Shortly after the release of "Lost Souls" in 2018 and the tour that followed, Loreena Mc Kennitt announced her withdrawal from the music scene, deeply tired of the organized theft of any musical work through the internet and streaming platforms, wishing now to devote her time to causes that challenge her, including ecological (see for this our interview of 2019). The temptation to continue despite everything the adventure and primarily in concert led the artist to propose a show based on the theme of winter and traditional Christmases, integrating music and legends of the season. Proposed in December 2021, this show is now restored in the form of a double CD mixing narrations and songs from the artist's repertoire, mainly from the two albums already published on a similar theme ("To Drive the Cold Winter Away" - 6 tracks, and "A Midwinter Night's Dream" - 7 tracks).
After a first track dedicated to an indigenous story, Loreena Mc Kennitt begins her a cappella recital, her crystalline voice supported on vocals by Caroline Lavelle, her long-time collaborator, who is of course found later on the cello. The atmosphere of winter landscape settles down as the tracks go by and the often intimist interventions of the different acoustic instruments (harp, violin, cello or flute) offer a new reading of the different pieces. Alternating judiciously melancholic titles and more cheerful ritornellos, the first CD is almost listened to in one go and only a second story comes to break somewhat the charm of this live recording which is not without resembling the one engraved on "Troubadours on the Rhine".
The second album is made up of the narration of a prose piece by the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, cut into six parts sometimes accompanied by a discreet instrumentation and interspersed with a choice of titles that perfectly match the atmosphere. If the quality of the interpretation remains flawless and the shivers regularly slide down the spine, the choice to propose this format in CD leaves a little skeptical. In addition to the fact that non-English speakers might quickly lose interest in the story, after the first listening, there is a chance that to skip the 29 minutes of this new story. It would probably have been better to offer the show on DVD in its entirety, and to leave the whole musical performance on a single CD.
Nevertheless, this new production of Loreena Mc Kennitt allows us to remember this magnificent artist and to hope that she will give an upcoming follow-up to her discography with new compositions. The best way to do this is to support her!