September 26, 2008

Publication title: Canadian Press, vol. -, Iss. -, pg. –
Place: Vancouver
Writer: Sean Patrick Sullivan

Sarah McLachlan Enjoys Success After Two Decades In Canada’s Music Scene

VANCOUVER – After two decades as the darling of the Canadian folk and pop scene, Sarah McLachlan says she’s thankful her life has evolved past the gruelling cycle that led to her breakthrough as a Canadian singer-songwriter.

Since her 1988 debut McLachlan, now 40, has toured extensively, written songs that became mainstays on commercial radio, released eight albums and founded the groundbreaking, mostly-female Lilith Fair festival.

It was a schedule she’s glad to be free of.

“You work, you put out a record, you tour for two years. You drain yourself to the point of near exhaustion, and then come home and have to try and recharge and find something to write about,” she said recently, speaking in support of her new greatest hits album, “Closer.”

“A decade ago I had to sequester myself away in the mountains for six months, just to force myself to focus – and to decompress,” she said.

That writing process, which led to such blockbuster hits as “Building A Mystery,” “Adia” and “I Will Remember You,” helped McLachlan sell more than 40 million albums worldwide. Her most successful album, 1997’s “Surfacing,” earned two Grammy awards and eight Junos.

“I really needed the discipline and simplicity of being by myself.”

Now, she says the success that’s made her a household name has allowed her to take time off to be a mother, and not feel rushed to write – part of the reason there’s no full album to accompany the new songs on “Closer.”

“I’m lucky, in that I worked really hard for a number of years, and managed to become financially stable. I don’t ever have to work again if I don’t want to, which is a ridiculous position to be in at my age.”

Instead of criss-crossing Canada in a tour bus, McLachlan now summers with her daughters, six-year-old India Ann Sushil and 14-month-old Taja Summer, travelling and surfing near her West Vancouver home.

“I recognize the luxury of that, and I’m really grateful,” she says.

The musician’s personal life became more public this month, when she told Billboard magazine that “Closer’s” two new tracks – “U Want Me 2″ and “Don’t Give Up” – reflect on her recent separation from her husband of 11 years, Ashwin Sood. Sood also plays drums in her band.

When pressed on the meanings of the new songs, McLachlan balks.

“I don’t analyze (my music),” she says.

“I have no interest in analyzing songs past. Does it feel right? If it feels right – (she snaps her fingers) – it’s done.”

While McLachlan says she has no intentions to tour in the near future, she embarks next month on a promotional blitz for “Closer” that takes her to New York and Boston for appearances on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Regis and Kelly, and Good Morning America.

She says her next tour may see a return to small, intimate theatres, rather than the arena shows that marked her heyday in the late ’90s.

“I don’t need to do the big bombastic coliseum thing,” she says. “It was great to do, but for me it’s always been about my music.

“And I think for most of my fans, they couldn’t care less if there was all this stuff around me – I think they just want to hear the songs.”

Is there any chance she’ll resurrect Lilith Fair?

“I get (the question) every day,” she laughs. “Never say never.”

“Closer: The Best of Sarah McLachlan” will be released Oct. 7.