B l u e P a r a d e - A S a r a h S l e a n F a n s i t e
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With a Juno-nominated album in tow, life just keeps getting better for Sarah Slean
SARAH SLEAN
After so many years of being subjected to piano-stool straddling sensitive singers, Sarah Slean seems a little late for the party. Her doe-eyed features and silken voice conjures comparisons to other mystic chanteuses with names like Sarah, Chantal, Diana and Tori. Fortunately, Slean isn�t so much a leftover from Lilith days as a transplant from an entirely different era�sort of.
From her waifish Victorian looks to her cabaret-noir crooning to her lyrical references to J.D. Salinger and T.S. Eliot, you get the impression Slean is coming from some other place. She often cites Judy Garland for inspiration; counts Ella Fitzgerald and Shirley Bassey as influences. However, as much as Slean digs the past, her music and art couldn�t be more contemporary. Her new album, Day One, with its purring, coquettish balladry, bouncy, up-tempo piano pop, and reoccurring themes of collapse, rebirth, and optimism, has spoken to the thousands of dedicated fans. A book of her poetry and art, Ravens, was published last fall. A Juno nomination came last month, and she�s currently set to embark on a cross-Canada tour. Slean undeniably occupies the present moment... no�she owns it.
"I just got out of the shower, and I�m getting dressed," Slean says over the phone, sending this reporter swirling in prurient thoughts. Originally from Pickering, Ont., Slean claims to permanently reside out of a suitcase, but admits to taking most of her showers at a friend�s Toronto apartment. It�s a few days before Slean flies into Edmonton to kick off the tour, and she�s going through the pre-tour laundry day and suitcase organization rituals. Her voice brims with giddy enthusiasm for what the near future holds, but it wasn�t always this bright.
"A year and half ago everything seemed so pointless," recalls Slean. "Looking around at everyone doing their 9-to-5 thing, I just felt so disconnected. I was in one of those Catcher in the Rye moments."
Slean in the Rye
Paradoxically, Slean�s social and artistic malaise became the motivating factor for Day One. In true Holden Caulfield style, she fled in a post-meltdown hurry�albeit, in this instance, from the city to a small cabin outside of Ottawa. Four isolated months of social deprivation led to a creative storm of composing and painting. Upon returning, she enlisted producer Pete Prilesnik (Sarah Harmer, New Deal) to help flesh out the rhythm structures to accompany the softly crafted piano-based melodies she came home with. As a rejuvenating process, Slean highly recommends it for any lost soul. Even though most of us can�t whisk off to a deserted cabin for a much-needed poetry jam, Slean asserts it�s more of a mental exercise.
"You have to have a revolutionary moment," explains Slean. "You can think your self into insanity and despair before you have to say to yourself, �Nobody is going to get to me�I�m not going down.�
"Look at Judy Garland, her life was so miserable, but she sung with such triumph. She never gives up hope against all odds. It�s about turning everyday madness into a beautiful moment."
And the winner is�
Slean�s career has become a series of beautiful moments. She broke into the Toronto music scene barely out of her teens, impressively selling 15,000 copies of her first two independent releases, which she put out on her own label. At age 25, she had a deal with Warner, Hawksley Workman as a producer, and a major-label debut ready to drop. Night Bugs, an orchestral conglomerate of cabaret atmosphere and classically trained prowess, put her on the map. Last month, Slean received word of a Juno nomination in the cryptically titled "Best Adult Alternative category."
"Critical acclaim never paid my bills, but it�s better than a kick in the head," Slean says jokingly about the prospect of winning the award. "Although, the category is somewhat daunting because it makes me feel like I have to behave like an adult, which is a frightening prospect."
As a child, she says she was drawn to music because of feeling like an outsider from other kids. Surely then, her-now soaring popularity and critical adulation has helped her socially�not to mention providing a plentitude of romantic options. It comes as a shock to hear this singer�s love life is the only part of Slean�s life not living in the moment.
"What are relationships? I�ve forgotten," laughs Slean. "Romance has been on the backburner for awhile. I guess I�ll have to make up for it in a song.
JASON KELLER
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