An unembarrassed romantic and one of the best singer songwriters of our age— Sarah McLachlan returns to New York and New Jersey for a series of summer dates

by matt Scanlon

If, as is threatened, the ’90s truly are back—if we are going to have to election-cycle re-wallow in the sordid details of Monica Lewinsky and Kathleen Willey and yet again fight our way through an exploration of velvet, lip liners, above-the navel midriff displays, and even, yes…the pantsuit—then we’d like to request some compensation. In short, we’d like an antidote in the form of some ’90s music that’s damn good.

As with a great many Gen X correspondents, this one found Sarah McLachlan during a first and stumbling attempt at love. Specifically, it was an evening during which I attempted to prepare a first dinner together, incinerating a perfectly innocent chicken in the process but making my date’s already lovely smile even broader—all, and mercifully, set to the Canadian singer songwriter’s 1993 album Fumbling Towards Ecstasy.

There are literally, millions of other such stories associated with the disc, as it went more than double platinum and secured a reputation for the Halifax native as an unabashedly romantic and versatile performer with a deep instrumental bench (she plays piano, keyboard, guitar, banjo, ukulele, and harp). It was one of the most genre-establishing albums of the decade, helped pave the way for such notables as Paula Cole, Lisa Loeb, and Fiona Apple, and was the propellant behind the three-years of Lilith Fair tours. (Do yourself a favor and revisit the heart-stopping loveliness of Stumbling’s “Possession,” “Wait,” and “Good Enough”…you can thank us later.)

McLachlan, 48, did that rarest of things after this first flush of success: she released another platinum album two years later. Surfacing would claim such top-20 hits as “Angel” and “Building a Mystery,” and would earn her two Grammy Awards, including one for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for the latter track.

There have been five discs since Surfacing, including two Christmas albums (one released last year), and Shine On in 2014 (written in tribute to McLachlan’s father, who passed away the year before its release), each and all maintaining that signature unembarrassed sentimentality, combined with witty lyric writing that continues to be a powerful antidote to 21stcentury stress. In short, McLachlan is tailor-made for a sunny summer afternoon, and we will get to experience a bunch of them as she tours with Josh Groban in a series of nearby venues in July.

Sarah McLachlan Summer Tour
Saturday, July 23 at PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ
(pncbankarts.centerholmdel.com), Wednesday, August 3
at BB&T Pavilion in Camden, NJ (pavilioncamden.com), and Friday,
August 5 at Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center in
Westhampton Beach, NY (whbpac.org)