McLachlan’s post-divorce album pleasingly isn’t weighed down by self-pity.
This is Sarah McLachlan’s first album for four years, seven if one discounts her Grammy-nominated Christmas covers collection of 2006, Wintersong, to focus on original material. The Canadian singer-songwriter’s crystal-clear mezzo-soprano voice has changed little, but a failed marriage in the interim has become the inspiration for an autobiographical collection of songs which express the breadth of emotions that follow such circumstances.
But the overall tone is not what one might think. There is no self-pity and little melancholy about these arrangements. We know from her previous work that McLachlan is a thoughtful lyricist who knows a thing or two about song construction. She has a flair for varying the pace of a melody or introducing an ironical upbeat accompaniment to a downbeat lyric, and can deliver variety over a span of a dozen and more songs.
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Source: BBC Music