when “Lion and the Cobra” came out and felt I’d lost her with the success of “Nothing Compares 2 U.” I didn’t rediscover her until “Universal Mother,” an album of healing that hit me so deeply after the loss of a love and the loss of my father.

Her albums since have touched me as deeply; traditional Irish songs, stunning collaborations, and who would have guessed that one of the best reggae releases in my collection would have been by Sinead. And “Theology” does not disappoint.

But what it all comes down to is, thank you for Ann Powers’ “confession.” May it allow Sinead O’Connor’s music to touch many others.

JIM NAGLE

Manhattan Beach

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SINCE I arrived in Los Angeles a little over two years ago from Argentina, I’ve been determined to engage in as many cultural endeavors as I could to provide myself with the edification any artist needs.

I rejoice in a well-written article when I run across one, and I believe Ann Powers is among the few who are able to put across an elaborate thought with a choice of words that is both refined and accessible.

“At 23, I thought absolute truth was a viable concept,” she writes. “Since then, I’ve come to believe that ambiguity and change are all you can really count on.”

I am not particularly a fan of O’Connor’s music, but there is much “truth” said -- however volatile or ambiguous -- in Powers’ article.

PASCUI RIVAS

West Hollywood