Sarah McLachlan announces first new album in over a decade

Better Broken will drop this fall via Concord

Global phenomenon Sarah McLachlan will release Better Broken, her first album of new material in over a decade, due out September 19th via Concord Records. Her tenth studio album and debut release for Concord Records, Better Broken takes its title from its opening track, available now – a soul-searching reflection on the fortitude that comes from weathering life’s constant storms – and furthers her legacy with a selection of songs that speak an uncompromising but radically illuminating truth about the state of the human condition. The “Better Broken” music video, directed by Lauren Wade and produced by Zebulon Griffin, is available now.

“A lot of the lyrics on this record came from thinking about the world right now and asking, ‘How do we move through this landscape? How do we keep our heads above water when it feels like so much is falling apart?’” says McLachlan. “I don’t know if I have any answers, but channeling all that angst and uncertainty into the music has been so cathartic. I hope that this record provides people with some relief and release—but in the end I just want them to take whatever they need from it, and make the songs part of their own story.”

Mainly recorded at the legendary Sound City Studios in Los Angeles, Better Broken instills a potent new energy into her lush and moody form of pop-rock, with contributions from esteemed musicians like Wendy Melvoin (a former guitarist for Prince and the Revolution), drummer Matt Chamberlain (Bob Dylan, David Bowie), multi-instrumentalist Benny Bock (Lucy Dacus, beabadoobee), and pedal-steel guitarist Greg Leisz (Kacey Musgraves, Florence + the Machine). In a monumental leap for McLachlan, Better Broken finds her widening her creative circle and working with producers Tony Berg (Phoebe Bridgers, boygenius) and Will Maclellan (Lucy Dacus, Phoebe Bridgers).

The track listing’s myriad high points include “Gravity,” The first song she recorded for the album that delves deeper into her emotional life and explores the complexities of her relationship with her older daughter, “One In a Long Line,” an irrepressible anthem railing against the rapid erosion of women’s rights in recent years, “Long Road Home,” a rapturous love song, the pedal-steel-laced reverie “Reminds Me,” a lovestruck duet with Muna’s Katie Gavin, and the title track, out now. All throughout Better Broken, McLachlan and her fellow musicians bring an ineffable beauty to her expression of longing and grief and fierce determination.

During her three-decades-long career, McLachlan has won three Grammys, 12 Juno Awards, and sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan also founded the groundbreaking all-female music festival Lilith Fair, featuring an A-list lineup for female alternative musicians of the moment, including Sheryl Crow, Jewel, The Indigo Girls, Lisa Loeb, Fiona Apple, Erykah Badu, Tracy Chapman, Natalie Merchant and more. McLachlan is also a philanthropist and the founder of Sarah McLachlan School of Music (SoM), a not-for-profit that offers music instruction and mentorship at no cost to children and youth facing barriers to access. SoM was founded in Vancouver in 2002 and it currently serves over 1,200 students a year with locations in Vancouver, New Westminster and Edmonton. McLachlan personally covers the administrative costs so that every dollar raised goes directly to support the students.