Loreena McKennitt is celebrating the 30th anniversary of her career by releasing her album To Drive The Cold Winter Away on vinyl for the first time. The Canadian singer-songwriter’s sophomore seasonal album has been newly mastered for vinyl by Jeff Wolpert. The album is out October 9 via the artist’s own Quinlan Road label and is limited to 5,000 copies pressed on 180g vinyl and the Record Industry plant in the Netherlands.
1987’s To Drive The Cold Winter Away is composed of traditional and lesser-known winter and Christmas carols. In order to capture a desired ambience, the 10 songs were recorded on location in Ireland at a Benedictine monastery, The Tyrone Guthrie Centre in Annaghmakerrig, and at The Church Of Our Lady in Guelph, Ontario.
“The arrangements are sparse, but somehow I felt that reflected the dynamics of the fall and winter seasons, and that there can be much beauty in such simplicity,” McKennitt once said. “As it is recorded on location, you may occasionally hear sounds of life continuing on around us. We hope these are not distracting, but rather are embraced like flecks of straw in the wool sweater your grandmother might have knitted to keep the cold winter away.”
McKennitt’s Celtic-centric blend of pop, folk, and world music has connected with listeners since her 1985 debut. She’s sold over 14 million albums worldwide and received two Grammy nominations: An Ancient Muse was nominated Best Contemporary World Music Album in 2007 and Troubadours on the Rhine was nominated for Best New Age Album in 2012.
Last year, she shared The Road Back Home, a spontaneous live recording culled from a series of shows in 2023 in which McKennitt returned to the traditional songs that she busked in her early days as a musician. She also released The Mask and Mirror Live, a celebration of the 30th anniversary of an in-concert recording of McKennitt’s 1994 fifth studio album.
Order Loreena McKennitt’s To Drive The Cold Winter Away on vinyl now.
