A new Sinéad O’Connor track was unveiled during the final episode of BBC drama The Woman in the Wall. The previously unreleased song, titled The Magdalene Song, is believed to be one of O’Connor’s final recordings before her death in July 2023. It was gifted to the producers of the BBC series before O’Connor’s untimely passing.
The Woman in the Wall explores the maltreatment and cruelty experienced by women at the hands of the Catholic Church in Ireland. Specifically, the show focuses on the Magdalene Laundries, where an estimated 30,000 women were confined from the 18th to the 20th century. These institutions were run by Roman Catholic orders, and were the sites of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse.
The Magdalene Song references O’Connor’s own experiences with the Church, as well as her grief over losing a child. The song begins as a heartbreaking lament, but builds to a defiant second half. Her producer, David Holmes, described stripping the song down to “just Sinéad’s voice” before gradually adding layers of instrumentation for maximum emotional impact.
O’Connor converted to Islam in 2018 and changed her name to Shuhada’ Sadaqat in 2021. However, she continued to make music under her birth name. The Woman in the Wall is available for streaming on BBC iPlayer, and The Magdalene Song can be listened to below
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