Sarah Slean - The Baroness 2008

Sarah Slean returns with new album The Baroness, 12 new songs and the long awaited follow up to Day One. “Hopeful Hearts” opens with guitars however not pianos although they do join in later in the song. Immediately you realise the production and instrumentation of her earlier work is back. There’s no electronic blips and drum loops this time. The opener sounds tragic and dramatic.

“Get Home” is a piano led ballad that is soft and warm at the same time with the string arrangments and Sarah’s soaring vocals making it great. “Euphoria” isn’t quite as bouncy as the title suggests but it definitely has rhythm but once again it’s defiantly softer than say “Bank Accounts” although it’s very catchy.
“Goodnight Trouble” is very jazz cabaret in places albeit very heartfelt with some brass adding more layers to the sound pallet. “Notes From The Underground” again shows acoustic guitar, piano and vocals all in harmony with a beautiful chorus.

“Sound of Water/ Change Your Mind” brings a nice change of pace and tone with a rich dark fast paced track which is a real highlight of the album. In contrast “No Place At All” is a quiet, slow ballad sounding like something Vienna Teng would do. “Please Be Good To Me”sounds dreamy but also like a classic 150 year old folk song too. Very beautiful, very familiar. “Willow” follows the same pattern while “So Many Miles” is a nice up-tempo song that could quite easily find regular airplay.

“Shadowland” is a very downbeat track that stands out due to the whispering male voice in the background and the eerie organ playing. The album closes with “Looking For Someone” a beautiful, almost gospel-like piano/vocal track.

- source: highermusic.wordpress.com

Blame it on Paris. Over the centuries, the City of Light has spawned countless wonderful works of art, and it can now justifiably stake at least partial claim to one more, The Baroness. The fifth full-length album from acclaimed Toronto songstress Sarah Slean, it is both her most lyrically direct and musically accessible work to date.

The calm required to bring these explorations of the soul to the surface came when Slean moved back to Toronto and joined forces with her co-producer and engineer, Jagori Tanna. Best known as guitarist and chief songwriter for hard rock favourites I Mother Earth, Tanna is now highly-respected for his studio skills.

Most of the vocals on The Baroness were recorded in Sarah’s home studio, and the relaxed intimacy of this setting is reflected on the album. “It was just very comfortable,” says Sarah. “You make yourself a nice cup of tea, have a little chat, then sing all day.” The dynamic duo then set up shop in Toronto studios DNA, Canterbury Sound, and The Rogue. An A-list cast of such local players as bassist Joe Phillips, drummer Mark Mariash, organist Dennis Keldie, horn players Richard Underhill and Chris Gale, and a string section headed by Drew Jurecka (Bebop Cowboys) and Rebekah Wolkstein helped flesh out Sarah’s elegant and well-crafted compositions. The sonic icing on the cake came from the mixing of David Bottrill, famed for his work with such artists as Peter Gabriel, Muse and Tool.

Her extensive but always effective use of strings helps set Slean apart from her piano-playing pop peers. “I always find myself working on strings,” she says. “In Paris, I played a show with a local string quartet. I had to re-score all my older material, and I loved that process. I listen to the string-writing on my previous records, such as my second independent album from 1998, and it is infinitely better now than it was then-- so I have to keep going!”

The seamless integration of strings in such new songs as “Sound Of Water” and “Willow” exemplify Sarah’s musical philosophy. “Leonard Bernstein once said that a real composition is one in which every element is integral. Nothing is unnecessary. Every little aspect is essential to making it stand as the piece of art that it is. That is why my artistic existence is tortuous, as everything has to make sense in form and content.”

In Sarah’s universe, content does reign supreme. “I’m in love with the undeniable magic of music, and the craft of putting it together gives me sheer delight,” she notes. “But morally speaking, in order for me to do all the other things involved in being ‘Sarah Slean, popular music recording artist,’ I have to believe it is affecting people positively.”

Mission accomplished on The Baroness. Its songs run the emotional gamut, as Slean shares lessons learned and hard-won truths. “I think there is a message that is positive,” reflects Slean. “I see my music as poetic, but also as philosophic investigation expressed in music.” In fact, Sarah is close to completion of a University of Toronto degree in music and philosophy, and she notes that these studies “enrich my life and fuel my songs.”

In turn, our lives are enriched by her songs. The Baroness is now holding court, and this is an invitation demanding acceptance.

- sarahslean.com


Artist: Sarah Slean
Album: The Baroness
Date Of Release: March 11, 2008
Genre: Adult Alternative, Alternapop, Singer Songwriter, Vocal
Bitrate: VBR --alt-preset extreme