Loreena McKennitt Releasing Her Take On 'Silent Night'
(UMe) On November 21st award-winning Canadian singer/songwriter Loreena McKennitt, who was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in May, will be releasing a limited-edition seven-inch vinyl single featuring an other-worldly performance of the beloved song Silent Night. Previously unreleased and recorded in 2021 during the sessions that produced 2022's Under A Winter's Moon, McKennitt is delighted to offer two encores from her celebrated seasonal performance.
Loreena McKennitt's haunting rendition of the popular hymn to global peace is accompanied by cellist Caroline Lavelle and describes the stillness and wonder of Christmas via its uniquely ethereal soundscape. The King, the B-side of Silent Night, is a traditional, rustic English song celebrating the new year and sung here by the whole company in wassail style, accompanied by Loreena on the accordion.
Among the performers is Cedric Smith a Gemini Award-winning Canadian actor and musician. He performs, in six parts, A Child's Christmas in Wales, by the late Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. McKennitt's other accompanying musicians from Under A Winter's Moon loan their voices for The King: Caroline Lavelle, Romano DiNillo, and members of the Celtic group The Bookends, with Errol Fischer, Pete Watson, and Cait Watson.
Housed in a full-colour picture sleeve, the limited-edition Silent Night 7" single is exclusively available from Loreena's official artist's mail-order store from November 21st with pre-orders available now. The newly-released encore songs will also be available to digital services Nov. 21st.
McKennitt first performed Under A Winter's Moon in a historic church sanctuary in 2021, where it was recorded and later released as her 16th album in 2022. Dubbed 'a love letter to the season,' it's an enchanting mixture of music and spoken word that weaves together Celtic, Indigenous and Welsh cultures. Under A Winter's Moon will be re-uploaded to digital services in an expanded edition with the two encores included.
Also on Nov. 21st, McKennitt will be releasing Live in Madrid, a soundboard concert recording† captured in stereo directly from the mixing desk located in the venue front of house. Recorded during McKennitt's 2024 summer Mask and Mirror anniversary tour of more than 20 European cities, Live in Madrid captures the complete 20-song performance in Madrid at the Noches del Botánico Festival, bringing listeners as close as they can get to the live performance as it sounded in the venue on that night. It will be sold through the artist's store in two limited edition formats, with only 2,024 copies each of a three-disc vinyl set and a two-CD set-in commemoration of the 2024 tour. Pre-orders are available from the official artist store now
† A soundboard recording captures the live mix of the original performance, and only minimal mastering has been applied in order to ensure technical audio quality, as opposed to the wide range of sound adjustments which may be employed for the production of 'live' albums in other circumstances.
McKennitt's eclectic Celtic blend of pop, folk and world music has sold over 16 million albums worldwide. Her recordings have achieved Gold, Platinum and multi-Platinum status in 15 countries on four continents. She has twice been nominated for a GRAMMY Award and has won two Juno Awards, as well as a Billboard International Achievement Award.
She has performed in some of the world's most-respected and historic concert venues, from Carnegie Hall to the famous Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain and for dignitaries including the late Queen Elizabeth II and His Majesty King Charles III, and other heads of state.
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