[dropcap size=big]T[/dropcap]he new album is going to be out on 11th May! After a 12-year absence, the Canadian artist Loreena McKennit is about to release her new album “Lost Souls”. In particular, it is considered to be her first original sound recording after her 2006 album “An Ancient Muse” and it is going to be internationally released on Friday, 11th May 2018. She comments on her comeback stating, “ Not only personally, but also on a professional aspect life has been so demanding during the last 10 years and, therefore, we have regularly been on tour. Our coming back to this particularly creative part of this procedure is so pleasing”.
However, it should be highlighted that the music production belongs to McKennit herself. Along with the Celtic and Mid-East impacts on her music, which have kept her on track for many years, a wide range of influences can also be detected in “Lost Souls”, which comprises 9 new songs. This new album had been recorded from May to October 2017 in Hamilton’s Catherine North Studios in Canada, as well as in Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios located in Bath, in the southwest of England.
With the creator being affected by her current projects and travels, some of the songs have got their final form gradually, while others were brought out by McKennit long before the album release. In addition, the poetry of both John Keats and W.B. Yeats is also considered to be a factor that influenced a number of the songs. All these contribute to “Lost Souls” being regarded as a varied and up-to-date artistic collection. As concerning the title track, McKennit clearly mentions, “I was inspired by Ronald Wright’s book A short History in Progress, in which it is claimed that our continuous respect to “progress” has led us to lose our moral compass and, thus, turned us into “Lost Souls”.
A number of the songs are going to be released before the original date. Both A Hundred Wishes and Breaking of the Sword have already been available on iTunes and other music platforms. A Hundred Wishes is considered to be a light and modern track featuring Loreena on the piano, along with her associates Caroline Lavelle on cello, Hugh Marsh playing the violin, Brian Hughes on the guitar and Dudley Phillips on drums. Therefore, more exceptional artists have been included, as: Robert Brian και Tal Bergman (drums), Hossam Ramsey, Graham Hargrove και Rick Lazar (orchestral bells), Nigel Eaton (Hurdy Gurdy), Panos Dimitrakopoulos (Kanoun), Sokratis Sinopoulos (lyre), Haig Yazdjian (Oud), Ana Alcaide (Nyckelharpa), Daniel Casares (Flamenco guitars) και Miguel Ortiz Ruvira (Flamenco kettledrum).
“Lost Souls” will be available on a CD, in a 180 grams vinyl and on several digital platforms such as iTunes, Apple Music and Spotify.
A few words about her life
This Canadian singer, composer, harpist, accordionist and pianist has universally sold more than 14 million music discs. During her young age, she wanted to be a veterinarian, but she quickly realized that music had already made a selection on her, rather than the opposite. Being keen on Celtic music, she learned how to play the Celtic harp and, then, started performing in many places, such as St. Lawrence Market in Toronto, in order to make money to record her first disc.
Thenceforth, she has got several Gold, Platinum and Multi-platinum records in 15 countries. She has been nominated for the Grammy Awards twice and has also been awarded the Juno Awards twice, along with the Billboard International Achievement Award. McKennit has performed in many of the most respectful and historic concert halls, as the Carnegie Hall and the famous Palace of Alhambra in Granada for exceptional people as the Queen Elisabeth II and others.
In 2004, McKennit was awarded by the Order of Canada and in 2013 she was appointed a Knight in the National Order of Arts and Letters in France. Moreover, her contribution to many charities, such as The Cook-Rees Memorial Fund for Water Search and Safety, Falstaff Family Centre and the Honorary Colonel of the Royal Canadian Air Force is of great importance. Regarding the first one, in 1998 McKennit’s fiancé, Ronald Rees, his brother, Richard, and their close friend, Gregory Cook, were drowned in a marine casualty in Georgian Bay. Due to the impact of this incident on McKennit’s life, she decided to found a Fund, dedicated to their memory, in order to enhance the Research and Safety in Marine Waters. For the time being, she was working on the production of an album including two live concerts, entitled Live in Paris and Toronto. The album proceeds were about 3 million dollars and they were offered to the New Memorial Fund. After the release of this album, McKennit decided to significantly reduce the number of her performances and released no other album until the studio album An Ancient.
