Published on Feb 12, 1999
Thinking back, Sarah McLachlan’s
Surfacing (reviewed here last year) sounded mostly like the
leftovers of a larger album cut before. It was inconsistent,
overwrought with confusing lyrics at points and the production
effects were distracting.
But
Fumbling Towards Ecstasy is almost brilliant.
And I only say “almost” because I just never could get myself to
like McLachlan. The hype about her turned me off. But I dug up this
tape in the discount racks of an obscure Bangkok record store and
decided to give it a try. Some songs are on the level of
epiphanies.
As an album,
Fumbling Towards Ecstasy substantially presents McLachlan’s
songwriting (really, the best part of her work is her lyrics)
helped along by Pierre Merchand’s dedicated production (the second
best part has got to be the production). Most of the backing
instruments are live with some synthesizers textured in; coupled
with McLachlan’s sorbet-fresh voice the effect is instantly
refreshing and original.
The opening track “Posession” is a neat cut and has nearly all
the elements of McLachlan’s Sound but lacks somewhere in soul. A
piano accompaniment version is also in the album as a hidden bonus
track, and while this too is beautiful it doesn’t have the
emotional edge some of the other songs have.
Like the plain affection in “Ice Cream” and “Good Enough” or the
bluesy “Ice”. There’s a beautiful hope in “Wait” (“like every
generation yields/the newborn hope unjaded by their years”)
contrasting to the resolution in “Hold On”. “Mary” benefits big
from Merchand’s hooks as does “Ice” with its textured folk guitar
arrangement.
My favorite track is the profoundly ethereal “Fear” (“From above
they say temptation will destroy our love/… but I fear I have
nothing to give”). This song is as perfect as perfect gets.
The album’s weakpoints are few. Compared to the other songs
“Circle” has some overused material and “Plenty” is all hooks. The
title track has some neat lines but in the end goes the way of
“Posession”. But like “Posession”, the lack can be ignored to just
enjoy the songs for their moods.
This is solid, solid work. Anyone who’s into this stuff would
love it, anyone else can appreciate it. Certainly better than
Surfacing; make this the McLachlan album you get.