Stereo Embers The Podcast 0522: Loreena McKennitt

“The Mask And The Mirror”

The Manitoba-born Loreena Mckennitt is one of the most singular artists on the planet. She’s also one of the most decorated. The two-time Juno Award winning musician has sold close to twenty million albums, been nominated for a Grammy twice, has three honorary doctorates, is both an Appointed Office and Appointed Member of the Order of Canada, she’s been awarded The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, she’s an Appointed Officer and Knight of the Republic Of France, and she’s an indcutee into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame and The Canadian Music Hall of Fame. Trust me, when I say, there’s more: like her appointment as Honorary Colonel of the Royal Canadian Air Force or her Billboard Music Award for International Achievement, 1997. I’ll stop there, but I think you’re getting the idea. Loreena McKennitt is a decidedly distinguished artist. Speaking of which, let’s talk about that art. Over the course of her career, McKennitt has put out ten studio albums on her own Quinlan Road label, including Elemental, The Visit, The Book of Secrets, Lost Souls and 1994’s The Mask And Mirror, which is being treated to a 30th anniversary edition. An international best-seller, The Mask And Mirror went to number one on the U.S. World Music charts. Like much of McKennitt’s work, the album was influenced by her travels and as it searches for the meaning of spirituality and religion using 15th century Spain as its lens, The Mask And Mirror is stirring and affecting work. From numbers like “The Mystic’s Dream” to the the riveting “Full Circle,” The Mask and Mirror uses Yeats, Shakespeare and St. John Of The Cross as its lyrical spirit guides. It’s remarkable work. McKennitt’s brand of folk, world music and Celtic Fusion is wondrous and rousing and 30 years later, like all of her work, The Mask and Mirror sounds as timeless as ever.

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Stereo Embers : The Podcast