Laws of Illusion
| Sarah McLachlan
Laws of Illusion
Laws of Illusion is the seventh studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan. It was released on 11 June 2010 on Arista Records in the United States and 15 June 2010 on Nettwerk in Canada. Recording for the album took place in Montreal and Vancouver and production was handled by Pierre Marchand, with whom McLachlan has frequently collaborated in the past.-Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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BBC
June 15, 2010. This is Sarah McLachlan’s first album for four years, . . . . a failed marriage in the interim has become the inspiration for an autobiographical collection of songs which express the breadth of emotions that follow such circumstances. But the overall tone is not what one might think. There is no self-pity and little melancholy about these arrangements.
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Slant Magazine
June 13, 2010. The album is never less than beautiful and perfectly performed, but most of it is the recorded equivalent of Lunesta.
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Rolling Stone
June 15, 2010. Breakups tend to bring out the best and worst in singer-songwriters. Unfortunately, Sarah McLachlan's first disc since splitting from her husband, Ashwin Sood, feels scattered: . . . .
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PopMatters
July 1, 2010. Where even such bland compositions may have once been elevated by McLachlan’s vocal abilities, our heroine seems content to simply sing them and get out of the way.
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Higher Plain Music
June 22, 2010. “Laws of Illusion” is easily worth the wait. It’s more of the same in some respects but everything has a new glean, spit and polish on it and this is easily the most joyous and happy album McLachlan has made.
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AllMusic
June 15, 2010. It’s been seven years since Sarah McLachlan released Afterglow, her last album of original material. That’s a lifetime in the pop world, perhaps, but McLachlan handles her absence well, filling Laws of Illusion with the same sort of adult contemporary fare that made her a star in the first place.
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Sputnik Music
June 15, 2010. After a seven-year hiatus, Sarah is back and as strong as ever.
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Masshole Mommy
June 14, 2010. . . . if you are a huge fan of Sarah’s like I am, you will not be disappointed. Her songs are filled with stories and the way she delivers them really paints a picture in your mind. . . . Sarah pours her heart and soul into all her music and that is something that’s harder and harder to find these days.
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Los Angeles Times
June 15, 2010. Too many times, a cringe-inducing guitar tone rings out that's become so synonymous with adult contemporary trappings that it mostly suggests the perfumed sanctum of the local Anthropologie store. If only McLachlan would've stripped out the more unoriginal instrumentation on other tracks and relied solely on her voice; it's a haunting, evocative thing we'd follow anywhere.
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Stacy Uncorked
June 21, 2010. She hasn’t released a new album in seven years, and her newest one, Laws of Illusion, was worth the wait. They’re the kinds of songs whose melancholy is touching, but Sarah’s melodious voice burnishes them, which leaves you feeling better. Recommended For You
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Seattle PI
As a complete journey through McLachlan’s last three years, Laws of Illusion is a decisive, meaningful, moving, baffling chronicle. She isn’t concerned with industry trends, mercifully, and instead tells her story with beautiful candor, letting the bewilderment fall where it may and expressing her true soul with every elegant note. Complete albums like this are all too rare.
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The Independent
June 27, 2010. . . . Sarah McLachlan is feeling a little more light-hearted, and while the Canadian's folksy, Pilates-honed latest is influenced by her broken marriage, don't expect bitterness here.
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That Bald Chick
This album is definitely easy to listen to. With a voice that is both supple and smooth, McLachlan does not disappoint with the beautiful ballads and artistic music composition.
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Daily News
June 13, 2010. Sarah McLachlan's 'Laws of Illusion' review: Canadian sings too sweetly of marriage meltdown.
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Contest Corner
June 15, 2010. Fans will be delighted by this record, which delivers McLachlan’s signature sound. Introspective and honest, the ruminations on Laws of Illusion are bittersweet, but ultimately hopeful.
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Billboard
July 9, 2010. "Here I go again," Sarah McLachlan sings on "Illusions of Bliss." And though the song describes the singer's inability to resist a doomed romance, she might just as easily be referring to her music.
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Brimful Curiosities
June 17, 2010. . . . McLachlan is truly an artist, a true artist paints what she feels, and there is no denying the paintings in this album are works of art and that her voice and familiar style reside within each and every one of these songs.
