Two Loreena McKennitt Releases Are Coming To Vinyl
A live album from 2024 and a special 7” release are now available.
Loreena McKennitt has announced two new special vinyl releases, including a live album entitled Live In Madrid 2024 – The Mask and The Mirror. The album will be available on a 10” 2LP. Additionally, the Canadian songwriter will be releasing “Silent Night” and “The King” as a 7” single. Both entries come as McKennitt celebrates the 30th year of her career.
Live in Madrid features a soundboard recording in stereo directly from the mixing desk located front of house at the venue. The recording techniques used to capture the performance makes this release the next best thing besides having been at the show in the first place.
“Silent Night” and “The King” were previously unreleased but recorded in 2021 during the same sessions that McKennitt recorded her 2022 LP, Under A Winter’s Moon. The single is housed in a full-color picture sleeve.
Loreena McKennitt’s version of the popular holiday song features cellist Caroline Lavelle. Additionally, the 7” comes with two encore tracks. The b-side, “The King,” features the entire Winter’s Moon company in wassail style, accompanied by Loreena on the accordion. Among the performers is Cedric Smith, who first appeared on Loreena’s debut recording Elemental, in addition to her studio version of “The King” from 1987’s To Drive The Cold Winter Away.
McKennitt’s 30th anniversary celebration began in earnest earlier this year when she announced in March that her 1987 album To Drive The Cold Winter Away would be available on vinyl for the first time. The Canadian star’s sophomore seasonal album was mastered for vinyl by Jeff Wolpert.
McKennitt has been sharing plenty of new releases, too. Last year, she offered up The Road Back Home, a spontaneous live recording culled from a series of shows in 2023 in which McKennitt returned to the traditional songs that she busked in her early days as a musician.
