June, 1991
Publication title: Nite Movies, vol. -, Iss. -, pg. –
Place: Unknown
Writer: Peter Burns
The Solace of Sarah McLachlan
In his poem, Out Of The Sighs, Dylan Thomas measured the agony and beauty of the spirit and observed: ‘Out of the sigs a little comes,
But not of grief for I have knicked down that
Before the agony; the spirit grows
Forgets and cries.
The haunting music and words of Sarah McLachlan emanate as Thomas’s words did, from the experience of loss and bliss, sadness and exhilaration. Her forthcoming album, Solace, serves further evidence that McLachlan is an artist striving to understand herself through a music rich in imaginary and flavours, one in which the dichotomy of sadness and happiness is, as in life, delicately balanced.
Mclachlan’s career began in Halifax with a band called October Game. Discovered by Moev’s Mark Jowett, visits from various Nettwerk associates followed, resulting in an offer by Terry McBride of a five-year contract. The culmination of all this activity was an album called Touch that subsequently captivated listeners in both Canada and the United States, as well as pockets of Europe and Japan.
Touch introduced McLachlan’s classically-trained voice and sympathetic pop arrangements, and while it did not make her a full-fledged household name, it proved to be a formidable debut album, eventually achieving gold record status in Canada, as well as nearing that plateau in the U.S. The strength of Touch lay not only in spiraling, enthralling vocals, but also in the diversity of the tracks, ranging from the upbeat pop of “Vox” and “Steaming” to the atmospheric darkness of “Ben’s Song” and “Sad Clown”.
While the first album offered McLachlan the opportunity to demonstrate the breadth of her classical training and musicianship, the follow-up, Solace, allows her to exhibit her skills as a songwriter. The songs, rather than the vocal technique, are the main focus, and the range of styles allows McLachlan rooms to maneuver.
McLachlan spoke from New Orleans, where she has been wrapping up the final details for Solace at Daniel Lanois’ studio. From the tremor in her voice it is evident that the intrigue of New Orleans has crept into her soul.
“New Orleans is strange and it’s very exotic…there’s also great music flooding in continually. It’s strange though because it’s been warm for so long I feel summer should be ending now.”
A year in the making, Solace was recorded in Montreal, Vancouver, and New Orleans with production by Pierre Marchand (Kate and Anna McGarrigle), and involvement ranging from Jocelyn Lanois (ex-Crash Vegas) and Daryl Exnicious (Neville Brothers), to Bill Dillon (Joni Mitchell, Robbie Robertson) and mixes by Pat McCarthy (the Waterboys, U2 and Robbie Robertson).
Work on the album was exhausting but exhilarating, according to McLachlan. “Pierre told me in the studio to sing like I was singing to him in rehearsal…less inflection and more straightforward delivery so as to bring the strengths of the song out. And in the studio there was less revere and ‘cheating’. I think that’s why this album is more organic and grounded.”
McLachlan stresses that what she inherited from Marchand was a much more disciplined approach to songwriting. The songs featured on Solace went through extensive revision, editing and re-writes over the course of a year – the end product bears the fruit of this painstaking approach.
“In some cases we took the demo and kept one of two ideas, then I re-wrote the lyrics and came up with completely new stuff. Pierre worked me hard and it was worth it.”
While Touch had an ethereal quality vaguely reminiscent of Donette Thayer or Kate Bush, Solace further emphasizes Sarah’s emergence as a songwriter. In the tradition of Canadian songstresses Joni Mitchell or the McGarrigle sisters, Sarah has fundamentally left behind superficial comparisons to Kate Bush and the Cocteau Twins and proceeded to cut a path that is uniquely her own…
What is the songwriting process for you?
“Basically, I have to work myself into a furor where I’m almost losing my mind, or maybe a fit where I lose myself,” she laughs. “Then the sun rises and something good comes out. Most of the time it involves finding the key and opening it up.”
According to McLachlan, the real birth of the album took place in Montreal. “I loved in this house in Montreal near Morin Heights. The house was designed by this Norwegian artist who’s a friend of Pierre’s. It had these huge windows like a church. I sat at night with the windows open and candles everywhere and made music…during the day I swam in the lake. It was there that we made great leaps…everything fell into place.”
Did this effect your sound as well?
“Pierre really influenced more of a sound in what I’m doing, but truthfully, I don’t ever want to have a particular sound because once you have just one sound you should move on or do something else.”
The album’s first single, “Path Of Thorns” has a folk feeling more prominent on this album than on Touch. Solace also contains gems like “Black”, a song that begins with a slow ascending rhythm and orchestration that echoes early Leonard Cohen. At the same time, the song builds layouts of instruments…distorted guitar, violin and mandolin, culminating in a hook that pulls the walls of the song down again. The song “Home” is also melancholy but at the same time oddly celebratory.
“”Home” has to do with not being accepted by your peers. It’s about looking for acceptance and finding it with those who aren’t accepted by anyone else either.”
And the word solace?
“I was searching for one word that would encompass what I was trying to portray; trying to be self-analytical but at the same time trying to get back to the source. Solace is a yearning for what is lost and the shelters we have to find. People have to re-evaluate what they want to life, and in a society based on greed, what I have found is that people are generally kind once you meet them – not whirlwind trips to L.A. or New York, but actually meeting people and discovering we’re no different. Solace is yearning for what is lost and that which we should perhaps re-discover”
