Sean Nós - song, sung in the "old style". It's a traditional form of singing from Ireland. A capalla, for sure, with much vocal decoration.
Nua, means new. And Sinéad O'Connor takes a new look at some traditional Irish songs, ballads. The result can't really be called "Sean Nós", for the songs are accompanied by music, played by some of the finest musicians to be found. Nor is the characteristic vocal athleticism demonstrated by traditional Sean Nós singers in evidence.
And yet, and yet... There's an old flavor to Sinéad O'Connor's interpretation of the songs, some of which I remember from my childhood ("I'll tell me Ma" and "Báidín Fheilimí" - I'm looking at you two). We'd sing them in the car as, as a family, we went on drives through the Wicklow countryside south of Dublin.
And so, a "new" take on the "old style".
Sean Nós - Nua.
