When we met up with Basia Bulat to interview and photograph her for our current issue, the singer was in the middle of a busy stretch of writing and recording for her sophomore album. That would explain why we shot the photos of her in New York (during a much-needed weekend “off” for Bulat) and did the interview a few weeks later in a busy cafe in Toronto (during “lunch”). Ever since her Polaris Music Prize-nominated debut album, “Oh, My Darling,” captured audiences and critics alike back in 2008, Bulat has been hard at work refining both her writing and her voice to put out a follow-up album that could live up to its weighty expectations. Fortunately for everyone involved, the new disc, dubbed “Heart of My Own,” does just that.
Like “Darling,” the songs on the new album are both intimate and muscular, sounding equally at home in a small singing circle as they do in a live stage setting (Fittingly, many of the new tracks were written and road-tested on tour before Bulat laid them down in a studio). The melodies this time around are fuller and more vibrant, backed by Bulat’s trademark auto-harp and an ensemble of folk-pop musicians whose parts were recorded live off the floor. The lyrics, meantime, resonate with a haunting honesty gathered from months on end in a tour bus, far away from home and loved ones. If Bulat sounds a little more emotional, it’s because she was, and perhaps still is.
We met up with Bulat a few months ago here in Toronto and she was understandably tired, though excited for the new album to come out. When we reminded her that the first time we heard her sing was at a karaoke bar with mutual friends during university, she perked up and let out a quiet chuckle. And her response was perfect, if unexpected. “I love to sing and perform,” she said, “whether it’s with a group of friends or in front of huge crowds… I’m really not worried about what people will think about the new album. No matter what the response is, I’ll always be singing.”
Bulat’s new album, “Heart of My Own,” is out in stores this week. To find out more about the album and Bulat’s current tour dates, check out www.basiabulat.com. And to see the photos and read our interview with Basia Bulat, click HERE to order Issue 6 of Corduroy.
- TC
(photo by Peter Ash Lee)
