Loreena McKennitt - Lost Soulds

 
The album is set for international release on 11 May 2018.

Excerpts from the official Quinlan Road website:

This long-awaited and eagerly anticipated album is a rich and eclectic tapestry of songs woven with influences from the Celts to the Bedouins, stitched with the sounds of a diverse and exotic collection of musical voices, including the nyckelharpa, oud, kanoun, flamenco guitar and a Canadian military band.

"Although Lost Souls does not follow the next chapter in my pursuit of the history of the Celts, it has been gratifying to complete a selection of songs on which I've been working on for some time" says Loreena. "Life has been so full and demanding these past ten years - both personally and professionally it was also gratifying to get back to the creative part of the process."

There are nine songs on the new album. Several were begun by Loreena some time ago, while others have been progressively taking shape in the midst of more recent projects and journeys. A few draw on the poetry of John Keats and W.B. Yeats, while another evokes a distinct Middle Eastern flavour.

The album was recorded from May through October 2017 in Hamilton, Canada at Catherine North Studios and at Peter Gabriel's Read World Studios near Bath, in South West England.

It features Loreena on vocals, piano, keyboard, accordion and harp, accompanied by her core group of fellow musicians, many of whom you know: Brian Hughes on guitars, bazouki and synth, Caroline Lavelle on cello and concertina, Hugh Marsh on violin, and Dudley Phillips on acoustic and electric bass. [The album also features specialty artists.]

 
After the release of this album, Loreena undertook the Lost Souls Tour,
and late 2019 the concert album Live at the Royal Albert Hall was released.

Contents

1. Spanish Guitars and Night Plazas (6:41)
   music and lyrics: Loreena McKennitt
2. A Hundred Wishes (4:34)
   music and lyrics: Loreena McKennitt
3. Ages Past, Ages Hence (5:27)
   music and lyrics: Loreena McKennitt
4. The Ballad of the Fox Hunter (5:48)
   music: Loreena McKennitt
   lyrics: W.B. Yeats, adapted by Loreena McKennitt
5. Manx Ayre (4:03)   --   instrumental
   music: traditional, arr. by Loreena McKennitt
6. La Belle Dame Sans Merci (6:09)
   music: Loreena McKennitt
   lyrics: John Keats
7. Sun, Moon and Stars (4:34)   --   instrumental
   music: Loreena McKennitt
8. Breaking of the Sword (5:30)
   music and lyrics: Loreena McKennitt
9. Lost Souls (5:09)
   music and lyrics: Loreena McKennitt

 
===> All lyrics on a single page (12 kb)

===> PDF file with all lyrics (54 kb), copied from the Quinlan Road website
           These lyrics contain several small mistakes, which I have repaired in my pages
           (in as far as possible: Loreena does not always pronounce the words clearly).

Further notes by Loreena

I chose to collect and complete this poesy of songs being reminded of the maze of days when they were born. Upon listening, I reflect on the many hours spent with a glorious feast of musicians, deep in the beauty of the English Wiltshire countryside.

Some of these songs were begun years ago. At times, they have felt like Lost Souls, not having found a home on any of my previous recordings. Like unexpected travellers, they appeared on the path of previous journeys. While some of these songs have no direct connection to my pursuit of the history of the Celts, they are eager to find a resting place nonetheless. Like the hymn Amazing Grace, once was lost, but now am found'.

I think of a vagabond, who when wandering the street late at night, was stopped by a policeman and asked why he was out so late, to which he replied, "if I knew the answer to that question I would have been home hours ago."

Perhaps we are not lost, just taking a long time returning home.

- LM                      

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created: 10 March
last modified: 9 May 2024