If any psychological scars remain from that embittered parting with Green Linnet, they are not detectable in the slightest on L_nasa’s brand-new CD, “The Kinnitty Sessions.” Due out on March 2, three days before the start of their winter tour, this fifth album from the band is a dazzling reassertion of individual and collective strengths on Nashville’s Compass Records, which two years ago reissued their 1997 self-titled debut with a couple of previously unreleased tracks.
“The Kinnitty Sessions” was recorded in December 2003 inside Kinnitty Castle near Slieve Bloom Mountains in County Offaly. L_nasa performed in front of a live audience, yet there’s no sound from the audience on the CD. Band introductions, stage patter, and crowd clapping were removed out of concern that Irish radio might be put off by them.
Whatever the rationale, the decision has proved inspiring, for the new album conveys the crispness and intricate layering of the studio with the energy and liberating spirit of a concert.
All this is obvious right from the opener, “Stolen Purse/An Sioda Slide/Brendan McMahon’s Reel.” Cillian Vallely’s uilleann pipes and Kevin Crawford’s flute kick it off, and when Se