On yesterday's CBS Sunday Morning, k.d. lang told interviewer Rita Braver, "I'm born to sing, just like a lemon tree was born to make lemons."
Indeed. Tomorrow marks the release of k.d. lang's Watershed, her first-ever self-produced album and her first record of new, original tunes since 2000's Invincible Summer.
New York Daily News music critic Jim Farber says that Watershed lives up to its name. He calls k.d. "a star with as rich a command of octaves, and as deep a reservoir of lung power, as anyone," and finds that "she uses it to stunning new effect on her latest album." He continues: "As its title telegraphs, Watershed represents a significant event for lang."
And in a run-down of k.d.'s "greatest hits," Farber includes both 2004's Hymns of the 49th Parallel, her Nonesuch debut, and Watershed, about which he concludes: "Never has lang penned clearer lyrics, and seldom has she found such a caring voice for her tunes."
To read the review, visit nydailynews.com; for the greatest hits list, click here.
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In an in-depth feature for the Toronto Globe and Mail titled "i om k.d.," the Canadian chanteuse talks with the reporter and fellow Buddhist Robert Everett-Green about the multifaceted singing career that led to and influenced the making of Watershed.
"Watershed is sort of the culmination of the past 25 years of my life," she tells him. "It's a self-examining record. It's really looking at the effects of my being in the world, and of my contribution in the universe."
The two also discuss the idea of "watershed" as both a turning point and a more concrete source of inspiration. "I love the metaphor of how water always finds its way around obstacles," she says in the article. "And I like trying to apply that to your everyday life—of seeing obstacles, and rather than turn away and say, 'Can't be done,' or 'I'm too afraid,' find a natural way around them."
Not long after k.d. released Hymns of the 49th Parallel, her take on the Canadian songbook, she performed two songs from the album, Neil Young's "Helpless" and Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," at a televised awards ceremony that "single-handedly changed the tone of the event," reports Everett-Green, "from a flashy awards show to an encounter with a kind of truth that's rare in the age of reality TV. We always knew she was a great singer, but those performances confronted a wide audience with the news that she had moved to an entirely new level."
It's been eight years since Invincible Summer, and Everett-Green concludes: "Clearly she has traveled a long way in eight years, and much of the journey has been inside herself."
To read the article, visit globeandmail.com.
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The Ottawa Citizen gives the new record four stars. The paper's Patrick Langston calls Watershed a "superb album" and points to the track "Coming Home" as a good representative of where k.d. is now:
The steel guitar of country emoting segues into the velvety strings of the torch and standard singer; creamy pop background vocals provide a pillowy landing for the road-worn heart; a jaunty banjo saunters in and out of the mix. Unexpectedly, the song not only holds together but soars, lang's unadorned, slightly smoky vocals floating atop the unusual concoction.
To read the review, visit canada.com/ottawacitizen.
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To mark the release of Watershed, k.d. will be performing two songs live Tuesday morning on Good Morning America: "I Dream of Spring," the opening track off the new album, and Cohen's "Hallelujah." The show airs on ABC, 7-9 AM ET. Check local listings for times and stations near you.
The next day, k.d. will appear on Wednesday's Live with Regis & Kelly to perform "I Dream of Spring." For all the details on when and where the show airs in your area, visit bventertainment.go.com.