“Organic raw chocolate!” she enthused, pouring the
confection into a mold. Later, after saying goodbye to her yoga partner
and sharing a few choice hugs with her 3-year-old daughter, Taja, the
singer-songwriter would pack those sweets in Tupperware and bring them
downtown to a band rehearsal for her summer tour headlining the revived
Lilith.
What a life. It almost felt like a setup, staged for
a visiting reporter: the pop star as deeply fulfilled mom, surrounded
by friends and family and the flowers in her lovely garden, with a
recording studio in the guest house and three pianos scattered
throughout the property for whenever inspiration strikes.
Yet this 42-year-old working mom has troubles others will recognize. Taja is an easy kid, but her older sister
is “challenging.” Grandpa, who lives five minutes away, suffers from
Parkinson’s disease. Family demands are “the reason it takes so damn
long” to make music, said the singer-songwriter, whose
release “Laws of Illusion” is her first all-original album in seven
years. Another imperfect reality has bought her more time alone:
McLachlan recently split from her husband,
“There are not many benefits of separation,”
Mc-Lachlan said. “One small benefit is that my daughters go to Dad’s a
couple of days a week. And so there are those mornings when I wake up
and have the place to myself.”
McLachlan isn’t much for complicated ruses or dark
secrets. When she became a star in the 1990s, some faulted her for
being the most facile member of a class of strong women artists that
included thornier singer-songwriters such as
“That’s the way I am in every element of my life. I’ll talk to any stranger about everything. I’m not guarded,” she said.
On “Laws of Illusion,” McLachlan’s lack of pretense
serves her well. It’s a vulnerable and clear-headed set, putting
McLachlan in the company of Court Yard Hounds,
“It’s terribly pedestrian,” said McLachlan of the
life that’s inspiring her current music. “There’s nothing special about
it. Half the bloody world is going through a divorce, more than that
are having children. All of us have parents who are dying, or have
died. It’s just the life cycle.”
McLachlan wrote “Laws of Illusion” with her longtime producer
but the mood that rules the album is not the swooning romanticism that
made her 1990s albums so beloved. Instead, it has the sober-minded
insight that comes after some hard knocks.
I came up to
were bringing back Lilith, a festival that made McLachlan a household
name but whose purpose may not be so clear now, when female artists
dominate the Top 40.
Talks with
Lilith is a business opportunity that realizes several goals: doing
work that’s politically progressive; responding to the Internet’s
global reach; and making possible the work-life balance Nettwerk’s
flagship artist demands.
“Part of the conversation now with Sarah is, ‘I can
only tour in the summer because I’m not going to take away from my
kids,’ ” said McBride in an interview at the Nettwerk offices in
downtown
Lilith was always both the embodiment of an ideal
and a brand: a very 1990s blend of identity politics and niche
marketing. Mc-Lachlan is involved in the business decisions, designs
merchandise (full disclosure:
McLachlan’s longtime collaborator on Lilith’s jewelry line, is my
friend) and consulting on the lineup, but her most important role is
anchoring the tour as an artist.
McBride, along with Nettwerk President
That product is facing a tough marketplace. The
concert industry is suffering this summer, and Lilith has already had
some very visible problems. Dates in
Asked about the discounts, McBride got a bit
defensive. “How do we respond to fans when they bought tickets and
resold (tickets) for 500 percent profit, and none of that went to the
artists,” he said, perhaps unintentionally conflating fans and ticket
scalpers. “All we’re doing is reacting in a very honest way to market
conditions.”
McBride and McLachlan did choose a tough year to
revive Lilith. “Sarah and Lilith shouldn’t feel that they’re suffering
alone,” Billboard magazine editor
a phone interview. “It could be the economy, or ticket prices, even
with those that are lower. And there are a lot of shows this summer.”
“Laws of Illusion” sold 94,000 copies to debut at
No. 3 on Billboard’s Top 200 chart. And McLachlan is far from the only
artist on the tour. Its 34 dates feature a diverse revolving bill. In
Rivera feels that she fits right in with the new
Lilith. “My fan base is 75 percent if not 80 percent female,” she said
in a phone interview. “I have always sang to a majorly Hispanic crowd,
but my fans are really excited to see me in this context.”
For McLachlan, diversifying the Lilith roster is a form of just deserts.
“One of the biggest criticisms the first time around
was (that Lilith was a) white chick folk fest,” she said. “Right. But
let’s talk about the fact that we tried to be (diverse). We asked every
artist from all genres of music, and got who said yes.”
Going beyond the soft-and-gentle Lilith stereotype
satisfies McLachlan’s expanding sense of herself and reflects today’s
no-boundaries attitude about women in music. It’s also part of
McBride’s master plan.
“There is definitely a strategic plan where, two
years from now, there will be 20 to 25 international Lilith shows,
where headliners in their own country play as not a headliner in a
different country,” he said. “If we can bring that flavor into Lilith,
we’ll have a magic that hasn’t been seen within a musical world that
has until now been very
As McBride dreams of green, progressive, culturally
sensitive world domination, McLachlan’s thoughts are always returning
to home. What she’s ready to admit after her long time mostly out of
the spotlight is that for her, that home is onstage too.
“When I sing, it’s just … comfort is a stupid
word, but it is,” she said. “And singing to somebody else — I close my
eyes and I sing, and there are other people there, and it’s this
amazing unseen connection that happens. And it’s profound.”
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