MP3 Lydia McCauley - Entrances

Lydia McCauley's long sold-out recording, now available in Digital download only. Rich, powerful, innovative music in HDCD.

11 MP3 Songs in this album (51:58) !
Related styles: NEW AGE: Adult Alternative, NEW AGE: Spiritual



Details:
Entrances
Produced by Kurt Scherer and Lydia McCauley

HDCD recording

Entrances dances through a primeval forest...chants a Franciscan prayer... shares wisdom from a 14th century mystic... sings the sweet sorrow of an Appalachian lovesong... and swells with a blessing from ancient Scotlandâs people of the heather.

Following the success of Lydia McCauleyâs debut CD release, Sabbath Day's Journey, Brimstone Music released Entrances in 1999. Long out of print, Entrances is now being re-released in Digital downloads only.

From the original description:
âWe booked a major international studio, traveled by caravan north to Canada, illuminated the studio room with 100 candles, played music for two days straight, then recorded vocals for the next two, explains Lydia as she describes the intense time-limits on the actual recording of entrances. One would not be able to tell that this album was recorded so quickly from the lush instrumentation and layered sound. The band was in fine form, and good humor. The candles and music transformed the room into a beautiful space - a mystical space that one can sense throughout the albums ten tracks.â

Entrances is essentially one piece, an album to be played through in its entirety. Lydiaâs entrancing songwriting of the past year springs from what she describes as a difficult and contemplative time. Her music is from the poetâs heart and has the power to move oneâs soul.

In the title track, Entrances, Lydia takes her listener through the forest in pentatonic tones that reach back in time to a primordial moment. The band's synergistic approach to improvisation is apparent in the songs instrumental - and it sets the tone for the album.

Hope Grows contemplates hope in a dark place, using lines from Etty Hillesumâs Diaries, written under the shadow of World War II. There is a light/dark quality in both the melody and lyric that is moving and emotional.
Lydia describes Garden Room as a reflection on the fullness of summer, just before the melancholy turn toward autumn.

Preghiera Semplice is a simple prayer of the Franciscan Tradition; a plea to become human instruments of Peace. It leads mystically into The Fire, and dives deeper into The Cloister Within. There is magic here, as Lydiaâs intuitive songwriting gives way to vocals that seem to be sung through her. The arrangement has depth and space in its entirety. It pulls the listener inward, inspiriting the soul.

The album reaches its pinnacle in Ashes, a continual chordal cycle that seemingly storms and swirls over Lydiaâs voice. Foggy Dew is a fun, rollicking original version of a traditional classic. Come All Ye Fair is a perfect example of the Southern Appalachian wistfulness that is used so often in their lovesongs. The band's beautiful arrangement has a unified sound, resplendent with strings, and lush recorder.

The last track, Traveling Moorland, is a joyous original song that centers around an ancient Scottish Blessing. It invites and inspires the audience into a universal hope of community.

Lydia McCauley - vocals, piano, keyboards
â¨Frank Olsen - double bass
â¨Frank Jackson - recorders
â¨Phil Heaven - viola, doumbekâ¨
Brian Cunningham - acoustic guitar
â¨Kurt Scherer - synth, chimesâ¨
Marc Murray - congas, percussion

Recorded at Greenhouse Studios, Vancouver, B.C., Canada and mastered at Oceanview Mastering, Los Angeles, CA, USA

âOnce again McCauley intrigues us with new ideas, taking us to musical places we havenât been before. Through repetitive, prayer-like lyrics set to aloe-soothing vocals, this album plays like one, one-going developing vigil. You can smell the melting wax and flaming wicks of the candles that were set up in the studio for the atmosphere of this musicâs recording.â -Nicki Ehrlich, Victory Music Review

âLydia McCauleyâs rich vocals bring the clear, simple truths of her lyrics to the listener with a purity akin to illumination.â -The Every Other Weekly

âDeep passion. Superb!â - Dr. Nina Simone Society