June 18, 2014

Publication title: Reno Gazette-Journal, vol. -, Iss. -, pg. –
Place: Unknown
Writer: Sarah Torribio

Tahoe concert preview: Sarah McLachlan’s new album showcases trademark voice, lyrics

Audiences will be treated to a bit of grace on June 24 when singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan takes the stage at Harveys Lake Tahoe’s Outdoor Arena.

The Canadian chanteuse is touring in support of her latest album, which was released in May. Like all her recordings, “Shine On” explores the complexity of relationships, with lyrics tinged with just enough darkness to avoid sentimentality.

In “Monsters,” McLachlan writes about “a wolf stalking in sheep’s clothing,” the kind of lover with a charisma that proves irresistible when it should instead serve as a red flag: “Is it the sparkle in their eyes or the knowledge of the ways of the world?/The way they kiss, the way they hold you, has made you blind to the fangs and the fire.”

With her evocative piano playing and a voice that Elysa Gardner of “Rolling Stone” has called “a ghostly soprano,” which soars, breaks and soars again, her words float effortlessly on a tide of melody.

McLachlan, who rose to prominence with her breakthrough 1993 album, “Fumbling Towards Ectasy,” remains the siren of the sad song. Even when singing about moments of “Surrender and Certainty,” she oozes wistfulness.

But though she can write heartbreak like few others, songwriting is far from a melancholy pursuit.

Perhaps it’s because there tends to be a good degree of separation between the impactful events in her life and the songs they inspire, McLachlan, 46, said in a recent telephone interview with Best Bets.

“I don’t typically write in the midst of things. There’s enough objectivity that it’s actually quite joyful,” she said. “Even when the songs are dark, they serve as a marker that I was there in this place, lost and messed up, and I feel so much better now. I know I’ve come out on the other side.”

Sometimes, McLachlan’s fans don’t have the luxury of distance.

“I was talking to friend of mine last night who is going through an awful divorce,” she said. “He said, ‘I love your record, but I can’t listen to it right now. It’s much too close to the bone.'”

It is, however, that bone-deep emotionality that has earned her enduring success.

Take “Angel” from her 1997 album “Surfacing,” which earned McLachlan two Grammy Awards.

A keening tribute to Smashing Pumpkins keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin, who died of a heroin overdose in 1996, the song is deeply empathetic (“There’s always some reason to feel not good enough”).

When the song was set against the backdrop of an infamously saddening ASPCA commercial in which McLachlan spoke out against animal cruelty amid images of mistreated pets, it became absolutely wrenching.

“I had no idea how powerful it would be. It’s brutal, that ad,” she said. “I never wanted to be Sally Struthers. But it worked like hot damn generating money for ASPCA.”

With the ad having run its course, McLachlan hopes that — despite her knack for writing tear-jerkers — she won’t be pigeonholed as a “Debbie Downer.”

“My music tends to be soft and not terribly aggressive, but I’ve made an effort to touch on that raw side and have fun on occasion,” she said. “The whole label thing, I don’t tend to think about it very much. I’m like any human being. I have a personality, with likes and dislikes. I’m not one-dimensional.”

One label that she doesn’t shrug off, however, is that of being Canadian. McLachlan offered a range of insights on why so many artists — legendary comedians and unforgettable singers — have hailed from the Great White North.

“We’re a huge country,” she said. “We are a country of great and diverse beauty, which often encourages and inspires great art. Plus, there are those long, cold winters, which create a contemplative state. You have to figure out how to work through it. You either play hockey, you drink or you make music.”

At live shows, MacLachlan treats audiences to more than her luminous smile. She digs deep into her bag of ballads, stretching back to her 1988 album debut, “Touch.”

“I do a long show and I get them all in there,” she said. “A lot of my fans have been with me for a long time. I know what songs they want to hear and I want to play all of those,” she said.

New songs are kind of like new crushes — you want to spend time with them — so of course, McLachlan is eager to perform songs from “Shine On.” She takes a philosophical view, however.

“I’m also very aware that no one else knows that material,” she said. “They don’t have a connection with it.”

McLachlan has plenty of experience when it comes to touring. In fact, she founded Lilith Fair, which from 1997 to 1999 showcased female solo artists and female-led bands, including Tracy Chapman, Fiona Apple, Emmylou Harris and Natalie Merchant.

Not only did the festival, which was revived in the summer of 2010, put a refreshingly gyno-centric spin on the increasingly male-dominated festival scene, it raised more than $10 million for women’s charities.

Now that McLachlan has two daughters, however, she approaches touring a bit differently.

“I’ve done it a couple times as a mom. I find that sleep is absolutely imperative. I have to stay healthy,” she said. “It’s a lot of work, being a full-time mom and putting on a 2 ½ to 3-hour show and having 150 people to meet and greet every day. But it beats the hell out of digging ditches.”

Being a parent also helps McLachlan keep one toe in the contemporary music scene.

“I have to tell you I’ve been so immersed in my own record for so long, I haven’t had a lot of time to listen to any new music,” she said. “But obviously, when I drive my kids to school, I have to listen to a lot of top-40 music. I quite like Lorde and Adele.”

McLachlan has graced the top of the charts herself, as when the placement of “Angel” in the “City of Angels” soundtrack helped propel the song to No. 1 on the Billboard charts.

But while many fans know the words to “Building a Mystery” by heart, she will never be known for sing-along pop hits. McLachlan’s wheelhouse consists of songs that combine ethereality with resilience, with lyrics about heartbreak, recovery and hope.

“When you rub up against the really hard stuff, that’s when you figure out what you’re made of,” she said. “You really give in or your fall apart and pull yourself back together. That’s when you change and grow.”