Sinead O'Connor - Sean-Nos Nua

Sinéad O'Connor's first studio record since 2000's Faith and Courage takes her far into her Irish heritage with 13 traditional songs dusted off and set to new arrangements. Accompanied by stellar Irish and English-based musicians such as Donal Lunny (guitar, bouzouki, keyboard, bodhran, bodhran bass) and vocalist Christy Moore, O'Connor, who also coproduced, casts a hypnotic spell, making the old songs resonate with pulsing rhythms and sounds. Such contemporary treatment takes nothing away from the austere splendor of the material--in fact, this often seems a mystical recording just recovered from some ancient vault. Whether pining over unrequited love ("Peggy Gordon") or bemoaning the plight of a soldier who fled the Irish wars, only to be conscripted under Abraham Lincoln in the War Between the States ("Paddy's Lament"), O'Connor delivers an intimate and thoroughly mature performance, her whispered voice occasionally giving way to a primal scream. Melancholy to the core and astonishingly beautiful. --Alanna Nash Amazon.com

Incredible, not to be missed

On Sean-Nos Nua, meaning "Old-Style New", O'Connor has taken old Irish favorites and put a new twist on them. These songs, done this way, are striking. O'Connor's voice is amazing. She was MADE for these songs. As strange as it may seem, the Jamaican rhythms she pairs with the Irish ballads, simply work in the most astonishing way. You must hear it to believe it. My favorites are "Peggy Gordon", (which O'Connor says in the liner notes she heard as a lesbian love song, I dunno, somehow this adds poignancy to me.), "My Lagan Love" and "The Moorlough Shore". Enjoy. April 26, 2008

Absolutely Fantastic

I've listened to this CD so much over the years that I'm in here to purchase another... I wore the first one out! The song selection is wonderful and Sinead's voice lends eerie, melodic atmosphere to such traditional tunes as "Oro, Se Do Bheatha 'Bhaile", "Baidin Fheilimi", "Peggy Gordon" and does quite well with classic songs like "I'll Tell Me Ma" and "The Parting Glass". I have a large collection of Irish and Celtic Traditional music that I love and this is an indispensable part of that collection. March 27, 2008

Fine. Not great, though

I'd been waiting for Sinead O'Connor to release a CD of irish music for years, and even though it's not a whole dissapointment, I must admit that my expectations weren't fullfilled.

She has done excellent covers of irish traditional songs as a guest on many albums and perhaps the problem is that I was expecting a bit of that.

The arrangements are too updated for may taste and the whole echo effect of the album can become a bit annoying.

PEGGY GORDON could've been a perfect song, but it's so long and slow that it becomes a bit boring. Her voice sounds gorgeous, though.

HER MANTLE SO GREEN could've also been a great song, but the echo of her voice is a bit exagerated and rather pointless. In spite of this, it's a good song.

LORD FRANKLIN. Again a great song overshadowed by the exagerated echo. Her voice also sounds gorgeous and moving.

THE SINGING BIRD. Boring. I don't think I've ever listened to it completely.

ORO, SE DO BHEATHA 'BHAILE. Great song, but I don't know if it's just me or the song doesn't seem to have been recorded in stereo but in mono.

MOLLY MALONE. It's a very moving song, but the echo makes it sound as if the story of the song had taken place on a distant galaxy. It's sounds spacial rather than irish.

PADDY'S LAMENT. Excellent song. Modern but yet pure irish music in bloom. I really love her version of this song. I think it's perfect. A gem on this album.

THE MOORLOUGH SHORE. Another excellent song. The arrangements are beautiful and her voice sounds gorgeous and moving. A gem on this album.

THE PARTING GLASS. It's a fine song, but I think it's a bit repetitive.

BAIDIN FHEILIMI. Annoying, repetitive and childish.

MY LAGAN LOVE. Her voice sounds beautiful and powerfull, but the arragements sound as if they had been made with one of those keyboards you own when you're a teenager.

LORD BAKER. Although I don't like Christy Moore's voice at all, I must admit that her voice and her passion makes it a great song. It's almost 13 minutes long and however the story it narrates really catches you and moves you. The echo isn't exagerated and it totally goes with the mood of the song. A gem on this album.

I'LL TELL ME MA. Another great and catchy song. Modern but without losing its irish soul. A gem on this album. November 28, 2007

Beautiful Irish music

This was delivered on time and reminded me of my trip to Ireland this year. Sinead has a beautiful voice. I will remember some amazing times in Dublin when I listen to this CD. October 29, 2007

Love or hate it

Wow-it's obvious from the reviews so far that this is one of those albums people either love or hate. I'm not a fan of Sinead's but have noticed her dip into many genres, which is surely any talented artist's due. I am fascinated to read Irish opinion on Irish music which seems so nuanced and discerning compared to my distant Australian grasp. Sean-Nos NuaThese songs weren't familiar to me in my childhood, apart from Molly Malone - which was more like a harmless nursery rhyme that I would never have expected any singer to inject passion into. Sinead's connection to these songs is unquestionable - sometimes the interpretation is not to taste, but what the hell - her delivery is passionately sincere, and I have to love that. A lot of the songs have grown on me, but I adore 'Lord Baker', which was the reason I bought the album. (I think it's important to read the cover notes and observe that the whole album is a collection of love songs, this one metaphorically so, between God and mankind.) 'Lord Franklin' is just so poignant. 'Paddy's Lament'- bitter and sad. Sinead keeps talking about 'ghosts' and respecting the ghost in the song, and I think she gets to the heart of that spirit each time. Sure Lord Baker is down to a whisper sometimes, but how can Christy Moore have so much rhythm even at that volume? and Sinead so much inflection even in a line as simple as, "Is this Lord Baker's palace?" And all the drama of that slight pause in the music in the moment after the foot soldier tells her Lord Baker has, "This very day took a new bride in" - Sinead's stirring response, no longer a whisper, but defiant - "Well ask him send me a cut of his wedding cake, a glass of his wine it being e'er so strong, and to remember the brave young lady who did release him in Turkeyland." Such a beautiful rendition of an almost abandoned ideal, revived at the last minute. Can't but love it. October 14, 2007

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