May 05, 2014
Publication title: The Wall Street Journal, vol. -, Iss. -, pg. –
Place: Unknown
Writer: Jonathan Welsh
Sarah McLachlan Releases New Album, ‘Shine On’
While people might think of Sarah McLachlan as a folksy ballad singer, the songs on her new album, “Shine On,” reflect a sort of hard-rock fantasy she has nurtured for many years, she says.
Listening to her seventh full-length album, which is set for release Tuesday, one hears her familiar voice accompanied by stark guitar riffs that give songs such as “Flesh and Blood,” “Love Beside Me” and the album’s first single, “In Your Shoes,” a stripped-down, almost-live feel. The sound could surprise longtime fans while making aficionados of 1980s rock think they are being whisked back in time.
Ms. McLachlan, 46 years old, talked with the Journal about breaking out of the Lilith Fair box, making music in middle age and working with fellow Canadian Bob Rock, a veteran producer who co-founded the Payolas and later worked with other ’80s acts like the Cult and Metallica.
People love to categorize singers, and many use words like “folk-rock,” “Lilith Fair” and “very 1990s” when describing you. Is it safe to say this album is more of a departure than others?
Yes, putting people into tidy little boxes. In this album I needed to work outside my safety zone. Sometimes you have to sharpen the saw. For a long time I had a hankering to be more aggressive, raw, exciting and passionate. I felt as if I had come close to doing this while playing live, but I wanted to translate it to the studio.
Your longtime collaborator and producer Pierre Marchand suggested you work with Bob Rock on the new album. Did you agree right away?
The suggestion raised my eyebrows a bit, but my manager said, “Just meet him,” so I did, and he turned out to be a lovely man. We spent a few days together working on “Flesh and Blood,” and he handed me an electric guitar. I realized how much I had missed playing it. It gave the song energy.
The electric-guitar references conjure images of you channeling the Cult’s Billy Duffy, shredding strings and generating lots of reverb in the style of “She Sells Sanctuary.”
Not quite, but there were times when I went too far and had to pare it back.
How strong is your connection to music of the 1980s, the era in which Bob Rock emerged?
It’s very strong. I listened to Peter Gabriel, the Smiths, the Cocteau Twins. That was all during high school for me. I also had two older brothers who largely influenced what I heard. There was also plenty of Joni Mitchell, Cat Stevens and Simon & Garfunkel.
You mentioned that you typically work at home so you can stay close to your grade-school-age daughters. Does the house get too crowded at times? Would other work-at-home parents spot similarities between your life and theirs?
I think so. Sometimes I’ll be at the piano and need a minute to capture that moment of brilliance before it slips away, and that’s when one of them comes in crying, “She hit me.” That’s why I always have the recorder on when I’m working, because there are sure to be interruptions, and you have to be able to handle them. I have a lot of recordings with interesting background noises, you know, doors slamming and dogs barking.
“Shine On” is your seventh full album in more than two decades, so you have never been one to churn out new music every year. As a result, people sometimes say your albums reflect phases of life or at least long-term moods. Is that accurate?
Yes, this is me. These songs are who I am. I hope the mood of the album is indicative of where I am today. This is middle age, and we are in the second half of our lives. You have to ask yourself what you are going to do with the time you have left and be grateful, because every day is a gift.
