It seems very strange that Watershed is the first album of new -- as in self-penned -- material by kd lang in nearly seven years.
Her last full-length, Hymns of the 49th Parallel, was a collection covers by fellow Canadians in 2004, and a compilation assembled from her country albums.
Watershed also lists lang as producer, another first for the singer and songwriter.
There are 11 songs here, including the beautiful single "Dream of Spring," that was released in December of 2007 and kicks off the set.
There is a core band here that revolves around old friends Teddy Borowiecki (who not only plays organ, guitar, arranges strings, and does some programming, but also provides additional production in places), steel guitarist Greg Leisz, drummer Danny Frankel, bassist David Piltch (who also does some additional production), and some guests who include Ben Mink, trumpeter Jon Hassel, and Lynne Earls, who is also the recording engineer here.
Lang plays guitars, banjo, piano, and assorted keyboards.
There are bits and pieces of all of lang's best albums here.
There is the elegance of Ingenue, the lush, restrained drama of Drag, and the earthiness of Shadowland with the contentment and joy of Invincible Summer.
The songs are assembled as a sort of narrative.
"Dream of Spring" opens with bluesy guitar, bass, and a drum loop that becomes a shimmering torch song with pedal steel guitar on its refrain.
Lang's voice glides into a near swoon of longing from a reportorial, almost philosophical observation of places she'd inhabited before allowing herself to enter love openly and freely.
The strings add a lushness that's in stark contrast with the steel, but it all works.
While the song is sexy as all get out, there is a spiritual quotient in it; it's not enmeshed or entrenched.
It's not desperate -- unlike some of the more blessed-out dream anthems on Ingenue.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | I Dream of Springk.d. lang | k.d. lang | Play | 03:59 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 2 | Je Fais La Planchek.d. lang | k.d. lang | Play | 02:51 | 6 MB | 0 MB |
| 3 | Coming Homek.d. lang | k.d. lang | Play | 03:27 | 7 MB | 0 MB |
| 4 | Once in a Whilek.d. lang | k.d. lang | Play | 03:27 | 7 MB | 0 MB |
| 5 | Threadk.d. lang | k.d. lang | Play | 03:38 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 6 | Close Your EyesTeddy Borowiecki, Greg Leisz, k.d. lang | k.d. lang | Play | 04:26 | 10 MB | 0 MB |
| 7 | SundayTeddy Borowiecki, k.d. lang | k.d. lang | Play | 04:17 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 8 | Flame of the Uninspiredk.d. lang | k.d. lang | Play | 03:30 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 9 | Upstreamk.d. lang | k.d. lang | Play | 03:37 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 10 | Shadow and the FrameTeddy Borowiecki, k.d. lang | k.d. lang | Play | 03:07 | 7 MB | 0 MB |
| 11 | Jealous Dogk.d. lang | k.d. lang | Play | 02:32 | 5 MB | 0 MB |
| 38 mins | 89 MB | |||||
| 0 mins | 0 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Teddy Borowiecki | Composer, Drum Programming, Guitar, Keyboards, Organ, Photography, Piano, Programming, String Arrangements, String Conductor, Vibraphone |
| 2 | Grecco Buratto | Guitar |
| 3 | Lynne Earls | Digital Editing, Drum Programming, Engineer, Programming |
| 4 | Danny Frankel | Drums, Percussion |
| 5 | Jon Hassell | Trumpet |
| 6 | Jeri Heiden | Art Direction, Photography |
| 7 | John Heiden | Design |
| 8 | Steve Jensen | Management |
| 9 | Martin Kirkup | Management |
| 10 | k.d. lang | Audio Production, Banjo, Composer, Drum Programming, Guitar, Harp, Keyboards, Percussion, Piano, Primary Artist, Producer, Vocals |
| 11 | Greg Leisz | Composer, Guitar, Guitar (Electric), Guitar (Steel) |
| 12 | David Leonard | Mixing, String Engineer, String Mixing |
| 13 | Ben Mink | Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic) |
| 14 | Glen Nakasako | Photography |
| 15 | Noam Pikelny | Banjo |
| 16 | David Piltch | Bass, Bass (Acoustic), Bass (Electric), Drum Programming, Drums, Guitar, Percussion, Producer, Programming |
| 17 | Nick Steinhardt | Design |
| 18 | Bryan Sutton | Guitar |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |