Performer Notes

Personnel: Sinad O'Connor (vocals); Christy Moore (vocals); Kieran Kiely (whistling, accordion); Dnal Lunny (acoustic guitar, bouzouki, keyboards, bodhran); Skip McDonald (electric guitar); Steve Wickham (banjo, mandolin, fiddle); Cora Venus Lunny (violin, viola); Sharon Shannon (accordion); Bernard O'Neill (acoustic bass); Professor Stretch (drums, programming); Alan Branch (percussion, programming); Peter Lockett (percussion).
Audio Mixers: Adrian Sherwood; Alan Branch .
Recording information: Ashford, Co. Wicklow; On-U-Sound Studio, London, England.
Arrangers: Dnal Lunny; B. Alexander; Bernard O'Neill; Professor Stretch; Alan Branch ; Maxwell ; Peter Lockett ; Sinad O'Connor; Steve Wickham; Kieran Kiely.
A long held-desire of Sinead O'Connor's was to record an album's worth of traditional Irish songs, many of which she learned growing up as a child in Ireland. SEAN-NOS NUA is that dream fulfilled and it features some of this firebrand's most stellar work. Employing a number of traditional Irish instruments (and musicians), O'Connor treats these songs with a delicate touch befitting her deep love of them. In addition to her reverential treatment of these songs, this native of The Emerald Isle provides detailed track-by-track annotations. Some songs double as prayers ("The Singing Bird") or children's skipping songs ("I'll Tell Me Ma'), while one evokes the heartbreak felt by the spouse of vanished explorer Sir John Franklin ("Lord Franklin").
Among the more familiar songs picked by O'Connor are the delicate "Molly Malone" and equally forlorn "Paddy's Lament." Furthering the Irish cause all the more, O'Connor enlists the legendary Christy Moore to duet on a nearly a capella reading of "Lord Baker." Rich and heartfelt, SEAN-NOS NUA is one of O'Connor's most personal outings since she broke onto the music scene in 1987.

Professional Reviews

Rolling Stone (10/02, p.70) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...Her most rapturous work in a decade..."

Entertainment Weekly (10/11/02, p.82) - "...Combines gorgeous traditional songs and top players with some powerful singing...just like the old days..." - Rating: B+

Body & Soul (01-02/03, pp.74-75) - "...[O'Connor] ignites...all of SEAN-NOS NUA with an emotional intensity that transcends time and place..."

Mojo (Publisher) (1/03, p.75) - Ranked #3 in Mojo's "Best Folk Albums of 2002"

Mojo (Publisher) (11/02, p.108) - "...Nothing sounds quite as expected...truly haunting."

Album: Sean-N¢s Nua
#	Song Title	Time
1)	Peggy Gordon
2)	Her Mantle So Green
3)	Lord Franklin
4)	Singing Bird, The
5)	Or S Do Bheatha 'Bhaile - (Irish Gaelic)
6)	Molly Malone
7)	Paddy's Lament
8)	Moorlough Shore, The
9)	Parting Glass, The
10)	Bidn Fheilim - (Irish Gaelic)
11)	My Lagan Love
12)	Lord Baker
13)	I'll Tell Me Ma

Album: Sean-N¢s Nua
#	Song Title	Time
1)	Peggy Gordon
2)	Her Mantle So Green
3)	Lord Franklin
4)	Singing Bird, The
5)	Or S Do Bheatha 'Bhaile - (Irish Gaelic)
6)	Molly Malone
7)	Paddy's Lament
8)	Moorlough Shore, The
9)	Parting Glass, The
10)	Bidn Fheilim - (Irish Gaelic)
11)	My Lagan Love
12)	Lord Baker
13)	I'll Tell Me Ma