Clannad release video of new version of In A Lifetime

Clannad
(Image credit: Clannad)

Clannad have released a video for a brand new version of their hit In A Lifetime, featuring rising Irish star Denise Chaila.

The new version was recorded in Donegal, the band’s family home and video was shot from a derelict church overlooking the Poison Glen. In A Lifetime, a duet with U2 singer Bono, originally featured on Clannad's 1985 album Macalla, and reached No. 17 in the UK singles chart.

In the new version Limerick-based Chaila, whose 2020 album Go Bravely won the choice Music Prize Album Of The Year, brings her own style to the song, re-working Bono's original vocal.

“When the project 'Ireland in Music' was confirmed last summer, I reached out to Denise after seeing her on a streaming event," explains Clannad guitarist Pol Brennan. "I thought she stole the show! Blown away by her performance I asked her if she'd be interested in joining us for 'In a Lifetime' and a couple of weeks later she came to my studio in Kilkenny, with her team Munya GodKnows and MuRli and what a day we had... "

"Being trusted to sing In A Lifetime with Moya, knowing what it means to them and a vast community of people, is a blessing of many tiers," adds Chaila. "One that was born over cups of tea, vulnerable conversation, storytelling and PB gently reminding me that singing should feel like breathing. This song, to me, has always spoken of a rebirth in the midst of a storm. Coming together to create this, felt exactly like that.” 

Clannad released the career encompassing box set In A Lifetime last year, and will undertake their own farewell tour, now rescheduled to 2022.

Get In A Lifetime.

Jerry Ewing

Writer and broadcaster Jerry Ewing is the Editor of Prog Magazine which he founded for Future Publishing in 2009. He grew up in Sydney and began his writing career in London for Metal Forces magazine in 1989. He has since written for Metal Hammer, Maxim, Vox, Stuff and Bizarre magazines, among others. He created and edited Classic Rock Magazine for Dennis Publishing in 1998 and is the author of a variety of books on both music and sport, including Wonderous Stories; A Journey Through The Landscape Of Progressive Rock.