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The Charmed Mom
July 3, 2010. While not a big departure in style from past albums, it’s like the return of an old familiar friend. Filled with emotion and themes of betrayal and lost love, this may not be an ideal party soundtrack, but for a quiet afternoon at home or background music, it’s lovely.
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Outnumbered 3 to 1
June 30, 2010. I have sat and listed to the entire Laws of Illusion album countless times. Usually I'm one to skip through songs and only listen to a select one to three songs on a CD. That's definitely not the case here. I love all the songs!
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Ascending Butterfly
June 15, 2010. I have to say that the new album dropping today 'Laws of Illusion' just doesn't work for me. Sarah's voice is as strong and ethereal as ever, but this album has become what I call her 'Kenny G', it just all sounded the same, and there wasn't much happening to distinguish one song from the other. I was a bit... well..... bored.......and that surprised even me.
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Emmanuel Fonte
June 22, 2010. She is an artist with a truly distinctive sound and approach. Instead of any radical changes in direction, she simply returns to remind us who Sarah is and that she has not gone away.
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Stuff Parents Need
June 20, 2010. Her songs are mostly about love and relationships, just like always. But that doesn’t mean that this album is tired, by any stretch. I’ve played through it and found track after track of spell-binding music and lyrics that are so simple, yet capture some seriously complex matters (growing apart with your partner, forgiveness when it isn’t deserved, and finding yourself again after being seriously lost).
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ShufflePlay
December 6, 2010. This record makes little effort to stand out even just from her own catalogue so it stands to reason that it certainly won’t in comparison to other music currently being released. With that said, if you’re a heavy duty Sarah McLachlan fan, Laws of Illusion is an essential addition to your library that you’ll be sure to be okay with.
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Mersad Donko
June 13, 2010. After almost 10 years since her last full-studio-album, "Afterglow" came out, now she has put out a new one. It's called "Laws of Illusion" and it's perfect. I know that fans of hers had high expectations to this record, and I can safely say that she has met them.
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Entertainment
June 9, 2010. Sarah McLachlan’s sound hasn’t changed much in the seven years since Afterglow, but it does feel less sweeping than usual (exaltations like ”It’s you who gave me fire” notwithstanding) on Laws of Illusion.
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Thanks Mail Carrier
June 15, 2010. The 12 tracks on Law of Illusion each have their own rhythm and style but still come together to form a cohesive and beautiful album.
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Straight
June 16, 2010. There aren’t a lot of sonic surprises on Sarah McLachlan's Laws of Illusion.
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John Emm of the Shaftmen
June 14, 2010. With 10 new songs and 3 bonus singles, McLachlan enticies the listener with gorgeous songcraft and an intuitive sense of her own abilities. If there is one word that could describe McLachlan’s work here it is atmospheric.
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demeter clarc
The music on her latest effort is well-composed and her voice remains strong, but the record lacks agony. I prefer a side order of angst with my piano chanteuse.
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boston.com
June 14, 2010. All of McLachlan’s sonic trademarks are present and accounted for — dreamy keyboard washes, lilting rhythms, that angelic voice. They’re combined with her raw emotion in a beguiling manner that ranges from ethereal to rollicking. “Heartbreak,’’ a twinkly and sly ode to outrunning sadness, would be a surefire hit if pop radio were to embrace it.
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The Danger Zone
December 24, 2010. So while I hate pigeon-holing artists, I can’t help but proclaim that this album’s sound is very un-Sarah and that it feels more like a counterstrike to her 90’s stigma than a product of pure artistic expression.
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Time Out
August 4, 2010. There’s nothing unexpected about Canadian singer-songwriter McLachlan’s latest venture, which is probably why it will work. Like every album before it, Laws of Illusion comfortably fills the awkward gap between dinner party music and the kind of music that ought to be saved for romantic weekends involving log fires. And that’s part of the problem; it’s comfortable, it’s just… ‘nice’.
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Woodlands Mommy
Her newest album is cohesive. It’s engaging. It’s beautiful. Laws of Illusion contains 12 tracks (and one bonus track) and is chock-full of poetic lyrics, soulful vocals, and outstanding instrumentation.
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