Sinead O'Connor hits the small screen

A film documenting Sinead O’Connor’s exploration of traditional music is set to hit TV screens here and in the UK later this year. The film, made by Hummingbird Productions, was commissioned by RTE and the BBC, and ties in with the release of Sinead's sixth studio album, Sean Nos Nua.

"It’s a film that was shot to record Sinead’s journey through the songs of our tradition," says Philip King, the film’s producer and director. "Sinead mixes our tradition – going to the well of that tradition and then singing
these songs in her own unique way – with elements of the rastafarian, dub and reggae traditions, that she became so involved with during the 17 years she lived in England."

The album, Sean Nos Nua, is Sinead's first for the Irish independent label, Hummingbird, a sister comopany of Hummingbird's film operation. Hot Press has confirmed that the album will be released in the UK via the newly formed R&M records label, the brainchild of Roy Eldridge and Mike Andrews.

"Sean Nos Nua is a mixture," King adds, "and the film looks at this. It’s a coagulation of these two traditions. They are old, but like all great traditions, they are relevant and new, in the hands of someone with a great voice like Sinead. My job, as a film maker, was to capture the journey she takes as an artist and a singer, but also as an Irish person."

The working title for the film is Song Of The Heart’s Desire. Clocking in at 52 minutes, it is expected to be screened around Christmas, to coincide with the televised performance of O’Connor’s Vicar St. gigs, which take place on October 25/26.

The album was produced by Donal Lunny and Adrian Sherwood. It will be reviewed in the edition of Hot Press out this week.