Elemental (Loreena McKennitt album)

Elemental is the debut album by Canadian singer-songwriter and instrumentalist Loreena McKennitt and the vehicle with which she launched the Quinlan Road label. The album was recorded in one week in July 1985 and released later in the year. The studio was a barn in southern Ontario, situated in a field of sunflowers.[1] It sold 67,000 pieces worldwide.[3]

Elemental
Studio album by Loreena McKennitt
Released	1985
Recorded	July 1985
Studio	Elora Sound[1]
Genre	Folk
Length	36:27
Label	Quinlan Road
Loreena McKennitt chronology
Elemental (1985) To Drive the Cold Winter Away (1987)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]

Track listing

1. "Blacksmith" (traditional, McKennitt) – 3:20
2. "She Moved Through the Fair" (traditional, Padraic Colum, McKennitt) – 4:05
3. "Stolen Child" (McKennitt, W. B. Yeats) – 5:05
4. "The Lark in the Clear Air" (traditional, McKennitt) – 2:06
5. "Carrighfergus" (traditional, McKennitt) – 3:24
6. "Kellswater" (traditional, McKennitt) – 5:19
7. "Banks of Claudy" (traditional, McKennitt) – 5:37
8. "Come by the Hills" (traditional, McKennitt) – 3:05
9. "Lullaby" (William Blake, McKennitt) – 4:26

Song information

• "Stolen Child" is based on the William Butler Yeats poem "The Stolen Child".
• The main vocals of "Carrighfergus" are sung by Cedric Smith.
• "Lullaby" uses the words of a poem by William Blake Prologue intended for a dramatic piece of King Edward the Fourth. The song was written for the 1983 Stratford Festival of Canada production of Blake by Elliott Hayes and performed by Douglas Campbell.

Notes

1. Quinlan Road Ltd. (2006) [1985], Elemental Liner Notes (PDF), archived from the original (PDF) on 29 December 2006, retrieved 2008-09-27
2. Allmusic review
3. "McKennnit to unleash 'Book of Secrets'". Billboard. 23 August 1997. Retrieved 12 April 2018.