Sarah McLachlan - Laws of Illusion

Sarah McLachlan’s fans are used to waiting. There was a six-year gap between the Canadian pop icon’s best-selling Surfacing album and 2003’s Afterglow, due to the death of her mother and the birth of her first daughter. This time, it’s taken seven years for Sarah to deliver a new album. “I write slowly and have two kids, that’s the most honest answer,” explains the Grammy Award-winning songstress. “Everything sort of fell apart for me personally a couple of years ago, and it’s sort of a long, slow road coming back and redefining myself.”

    What fell apart was Sarah’s marriage to drummer Ashwin Sood, with whom she has two daughters, India and Taja. The dissolution of that relationship and the process of redefining herself inspired many of the songs on her new album, Laws of Illusion. Its release comes as Sarah ambitiously re-launches Lilith Fair, the world’s first all-female music festival, last staged in 1999. This year’s festival will features such stars as Sheryl Crow, Mary J. Blige, Carly Simon and Rihanna, and Sarah will do double duty as its den mother while showcasing both her greatest hits and new songs.

    Produced by longtime associate Pierre Marchand, Laws of Illusion features Sarah’s trademark mix of falsetto vocals and sweeping piano ballads. With songs like “Heartbreak” and “Out of Tune,” a melancholic theme permeates much of the album. But Sarah also offers several powerful songs of hope, including the gorgeous, acapella-laced “Bring on the Wonder.” Even amid the sadness, Sarah still inspires.