The song is the latest from her forthcoming new album
Global pop star Sarah McLachlan releases “Gravity,” the second single from her highly anticipated album Better Broken, due out September 19th via Concord Records. The first song recorded for Better Broken, “Gravity,” delves deeper into McLachlan’s emotional life and explores the complexities of her relationship with her older daughter. With its graceful string arrangement (courtesy of Patrick Warren), the tender piano ballad channels both quiet heartache and tremendous compassion in its words of loving benediction.
“For a long time my daughter and I had a very combative and fraught relationship, and what I came to realize is that so much of what I perceived as obstinance or rage was actually masking a ton of anxiety on her part,” says McLachlan. “We went to counseling together, and I learned that she felt so alone and unvalidated by me—which was devastating to hear, but it led us both to change the way we communicate with each other. I wrote ‘Gravity’ as a way of saying to her, ‘I’ve always loved you and want the best for you, and you’re perfect the way you are.’”
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.
