Sinead O'Connor'Sean-N?s Nua'

Vanguard Records

Grade: A



Sinead O'Connor's latest effort, "Sean-N?s Nua," is a surprisingly enchanting collection of traditional Irish hymns collected and performed by the formerly impulsive and controversial young rebel. Never more delicate in her delivery, O'Connor sings her most beautiful and emotional performance since "I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got" of the '90s.

Her signature ferocious wails and bellows have mellowed, and O'Connor has seemed at peace with herself and her demons since her '97 "Gospel Oak EP." Despite small similarities to her more recent work, in "Sean-N?s Nua," O'Connor performs with more sincerity and splendor than ever before. The songs of "Sean-N?s Nua" are as colorful and interesting as Ireland itself.

"Sean-N?s Nua" translates roughly to "old style, but new." With this masterpiece, O'Connor unravels her influences before the listener, making the stylistic origins of her previous work obvious. In fact, the influence is circular. These traditional Irish songs influenced her earlier music, which she in turn used to reinterpret the old traditions. While remaining surprisingly true to her roots, O'Connor manages to enchant the time-honored songs of "Sean-N?s Nua" with subtle beats, sexual overtones, and, of course, her stunningly emotional voice.

O'Connor revises the charming and whispery "Peggy Gordon" into a tender tale of homosexual love. Unhindered by the impulsiveness of her past, O'Connor performs with stunning emotion and charisma. "Oro, Se Do Bheatha 'Bhaile," a feminist war song, is modernized by trip-hop beats reminiscent of her 2000 album, "Faith & Courage."

O'Connor outdoes her most powerfully epic song and debut single, her 1989 "Troy (The Phoenix from the Flame)," in this album with the spectral immigration story, "Paddy's Lament." Mapping the tragedy of Irish immigrants in America during the Civil War, the song builds up a tension that, significantly, is maintained through the next track, "The Moorlough Shore," and is not released until "The Parting Glass."

On "The Parting Glass," O'Connor's voice can be described only as liberated and magical. She brings the Irish drinking song to life with her own motherly, compassionate interpretation. Aided by fiddle and guitar, her voice rises and falls with climactic timing reminiscent of her biggest hit, "Nothing Compares 2 U."

Furthermore, she performs the tale of "Molly Malone" with tragic beauty. The song evokes feelings of transcendence and of graceful passage to heaven. Here, carefully orchestrated strings softly sway with O'Connor's touchingly mournful performance. In "Molly Malone," O'Connor shows that she can still emotionally manipulate her audience with baffling precision.

"I've been dying to make this record all my life," says Sinead O'Connor of her latest effort. This optimism flows throughout the entire album, energizing it and bringing it to life. O'Connor transforms mournful laments into beautiful, hopeful ballads and changes everyday hymns into uniquely touching memoirs.

While neither as pop friendly as her 1990 "I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got," nor as stylistically contemporary as her 2000 "Faith and Courage," O'Connor's latest effort proves to be more beautiful and profound than any previous work. Simultaneously displaying and reinventing her influences, O'Connor uses these songs to tell the tales of her homeland and of herself.

The Irish firebrand who shunned the world for so long has finally opened up. Take a glimpse at the beauty inside.

— Jared Danker