Loreena McKennitt: New Album Lost Souls Set for Release May 11th!

Loreena McKennitt is about to release her first recording of original songs since her 2006 recording An Ancient Muse.
 
Her new album, Lost Souls, is set for international release on May 11, 2018.
 
You can hear “A Hundred Wishes” our next instant gratification track NOW on all music services and from our website.
 
[The first single, “Breaking of the Sword” was released for Remembrance Day (Armistice Day) in November of 2017 and can also be heard on all music services and our website.]
 
Over the months of April and May, we will continue to reveal a few more tracks culminating, with a full album experience in early May.
 
International touring plans for 2018/2019 will also be announced in the coming months. As a member of the LM Community, you will be the first to be informed of tours and exclusive pre-sale opportunities.
 
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 distinctly Middle Eastern flavor.
 
The album will be available as a CD, 180-gram vinyl record, and through all music services including iTunes, Apple Music, and Spotify. Pre-orders and pre-saving (for streaming services) begin Friday, March 9th. The CD and vinyl record are both available for pre-order from a number of preferred retailers.
 
The album was recorded from May through October 2017 in Hamilton, Canada at Catherine North Studios and at Peter Gabriel’s Real 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.
 
Engineered by Yossi Shakked, Stuart Bruce, and Jeff Wolpert, lost souls was mastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering Studios. The album package was designed by Jeri Heiden, of Smog Design, Inc.
 
The album also features such specialty artists as Robert Brian and Tal Bergman (Drums), Hossam Ramsey, Graham Hargrove and Rick Lazar (Percussion), Nigel Eaton (Hurdy Gurdy), Panos Dimitrakopoulos (Kanoun), Sokratis Sinopoulos (Lyra), Haig Yazdjian (Oud), Ana Alcaide (Nyckelharpa), Daniel Casares (Flamenco Guitars) and Miguel Ortiz Ruvira (Flamenco Percussion).