Sarah McLachlan-Laws of Illusion-“Gorgeous songcraft” john emms cd review

Delivering an album this good 20 years into your career is no easy feat. But Laws of Illusion Sarah McLachlan’s first cd in 7 years catches her at a creative peak.

 With 10 new songs and 3 bonus singles, McLachlan enticies the listener with gorgeous songcraft and an intuitive sense of her own abilities.

 If there is one word that could describe McLachlan’s work here it is atmospheric.

In addition, a big plus from the stellar opening track Awakenings and throughout the album is the fact that there is a band atmopshere. Contributers like drummer Matt Chamberlain and  guitarists Colin Cripps, Bill Dillon and Luke Doucet make important dynamic touches behind McLachlan’s superb song choices.

The bouncy piano pop of the first single Loving You Is Easy is effortless. Indeed  the meat of the album comes via the superb melodies of songs like Changes , Illusions Of Bliss, and Out of Tune as well as the  Gabrile-esque pop of Heartbreak.

Producer/Musician Pierre Marchand’s contributions to this cd as usual cannot not be overlooked. Whether as an engineer or player Marchand offers up an organic sense of  musicianship that creates a balance of old and new without sacrifice to McLachlan’s songwriting.

Look for at least 3 major singles to appear from this album.  McLachlan’s hugely popular Lilith Fair is almost underway and the  Grammy winner looks poised and ready to tour behind a very strong album

JOHN EMMS is a veteran music journalist who writes product reviews for all major and some indie labels. His new roots/rock radio show COLLECTION OF SONGS is available as a podcast on Apple iTunes and can heard  24/7 here  http://emms.podbean.com/

JOHN is a member of THE SHAFTMEN www.theshaftmen.com and his new solo cd is due out in July 2010