Sarah McLachlan is back in the saddle. “Someone mentioned that it had been 11 years since my last album,” she laughs from Tofino, BC. “I was like, ‘What?!’”

Now, past and present are converging for the 57-year-old Canadian icon. She has a new album, Better Broken, hailed as her strongest since her prime. She’s promoting it while finishing a tour marking 30 years since Fumbling Towards Ecstasy and celebrating a documentary on Lilith Fair.

“I have never been prolific,” says McLachlan. “It usually takes me months, if not years, to finish a song.” Better Broken is only her seventh album since her 1987 debut, Touch. When she decided she finally had enough songs, she thought it might be her last and wanted to shake things up, parting ways with longtime producer Pierre Marchand. The new sound, produced by Tony Berg, is re-energized and layered with a slinkier groove.

Her lyrics draw from life as a woman in her fifties: divorce, death of parents, raising teens, breakups, and global decline. “I’m watching the world implode all around us,” she says. “As a mother, a humanitarian, a woman, and an artist, I have to say something.”

Better Broken explores grief, love, and resilience. Songs like “Gravity” and “Rise” reflect empathy and hope, while “Wilderness” channels heartbreak and anger. “Nobody gets out unscathed,” she laughs. “It’s reclamation—who am I now?”

She speaks openly of “loss and grief and shame,” especially after learning of an infidelity that ended her last relationship. “The shame that I carried was devastating,” she admits, “but now I’m on the other side of it.”

McLachlan hasn’t been idle between albums. For nearly 25 years, she’s invested her fortune and time into the Sarah McLachlan School of Music. Founded in 2000 from Lilith Fair profits, it began as a free after-school program in Vancouver and now has three campuses. Her goal was to offer creative learning outside the rigid conservatory model. “If I’m going to create a music program, I want to meet kids where they’re at, figure out how to reach them, and keep them engaged.”

Growing up in a quiet, unhappy Halifax household, “music was my comfort,” she says. It’s what she hopes her school offers others. “Music is the only reason I stayed in school. We need citizens who have empathy and social-emotional awareness. Music nurtures all those things.”

When asked about reviving Lilith Fair, McLachlan defers. “Maybe it should be Phoebe Bridgers’, or Brandi Carlile’s, or Taylor Swift’s,” she says. “It feels redundant for me to bring back the same thing.”

Instead, she’s focused on revisiting Fumbling Towards Ecstasy. “These people have such an attachment to this record. I feel that when I’m on stage,” she says. Illness forced her to cancel shows in 2024, but after recovering, she rebooked them. “Who cares?” she laughs. “I know my fans want the songs they love.”

The Sarah McLachlan School of Music now serves 1,200 students with a $3.2 million annual budget. “I don’t tour as much as I used to, and it’s a lot of money to raise,” she says, crediting her development team for professionalizing operations. “It’s a safe space where you get to discover who you are using music as a vehicle. That gives such pride and self-worth.”

After the album cycle, McLachlan plans to focus on health and creativity. “I surf every day in Tofino and look forward to skate-skiing,” she says. “I’ll continue to work with the school and have more time to write and do other things. I’m in the beginning stages of this new part of my life. Check back in a year; we’ll see.”

As for the thought that Better Broken could be her last album? “I’m over that,” she smiles. “There’s too much fun to be had. I have a very different attitude toward it now.”

This story has been edited and condensed for clarity. Read the original version in the Fall/Winter 2025 edition of driver magazine.

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