Afterglow
| Sarah McLachlan
Afterglow
Afterglow is the fifth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan. Released on 4 November 2003 on Nettwerk in Canada and 4 November 2003 on Arista Records in the United States, it was her first album of new material in six years, after the success of Surfacing and the Lilith Fair festival. Unlike past albums where she went to an isolated cottage to write the songs, she wrote the songs for Afterglow in her family home mainly before the birth of her child. She wrote the songs entirely on piano, which was also a departure from her previous albums which she wrote on guitar. Longtime collaborator Pierre Marchand produced the album. McLachlan wrote eight of the 10 songs herself and co-wrote the other two with Marchand.-Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Slant Magazine
October 28, 2003. Afterglow drips and oozes its way from start to finish, careful never to provoke or overly excite its listener, and it glows like a fading ember, but it fails to ever fully spark a flame.
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BBC
February 2, 2004. Her music is thoughtful and accessible, and really deserves more attention than it has so far received on this side of the Atlantic.
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AllMusic
. . . after a prolonged absence, Sarah McLachlan re-emerges with a record that could have followed Surfacing by six months, not years. Some may call that predictable, some may call it reliable, but there's little arguing that Afterglow is a solid effort -- it won't win new fans, but it will certainly satisfy the old ones.
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The Guardian
February 1, 2004. To be fair, Afterglow isn't a dreadful record. McLachlan can sing. If I were so inclined, I might describe her voice as 'haunting'. The arrangements are strong, the harmonies border on irresistible at times. That McLachlan is good doesn't alter the fact that her whole scene is drab and un-sexy and tedious.
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Collected Sounds
November 1, 2003. The orchestration and production is luxuriant and full and Sarah’s voice sounds better than ever. “Fumbling… fans rejoice! Though I’ve only given it a few listens I know this is a CD that I will be enjoying for a long time. It was worth the wait.
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Common Sense Media
On AFTERGLOW, her first studio album since 1997, Sarah McLachlan doesn't offer a lot of surprises. She does deliver a collection of sweetly sung ballads, produced with taste and restraint. But whatever the lyric or tune, McLachlan's competent musicianship and gentle aesthetic are refreshing and welcome.
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Counter Culture
But like all quality albums, Afterglow takes a few listens to be fully appreciated. After all, McLachlan's true talent lies in her thoughtful lyrics, her piano playing, and her otherworldly voice, not in cheap catchy tunes.
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Something Else!
July 12, 2011. Sarah McLachlan’s angelic voice is reason enough to check out this new album. It’s certainly not to hear anything particularly new: Afterglow was just more of what Sarah does so well.
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Release Music Magazine
A bit too smooth for its own good, but this is so called quality stuff, ladies and gentlemen.
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Scott Nangle Audio
Afterglow is firmly within the McLachlan signature sound -- a softly tuneful, mildly atmospheric blend of classic singer/songwriterism and a touch of vaguely dreamy alternative pop, all shined and immaculately produced by Pierre Marchand. Prior to its release, the album was touted as the first collection of songs she wrote entirely on piano, not guitar, but ultimately this doesn't make much of a difference to the overall feel and effect of the album, which perfectly dovetails with Surfacing.
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W.L. Swarts Reviews The Universe
August 20, 2012. Sarah McLachlan's primary instruments are the piano and her voice and she plays both wonderfully on Afterglow. This is an album with a rich sound as she is often accompanied by guitars, bass and drums. Many of the songs have an orchestral sound to them and it works as an album that fully immerses and enchants the listener. There may be no better way to describe it.
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Telegraph
McLachlan's vision of vulnerable, long-suffering womanhood no longer works in a land where the likes of Dido, Beth Orton and Atomic Kitten are either pumping out messages of cool self-sufficiency or looking forward to a good night out.
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Now Toronto
November 13, 2003. This is a bloodless rehash of the atmospheric, soaring folk-dance pop prototype McLachlan cemented with producer Pierre Marchand on Fumbling Toward Ecstasy, which has become more insipid with each successive release. Forward-thinking in 94, a decade later she just sounds stale.
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The Danger Zone
Sarah found the perfect blend between vocal performance, instrumental accompaniment, and lyrical decadence in Afterglow. Hand in hand, everything flows together so well. It is certainly one of her softer albums, . . . .
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Twas 469
And she is incredibly good at what she does. Afterglow is exactly the same in most taxonomic aspects as Surfacing, her last studio album six years ago, but the songs are new, and that's enough if it's enough. . . . The songs are listlessly boring or they're mesmerizing beautiful.
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Don Ignacio's Music Reviews
This is a nice comeback from our favorite boring pop singer! It’s almost exactly like her last album all the way back in the 1990s … but so what? That was a good album, and this one is better than that one was.
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