Loreena McKennitt, the award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter and recent Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductee, is bringing fans two special gifts this holiday season. On November 21, she releases a limited-edition seven-inch vinyl single featuring her otherworldly rendition of “Silent Night,” alongside “The King,” both recorded during her 2021 Under A Winter’s Moon sessions.
“Silent Night” finds McKennitt at her most ethereal, her haunting vocals joined by longtime collaborator Caroline Lavelle on cello. The B-side, “The King,” transforms a rustic English New Year’s song into a joyous, wassail-style celebration with McKennitt on accordion. The full ensemble includes Cedric Smith, Romano DiNillo, and members of The Bookends – Errol Fischer, Pete Watson, and Cait Watson – who all lend their voices to the spirited performance.
The single, housed in a full-colour picture sleeve, will be available exclusively through McKennitt’s official online store starting November 21, with pre-orders open now. Digital editions of both songs will also arrive that same day, along with an expanded digital reissue of Under A Winter’s Moon, originally recorded in a historic church sanctuary and dubbed “a love letter to the season.”
Also arriving November 21 is Live in Madrid, a pristine soundboard concert recording from McKennitt’s 2024 Mask and Mirror anniversary tour. Captured at the Noches del Botánico Festival, the album presents the full 20-song performance exactly as it sounded in the venue that night. Only 2,024 copies each of the three-disc vinyl and two-CD editions will be produced, marking the year of the tour.
With more than 16 million albums sold worldwide and an illustrious career spanning performances at Carnegie Hall, the Alhambra Palace, and before heads of state, Loreena McKennitt continues to weave magic through her timeless voice, blending Celtic, folk, and world traditions into something truly transcendent.