Sarah McLachlan on family, love and the new Christmas album she made on a whim

TORONTO – It wasn’t until the pressure for new material started to loom that Sarah McLachlan thought about recording a second Christmas album.

It had been two years since “Shine On,” the Halifax-born singer’s most recent studio album, and record label executives were itching for another.

The problem was, she only had a measly two songs written.

“It was nowhere near ready,” McLachlan remembers.

“There was no way I was going to have a new record out.”

She was coming off a gruelling year of tour dates in mid-2015 and wanted to dedicate more time to raising her two daughters. The eldest was embarking on her teen years and McLachlan thought it best to “really keep an eye on things with her.”

So she started to weigh her album options. And the one she kept returning to was a followup to 2006’s “Wintersong,” a collection of holiday traditionals that was the best-selling Christmas album of 2006.

So obviously her label wanted more. McLachlan liked the idea too.

“Christmas records are great because the songs are already written,” she says.

“I can do it in my home studio, I don’t have to tour per se.”

Plus, McLachlan has a soft spot for the aura of Christmastime. She loves the festive energy and the flurry of emotions sparked by the season.

That made it easier to spend weeks revisiting carols in the middle of January, a few weeks after she’d put away the Christmas decorations.

She started work on “Wonderland” at home by narrowing down the list of holiday favourites to find songs that connected with her personally.

Even though she wasn’t an ardent churchgoer in her youth, McLachlan says she still found “meaning and spirituality” in hymns like “O Come All Ye Faithful” and “Angels We Have Heard on High.”

More contemporary tracks like “Winter Wonderland,” “Let It Snow” and “Silver Bells” left greater space for interpretation.

“I don’t go into the studio with a preconceived notion,” she says.

“I’ll start noodling around either on piano or guitar and see where it goes. Just build on it and go where the song asks to be taken. It usually tells you.”

Among the Christmas standards, the album features a few unique Canadian touches.

“Huron Carol,” Canada’s oldest Christmas carol, was written in the 1600s. McLachlan says many of her American fans probably haven’t heard it before.

A rendition of “Go Tell It on the Mountain” — which McLachlan says carries the spirit of Christmas even if it isn’t officially a song of the season — features guest vocals from Montreal-born Martha Wainwright as well as Emmylou Harris.

Next year, McLachlan hopes to finally hunker down and get that album of original material finished.

There are a few themes she might explore from her own life.

“We have all these expectations we place on ourselves and other people,” she says.

“My personal journey lately has been getting to a place where I can let all those attachments go and just love unconditionally.”

It’s something she’s been thinking about as Donald Trump prepares to officially take the U.S. presidency in the new year. She’s worried that a “huge chasm” is forming between different factions of people in North America and perhaps even the world.

“I don’t love Trump, I don’t — but there’s this real hatred when he got elected,” McLachlan says.

“My kids were screaming about it, my older one in particular: ‘I hate Trump.’ I’m like, you know what? That’s not going to serve anybody. He’s elected.”

McLachlan hopes to keep a positive outlook on the coming years.

“We may not like it, we don’t like it. But we have to figure out a way to bridge the gap. And the only way we’re going to do that is with love,” she adds.

“I know that sounds really corny but I truly believe it.”

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