Sarah MacDougall set out to create a record that emulated the feeling of being surrounded by nature, and that is exactly what she accomplished.
The high-risk, high-reward album was teased to fans with the cinematic single Empire in Spring and her fourth album, All the Hours I Have Left to Tell You Anything was released in Fall.
“I wanted to create something big sounding and I wanted to reflect what I had seen in the Yukon because I have lived there for the last eight years and I have been lucky enough to do a few hikes and helicopter rides and I always felt I wanted to write some songs that reflect this,” said MacDougall.
Born in Sweden, the musician has lived Whitehorse, Yukon since 2010. This album was something that she had never created before, reflecting on human nature, life, death and nature.
RELATED: Sleepovers for Life preserves new B.C. music in vinyl
“It’s more just that feeling, the feeling you get when you are seeing such a massive and vast landscape. It’s more about that and creating that space musically rather than just reflecting nature per se,” said MacDougall.
The songstress wrote the album while she was gaining and losing family members in a short period of time. She lost her grandparents, had a niece born and she says that the experiences are interwoven in the album.
“I tackle some bigger subjects on this album,” said MacDougall. “The last few years in my life have been revolving a lot around life and death and that made its way through music.”
RELATED: Local band and director look to shed light on unique Kelowna music scene
MacDougall released her first album, in 2009 and has since been nominated for 2015 Canadian Folk Music Award for Contemporary Singer of the Year. She has won both the title of Western Canadian Music Award, Roots Solo Album of the Year in 2012 and 2015. She isn’t slowing down anytime soon though, she is constantly learning and improving her craft.
She looks to release a full album in her native Swedish next, having placed songs in Swedish on her albums before she is looking forward to dedicating an album in her discography to her native tongue.
“I grew up there, it’s a little more primal for me. Swedish is a little more of an expressive language and even though there are fewer words. It’s simpler, it’s hard to explain there are just other things I can say in Swedish,” said MacDougall. “Certain things might sound really cliché in English, but it might sound beautiful in Swedish you just have more of a palate to choose from.”
The award winning musician will be embarking on her next tour in the new year and will be stopping at the Kelowna Rotary Centre for the Arts Jan. 30 tickets are available at www.rotarycentreforthearts.com
To report a typo, email:newstips@kelownacapnews.com.
@sydneyrmortonsydney.morton@kelownacapnews.comLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
