New music from Sinead O’Connor was released posthumously, with ‘The Magdalene Song” debuting Sunday in an episode of the BBC series “The Woman in the Wall.”
The previously unreleased track dropped during the series finale of the psychological thriller a full two months after the legendary Irish singer’s death on July 26, at the age of 56, according to People. Composer David Holmes, who scored the series, shared his perspective of the song, saying that the “first half of the track is completely heartbreaking, and the second half is pure defiance,” according to The Guardian.
“I stripped the song away to just Sinéad’s voice and then let the full power come in for the second half,” Holmes added. “It’s incredible how the meaning of the song came together with this story. It was just meant to be. There’s a certain magic when you bring music to an emotive story.”
Holmes indicated that O’Connor’s gave her permission for the track to be used in the series before filming had even begun and reflected on O’Connor’s relationship with her own art.
“In the lyrics Sinéad was trying to say, I think, that though she’d been through great turmoil, it would not stop her being who she wanted to be,” Holmes said. “She never really spoke about the meaning of her songs. She used to joke that she would often tell people that her songs were about something completely different to what they were about.” (RELATED: New Details Emerge Surrounding Sinead O’Connor’s Death)
‘The Magdalene Song’ is the first new music from the singer since she died in Julyhttps://t.co/2r16c0B1PW
— Rolling Stone UK (@RollingStoneUK) September 25, 2023
Holmes also said he believes O’Connor “would have been proud” to have her song included in the episode, per The Guardian.
The series debuts in the U.S. on Paramount+ with Showtime on Nov. 1.