Sarah McLachlan
Fumbling Towards Ecstasy

THE REVIEW

I am very surprised not to find any review of Sarah McLachlan on DeBaser, if only for the fact that her "Angel" (featured in Surfacing from 1997) has been presented in every possible way, among various soundtracks and guest versions. There even exists a reinterpretation by our own Syria (!). Anyway, my choice fell on this Fumbling Towards Ecstasy, an album from 1994 that represents for many, myself included, the still unsurpassed peak of a somewhat fluctuating career. But now a bit of biography: Sarah McLachlan is a star in the Canadian galaxy at just 18 years old when she records the first and complex Touch (1989). A multi-instrumentalist, she writes and accompanies on piano and guitar all her songs under the production guidance of Pierre Marchand. In 1991 comes Solace, definitely a step forward for inspiration and lyricism (study the track "Terms"). We arrive at 1994 and on airplay, there is "Good Enough": a passionate guitar ballad with a decent video. You realize that Sarah is also quite charming! What to do? Explore further? I decide yes. The album opens with "Possession" and I discover that the girl doesn’t mind a bit of synth. However, the hidden version of just piano and voice, placed at the end of the album, is definitely superior to the intro. "Wait" and "Plenty" are well-crafted but, by reason of what follows, less demanding. The path to ecstasy indeed climbs with "Mary" and "Elsewhere": very emotional harmonic passages matched with truly poetic lyrics. With "Circle" the emotional tension drops a bit due to a really amusing start with a giggle. In the second part of the album, however, Sarah no longer kids around. This is understood from the intensity of the sound and words in "Ice" and in the wonderful death song "Hold on". Even "Ice Cream" denies a title that’s all too explicit in its intentions and ties well with the final two pieces "Fear" and the title track: two hypnotic mantras among drum machines, strings, and delicate vocals. In closing, besides the already mentioned acoustic Possession, the CD includes a beautiful reinterpretation of Joni Mitchell’s Blue.

Fumbling Towards Ecstasy (literally: fumbling towards ecstasy) is an album to have because, although it is less immediate and devoid of those fascinating voice flourishes that provided more immediacy to the later albums, earning her much favor and 2 Grammies, it represents a very thoughtful work, far from any market logic and deliberately challenging.