In the notoriously fickle world of popular music, six years is a long time. Trends shift, hairstyles change and flavors of the month turn sour. Well, would you believe that six years passed between Sarah McLachlan's previous studio album, Surfacing, and her new one, Afterglow? In between, Sarah founded the Lilith Fair festival and performed on its three annual tours (1997-1999); had a baby girl, India, with her husband, Ashwin Sood (who happens to be the drummer in her band); and lost her mother to cancer. The Vancouver resident also funded the Sarah McLachlan Music Outreach program, a school in her hometown that provides almost 400 kids with free lessons in piano, guitar, percussion and voice.
Now that Sarah's back under the spotlight, one might wonder if the changes in musical climate between 1997 and 2003 would affect Afterglow's chart status. Hardly. Sarah's millions of fans have welcomed her return as if no time elapsed at all. There's always room in listeners' hearts for the kind of warm and fuzzy folk/pop that's her specialty.
It's tempting to assume the songs on Afterglow were inspired by the life-changing events listed above, but Sarah maintains that she hasn't really processed these experiences enough to explore them in her songwriting. In a way, that's a relief, since many of the LP's lyrics are distinctly downbeat -- not exactly the type of sentiments that coincide with the joy and wonder of first-time parenthood.
"A lot of the stuff I dealt with on this record happened to me years ago," Sarah told Women.com in a recent phone interview, as she prepared a milk bottle for two-year-old India. "It's actually better for me to be in a good place when I'm writing about those kinds of things. It allows me more objectivity. I'm fascinated by human flaws and what brings us to repeat the same mistakes over and over again. Even when we're happy, there's still stuff that we go through."
You've said that you changed your usual writing process for this record. How?
I used to sequester myself away in a cottage in the woods to force myself to just write, but this time I wanted to be able to stay home and maintain some sort of normal lifestyle while I was working. So I really had to force the discipline when there were all these distractions. I finished as much of the record as I could before I had my daughter, knowing she would be the world's biggest and most wonderful distraction, which she was and continues to be. [laughs]
How do you balance motherhood with the traveling-musician lifestyle?
Well, that was certainly my biggest trepidation in getting the whole ball rolling again. We needed a schedule that was going to work for everybody. So far it's been great. I've been on the road with my daughter two months now. I get to wake up with her every morning. I get to put her in bed every night. I get a good chunk in the afternoon to spend with her. And she loves traveling. She's so easygoing and such a happy kid.
What are her reactions to your music?
She couldn't care less! She recognizes my voice, but she prefers Raffi. [laughs]
I've heard that you crave anonymity -- even though you know it's impossible.
Oh, absolutely. I never got into this to be famous. At the same time, the pros so far outweigh the cons that it's not something I'm going to whine and moan about. But yeah, I like being able to get from A to B without anyone looking twice.
Is that possible?
Oh, yeah. Perhaps soon it will be less so, but that's part of the whole thing. In a couple years I'll go away again and people will forget. I'll cut my hair off or do something... [laughs]
I'm curious about you being in a band with your husband. Did you play together before you fell in love?
For years. And I wouldn't want it any other way. We were such good friends, so there were no masks, no pretending to be anything other than what we were. We came into the relationship with a great understanding of each other and a great love.
So you didn't try to resist?
Oh, yeah -- definitely part of me did. [laughs] But there was no stopping it.
Was "Push" on Afterglow written for him?
Yes, that's very much a self-deprecating ode to my wonderful husband, for being so patient with me.
It must be fun to play music with him.
I love playing with Ash, because we connect on a really great level. It's this cyclical thing. He'll always say, "I was following you," and I'll say, "But I was following you!" It works out really well. He's an incredible musician, and he loves a lot of different kinds of music and brings different elements to the songs.
Let's talk about Lilith Fair. How did you feel about being a symbol for the festival?
Naively, I didn't understand that would happen. I certainly don't mind being the spokesperson for Lilith Fair, but what frustrated me was constantly having to defend it every step of the way. It was either too feminist or not feminist enough, depending on who you were speaking to. That became a bit of a bore and a bit of a chore.
Lilith itself was awesome. Everything about it was fantastic... except for the daily press conferences where I had to justify it. [laughs]
You must've formed a lot of friendships.
Yes. It was an incredible, fun time, getting to meet all these great artists and getting to play with a lot of them. That was a big desire in the first place.
Who was someone you didn't know before Lilith but really bonded with?
Oh, gosh... who I didn't know was pretty much everybody. The Indigo Girls were fantastic. Sheryl Crow was great. Sinead O'Connor, Emmylou Harris, Bonnie Raitt, Chrissie Hynde. [off phone] I said Sheryl, at the beginning! My husband's yelling out names. [laughs]
Any plans to do it again?
No. [laughs]
What are your thoughts on image and marketing for women in music? You've been very successful, yet there's a sense that you'll only go so far in the name of promotion...
What, you mean I don't shove my t**s and ass in the camera? I think it's very sad that women feel they have to sell themselves on a solely sexual level to promote their music. I think it's a big step backwards.
I don't want to start pointing fingers, but a lot of young girls are relying so heavily on marketing and are being manipulated by the industry saying, "This is how we're going to sell you. You're a strong, independent woman and you're just showing how great and strong you are." I don't think they quite understand it. They're under the domineering hand of the industry old-school attitudes, where things are typically still run by men.
Have you been asked to do things you had to refuse?
Nope. I am so lucky, because I got involved when I was 19 years old with a small independent label that I'm still signed to in Canada, Nettwerk Records. They gave me the freedom to discover and explore what I wanted to do musically and personally, and never pushed me into anything. And Arista, my American record label, has always been great too.
Tell me about your Music Outreach program.
It's something I wanted to do for years, but I didn't have the time or the money to put it together. Lilith afforded me the money, and I finally took the time off to make it happen.
It's been incredibly powerful to go to the recitals. The very first ones are, you know, a little painful, because half of these kids have never picked up an instrument before. But you can just see the pride on their faces, being able to get up in front of their parents and their peers and rock!
In your Website bio, you say that music saved you during your childhood.
I was an awkward kid and I wasn't popular, and music was the one thing I always knew I was good at -- the constant. So it's wonderful to give kids the opportunity to have music in their lives and be able to entertain themselves and other people. They've proven time and time again how important music is for kids' development, and it's a big confidence booster. It's the thing that kept me going.
