Surfacing (album)

Background

Following the 1993 release of her third album, Fumbling Towards Ecstasy, McLachlan spent two and a half years touring. This long period on the road finished in January 1996; she was due to begin work on her fourth album in April of that year, but was mentally exhausted. She later said "When I got off the road, I thought Fumbling was my swan song, [and] I'd never make another record ever again. I couldn't imagine writing another song in my life. I had a huge psychological block for a long time." She spent time working in the studio in Quebec but struggled to produce anything for her new album. At her manager's suggestion, she returned home to Vancouver and took six months off. She said that after this break—and some time spent in therapy—she began to feel more in control of her creativity and started writing material for the album.

One of the first songs written for the album was "Angel". McLachlan said that writing the song was easy, "a real joyous occasion." It was inspired by articles that she read in Rolling Stone about musicians who turned to heroin to cope with the pressures of the music industry and subsequently overdosed. She said that she identified with the feelings that might lead someone to use heroin: "I've been in that place where you're so fucked up and you're so lost that you don't know who you are anymore, and you're miserable—and here's this escape route. I've never done heroin, but I've done plenty of other things to escape." She said that the song is about "trying not to take responsibility for other people's shit and trying to love yourself at the same time." Another song that she found easy to write was "Building a Mystery", co-written with her regular collaborator, Canadian musician and producer Pierre Marchand. Marchand heard her playing a guitar riff and suggested adding some lyrics that he had already written. They came up with the rest of the lyrics together, according to McLachlan, "pretty darn quickly." When the album was finished, McLachlan commented, "I was so happy when I could let it go. I didn't give it another thought when it was done."

Recording and release

Like most of McLachlan's albums, Surfacing was recorded at Marchand's Wild Sky Studios in Morin-Heights, Quebec. Marchand, who produced, engineered and mixed the album, recorded it on an Otari RADAR recorder and a Neumann 149 microphone. McLachlan played piano, acoustic guitar and electric guitar and Marchand played keyboards, bass and a drum machine as well as providing background vocals. The other musicians on the album were Jim Creeggan on upright bass, Yves Desrosiers on guitar, musical saw, lap steel guitar and slide bass, Brian Minato on bass and electric guitar, Michel Pepin on electric guitar and Ashwin Sood (whom McLachlan married in 1997) on percussion and drums.

The album was released on 15 July 1997, on Nettwerk and Arista Records, reaching No. 1 on the Canadian RPM 100 Albums chart and No. 2 on the US Billboard 200. The release of the album coincided with the inaugural tour of McLachlan's Lilith Fair in mid-1997. The first single from the album was "Building a Mystery", released on 19 August; it reached No. 1 on the Canadian singles chart and No. 13 on the US Billboard Hot 100. "Sweet Surrender" was released 10 March 1998, and reached No. 2 on the Canadian chart and No. 28 on the Hot 100. The third single released from the album was "Adia" on 4 May. It peaked at No. 3 on both the Canadian singles chart and the Billboard Hot 100. "Angel" followed on 24 November, reaching No. 9 in Canada, and No. 4 on the Hot 100. "I Love You" charted at No. 23 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs in April 2000.

Critical

Writing for The New York Times, Sia Michel called the album "lushly atmospheric" but also ambivalent. She said that while the album paints a "vivid emotional landscape", it is at odds with McLachlan's statement that the album was about "'facing ugly things' about herself"; not revealing anything particularly dark. Michel also noted certain old-fashioned ideas in the album, particularly in "Sweet Surrender", that contrast with the work of contemporaries such as Ani Difranco and PJ Harvey. She cited "Witness" as the highlight and said of the album, "[p]erhaps she hasn't found what she's looking for, but at least she's trying." Elysa Gardner of Los Angeles Times gave the album two-and-a-half stars out of four and said it "Showcases her considerable strengths--a shimmering soprano voice and a knack for intelligent, emotionally forthright lyrics but also suffers from a lack of compelling craftsmanship and textural daring."

Music critic Robert Christgau gave the album a mixed review, with a C- rating. He said that although he had stayed away from McLachlan's music in the past, "between her Lilith Fair counterpalooza and 'Building a Mystery' bonanza, [he] had to dive in, and got less than [he'd] bargained for." He criticized McLachlan's "monumental banality" and summed the album up as "renormalized pop at its most unnecessary." A reviewer for Rolling Stone criticized the album's slow tempo, commenting that "if you want a piece of her nirvana, you have to go along at her protracted, glacial pace." They said that McLachlan is too "rigid in her introspection" and that they would like to hear her "work up a good head of steam".

AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album three stars out of five and compared it unfavorably to McLachlan's previous album Fumbling Towards Ecstasy. He said that some of the songs were good, and praised "Building a Mystery" in particular, but said that the album offered nothing new. He also noted that the timing of the release, coinciding with the launch of Lilith Fair and the publicity that McLachlan received from that, helped sales of the album. Jom, a staff reviewer for Sputnikmusic, gave the album a positive review, calling it "one of [McLachlan's] best albums" and praising her "tremendous growth as a songwriter and a musician". In interviews, American hip hop artist Darryl McDaniels of Run-D.M.C. has said that hearing "Angel" on the radio, and subsequently listening to more of McLachlan's music, helped him though a period of depression.

Starr report

The album was mentioned in the Starr Report, the late-1990s account of Independent Counsel Ken Starr's investigation of the Monica Lewinsky scandal. After a visit to the White House in November 1997, Lewinsky wrote that she "noticed you (President Clinton) had the new Sarah McLachlan CD" and that "whenever I listen to song #5 (Do What You Have to Do) I think of you.". McLachlan's representatives had no comment on the matter.

Awards

At the Juno Awards of 1998, McLachlan won four awards: Best Female Vocalist, Songwriter of the Year (with Pierre Marchand, for "Building a Mystery"), Best Album (for Surfacing) and Single of the Year (for "Building a Mystery"). The following year, she did not win any awards, but was nominated for Single of the Year (for "Adia") and Best Video (for "Sweet Surrender").

At the 40th Grammy Awards in 1998, McLachlan was nominated for three awards; she won the awards for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance (for "Building a Mystery") and Best Pop Instrumental Performance (for "Last Dance"). In 1999, she received one more nomination for the album, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance (for "Adia"); she lost to Celine Dion.

Track listing

All tracks written by Sarah McLachlan, except where noted. All songs produced by Pierre Marchand.

Personnel