October 20, 2014
Publication title: The Province, vol. -, Iss. -, pg. –
Place: Unknown
Writer: Tom Harrison
“It was time to change things,” Sarah McLachlan says
Huge changes in her personal and professional life led to a rebirth for the B.C. songstress.
Sarah McLachlan knew it was time for a change.
She didn’t make just one. From 2008, when she separated from husband, Ash Sood, McLachlan made several. Out went manager Terry McBride and eventually in came Sam Feldman. Out went McBride’s Nettwerk label and in came Verve. She started collaborating with Luke Doucet, Don Felder and Tom Douglas among others; farmed out production to Bob Rock rather than turn everything over to Pierre Marchand, her sounding board since 1991.
This was a brave thing to do. At 46 years old and now a single mother of two, McLachlan was not a young woman with a whole new career ahead of her. She was a challenge to a prospective manager and record label. Fortunately, she had 40 million record sales and three Grammy Awards, so she wasn’t exactly an unknown.
Yet, she was starting over. Feeling good about what these changes had wrought, McLachlan named her Verve album, Shine On.
“I came out of the process feeling very optimistic,” she said. “I felt like I’d finally come out of the scrum I’d been in.
“I don’t want to sit and grow complacent. I want to live.”
Underlining this mood of rebirth was the death of her father, Jack, for whom she wrote Song For My Father. It’s the most sorrowful track on what is a hope-filled album.
“We’re so lucky,” said McLachlan. “There are no bombers overhead dropping bombs on our head. My kids are all right.
“It’s good. There’s nothing for me to be mad about.”
Shine On can’t be described as revealing a new Sarah McLachlan, more like a renewed Sarah McLachlan. From the upbeat In Your Shoes, which opens the album, to Love Beside Me, which celebrates her new relationship with former hockey player Geoff Courtnall, Shine On is a personal testament.
“It was time to change things,” she said. “I’m glad I did. I finally got to a place where I make decisions for myself. It was very empowering.
“As an artist, you want to make changes. The reason I worked with Bob (Rock) I was hoping he’d bring some energy — and he did. And Luke is a beautiful songwriter. I’m open to that kind of stuff, but it has to feel right.
“There’s no rule book to making records. Again, it has to feel right. I do what’s right for the song.
“I move very slowly,” McLachlan continued. “I think over everything carefully. I’m kind of one of those all-or-nothing persons.
“I met Geoff. We share so many experiences — him 20 years in the locker-room, me 20 years in the van.”
“I know what my strengths are. I know what my weaknesses are. I feel very lucky because my career evolved slowly. My decisions had to come from what was right for me. I got to do all my stupid things quietly.
“I’m getting older,” McLachlan admitted. “It gets tough at times. But I’m not digging ditches. And as a mother I leave the stage and immediately look after my kids. It’s like I have two jobs and it’s awesome. It keeps you grounded.”
