
Sarah McLachlan
Surfacing
1996, Nettwerk/Arista
piano pop
½
Surfacing was Sarah McLachlan’s fourth album, but it still stands as her most popular album to date. This was the one that earned her her Grammy’s, but in comparison to her previous albums, Surfacing falls short. Both “Sweet Surrender” and “Building A Mystery” lacked that essential honesty that once endeared McLachlan’s previous blatantly pop songs to her listeners. The one single from this album that defied this change was “Angel,” which is probably the most profound song McLachlan has ever written and will ever write. The beauty of that previous statement is that the song required only a piano and its lyrics to be that memorable. One would think that McLachlan would learn from that lesson and apply it to the other songs in Surfacing or even in her newer work since then, but she has stubbornly remained in her over-produced-pop rut. At least we have “Angel” to make this album easier to swallow.
“Do What You Have To Do,” “Adia,” “Angel.”
myspace, last.fm
Catherine Feeny’s Hurricane Glass, Rachael Yamagata’s Elephants… Teeth Sinking Into Heart


“Again Today,” “Josephine,” “Losing Heart,” and “The Story.”




