Bróna McVittie has returned with ‘The Stolen Child’, the lead single from her forthcoming fourth album ‘Supernatural’, set for release on Halloween/Samhain 2026
The track is a reimagining of W.B. Yeats’ 1886 poem of the same name, a piece McVittie has had close to her heart since childhood. Built around harp, voice and pulsating sub-bass, it conjures the wild, mystical landscapes of Sligo with real atmosphere and genuine emotional weight. McVittie has spoken about her personal connection to the poem: “It has always been a favourite in our household. To me, it perfectly captures the essence of the fairy world and invites you to step into its mystery. Anyone who has visited Sligo will be familiar with the landscape’s deeply mystical atmosphere. I carried the first two verses of this poem close to my heart while composing the music.”
Born in County Down, McVittie is a trained biologist as well as a musician, and that dual obsession with the natural world and ancient mythology has always underpinned her work. Her three previous albums, ‘We Are the Wildlife’ (2018), ‘The Man in the Mountain’ (2020) and ‘The Woman in the Moon’ (2022), earned widespread critical acclaim and led to performances at WOMAD, Celtic Connections and the National Concert Hall Dublin, among others.
‘Supernatural’ is produced by Thomas Gandey, the English electronic musician and composer also known as Cagedbaby, and has been conceived as a companion piece to McVittie’s recently published folklore anthology ‘A Way with the Fairies’. Each track on the album mirrors a tale from the book, drawing on myths, poems and folk narratives and filtering them through McVittie’s signature mix of harp, guitar, world instrumentation and experimental electronics.
The album also features three international guest artists: flamenco guitarist Antonia Jiménez from Spain, Ukrainian bandurist Anastasiya Voytyuk and Lithuanian vocalist-composer Jausmë, with each contributing to a single track and pulling the record’s storytelling traditions across Europe.
Timed to land on Samhain, the ancient Irish festival marking the point when the boundary between this world and the next is said to be at its thinnest, the album’s release date feels far from accidental. If ‘The Stolen Child’ is anything to go by, ‘Supernatural’ looks set to be McVittie’s most ambitious and fully realised work to date.
‘The Stolen Child’ is out now on all streaming platforms.
