After nine long years of travels and discoveries, which brought to light the immense and acclaimed "An Ancient Muse", our red-headed Canadian decides to take a (well-deserved) break and returns with this "A Midwinter Night's Dream" (October 28, 2008) to classic, restful, and above all less demanding sounds, once again drawing on traditional folk songs (Christmas and otherwise) and rearranging them in an absolutely personal way.
So do not expect to find the diverse musical and cultural influences that once made the most applauded masterpieces famous, but rather these will be just an imperceptible shadow that occasionally peeks through the album's tracks, five of which are the modest revision of the EP "A Winter Garden" (1995). "A Midwinter Night's Dream" is, overall, a simple and intimate album directed towards the eternal and colorful course of the seasons and particularly winter, seen by the artist as a dreary yet smiling period, stimulating reflection - but I think that applies to everyone a bit.
Firstly, the production is perfect and crystal-clear as never before: not a smudge prevents the delightful arrangements from harmoniously blending with McKennitt's voice, and the latter, apparently, does not seem to show any signs of age, maintaining the usual professional clarity worthy of a true soprano. Loreena could live to be a hundred years old, but her voice would remain as it always has been.
Now let's move on to the more "succulent" aspects: beyond the formal aspects, what does this album offer us?
The tracks are predominantly very short and therefore essentially and linearly structured: "round", cohesive, concise, and delightfully catchy tunes, often supported by layers of tribal percussion that wink unabashedly at dear old "Marco Polo", and flashes of sweet, deep, and ethereal introspection.
In the first case, we can highlight the floral cheerfulness of "Good King Wenceslas", where a real exchange of lines occurs between voice, flutes, violins, and guitar, while in the engaging and joyful tranquility of "Noel Nouvelet!" and especially in the smooth and enveloping "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen", a dense and unmistakable Middle Eastern scent can still be detected - a tendency that Loreena will probably never abandon.
Regarding the more atmospheric aspect, we must mention the opener "The Holly & The Ivy", illuminated by a latent and undefined melancholy (thanks to the vibrant notes of the piano), the much-revisited "Snow", where Loreena's warm voice rises diaphanous in a triumph of strings and plucked instruments, and finally the instrumental "The Breton Carol" and "In the Bleak Midwinter", undoubtedly picturesque and refined but not particularly remarkable episodes.
The album evolves convincingly without, however, leaving one speechless (which happened when listening to almost all the predecessors), wandering calmly between the most memorable and festive moments, those that gently imprint in the mind, and the songs that play a role of excellent and rich accompaniment, but still mere accompaniment they are. In light of a more objective analysis, the album indeed seems at times diluted, homogeneous, and very "plain and simple": it almost seems as if it were composed with a certain disinterest, without any burst of brilliant inspiration.
"A Midwinter Night's Dream" is, all in all, a generous breath of fresh air after an intensive immersion, as well as the worthy synthesis of the countless experiences lived by the artist and a new anticipation of potential future works that will add to her career, far from being concluded. Are we facing a masterpiece? Certainly not. This does not mean that it is not an enormously enjoyable, multi-colored work delicately crafted in the McKennitt home, and that says it all about its (enviable) quality.
Now, it's your turn to decide.
Tracklist and Lyrics
05 Good King Wenceslas (03:16)
Good King Wenceslas looked out
On the Feast of Stephen
When the snow lay 'round about
Deep and crisp and even
Brightly shone the moon that night
Though the frost was cruel
When a poor man came in sight
Gath'ring winter fuel
"Hither, page, and stand by me,
If thou know'st it, telling
Yonder peasant, who is he?
Where and what his dwelling?"
"Sire, he lives a good league hence,
Underneath the mountain
Right against the forest fence
By Saint Agnes' fountain."
"Bring me flesh and bring me wine
Bring me pine-logs hither
Thou and I shall see him dine
When we bear them thither."
Page and monarch, forth they went
Forth they went together
Through the rude wind's wild lament
And the bitter weather.
"Sire, the night is darker now
And the wind blows stronger
Fails my heart, I know not how
I can go no longer."
"Mark my footsteps, good my page
Tread thou in them boldly
Thou shall find the winter's rage
Freeze thy blood less coldly."
In his master's step he trod
Where the snow lay dinted
Heat was in the very sod
Which the Saint had printed
Therefore, Christian men, be sure
Wealth or rank possessing
Ye, who now will bless the poor
Shall yourselves find blessing.
06 Coventry Carol (02:18)
Lully, lulla, thou little tiny child
By by, lully, lullay, thou little tiny child
By by, lully lullay
O sisters too, how may we do
For to preserve this day
This poor youngling
For whom we do sing
By by, lully lullay?
Herod, the king
In his raging
Chargèd he hath this day
His men of might
In his own sight,
All young children to slay
That woe is me
Poor child for thee!
And ever morn and day,
For thy parting
Neither say nor sing
By by, lully lullay!
08 Snow (05:05)
White are the far-off plains,
And white the fading forests grow;
The wind dies out amongst the tides
And denser still the snow,
A gathering weight on roof and tree
Falls down scarce audibly.
The meadows and far-sheeted streams
Lie still without a sound;
Like some soft minister of dreams
The snowfall hoods me around;
In wood and water, earth and air,
A silence is everywhere.
Save when at lonely spells
Some farmer's sleigh is urged on,
With rustling runner and sharp bells,
Swings by me and is gone;
Or from the empty waste I hear
A sound remote and clear;
The barking of a dog,
To cattle, is sharply pued,
Borne, echoing from some wayside stall
Or barnyard far afield;
Then all is silent and the snow
Falls settling soft and slow
The evening deepens and the grey
Folds closer Earth to sky
The world seems shrouded, so far away.
Its noises sleep, and I
As secret as yon buried stream
Plod dumbly on and dream.
And dream
And dream
I dream
And I dream…
10 Seeds of Love (04:54)
I sowed the seeds of love
I sowed them in the spring
I gathered them up in the morning so clear
When the small birds so sweetly sing
When the small birds so sweetly sing
The gardener was standing by
I asked him to choose for me
He chose for me the violet, the lily and the pink
But those I refused all three
But those I refused all three
The violet I did not like
Because it bloomed so soon
The lily and the pink I really over-think
So I thought I would wait till June
So I thought I would wait till June
In June there was a red rose bud
That is the flower for me
I often times have plucked that red rose bud
Till I gained the willow tree
Till I gained the willow tree
The willow tree will twist
The willow tree will twine
I often have wished I was in the young man's arms
Who once had the heart of mine
Who once had the heart of mine
I sowed the seeds of love
I sowed them in the spring
I gathered them up in the morning so soon
When the small birds so sweetly sing
When the small birds so sweetly sing
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Other reviews
By coeranos
"There’s only one true new track, and it’s the song 'The Holly & The Ivy,' which isn’t even the most interesting track."
"The tracks do not differ from the sounds of the artist’s previous works; it almost seems like a summary of all the albums produced so far."