Written by:
Gina Bowers
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Vol.10 #6
k.d. lang can honestly say she’s looked at love from both sides now.
Leaving behind the “constant craving,” she’s surprised us with an album inspired by love of the requited kind. She describes her latest work, Invincible Summer, as the yang to (1996) Ingenue’s ying. Teaming up with Damian leGassick — protégé of William Orbit, the producer behind Madonna’s latest incarnation — lang has come out with an album hailed as the quintessential summer soundtrack, saturated with love, sweet love.
Recently, lang spoke with Curve from her home in the Hollywood Hills of Southern California. She shares the place with Leisha Hailey, her girlfriend of nearly five years, a musician in the band The Murmurs.
Surrounded by 100-year-old Sycamore trees, lang’s home is a peaceful repose, with floor-to-ceiling windows, plenty of wood accents and a decidedly Eastern influence. Likewise, lang reflects the tranquility of the Buddha when she discusses the new album and how she came to be so unabashedly happy.
“[Invincible Summer] was … the culmination of a lot of different … emotional enlightenments for me,” she explains. “I would say the biggest one was through my domesticity and, in my time off, I fell in love with my music again. Really, this record is a celebration of that.”
The album takes its title from a quote by Albert Camus, the French writer and philosopher who concerned himself with the absurdity of the human condition: “In the depths of winter, I finally learned that within me lay an invincible summer,” he wrote. “The title represents my discovery of my ‘invincible summer,’ my core, my sunshine, which is my music,” says lang.
“Working for 15 years straight, I got a little disillusioned. … I didn’t have time to reflect on what I was accomplishing and to reward myself. So, when I stopped and took a little time off, looked back on my career, I started to feel more fulfilled and as a result more inspired,” she says. “When I made the discovery that life itself is my art and that music is my craft, a tremendous weight lifted off me and I started to enjoy life a lot more.”
Growing up on the wide-open prairies of Alberta, Canada, lang has developed a distinct appreciation of Southern California beaches, where she went for inspiration while working on the new album.
Still, she hasn’t left her heritage behind, and claims she’ll always have a little bit of country in her. “The steel guitar is still there and the long sort of open, melodic sensibility is still there,” she says. But now, more than ever before, lang considers her voice to be her chief instrument. “I studied the old school vocalists such as Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee. … To me, a vocalist has the liberty to move around genres and interpret and experiment with all different musical styles,” she says.
This universal love lang invokes with Invincible Summer has brought her to a deeper understanding of life’s simple pleasures. “I want my music to be like water, a necessity in people’s lives,” she explains. “Before, I considered myself part of the musical elite. Now, I’m more interested in reaching people where they live. I’ve gained an appreciation of the mainstream and I think this music reflects that.”
Q&A
Curve: Having a new album means going out on the road to perform. What do you miss most when you’re away from home?
k.d. lang: “I think I’m worried most about my dog [Saylor, a lab-shepard mix], because I can talk to my girlfriend. … [When I’m on the road] I don’t get to ride my motorcycle, I don’t get to make my own coffee, just small things that control your life or that add to your life that are luxuries like that. But, then again, I think that, innately, I’m a performer. … It all comes down to absolutely everything I do is to allow me to be on stage. Making records … doing interviews, anything I do … is to get me onto that stage. When I’m there, really, everything … has been let go and … the muse is really the audience. … As long as they are not too mean to me.” [Laughs.]
How do you tear yourself away from Home Depot and dinner parties with friends long enough to sit down and write?
“In the writing stage I really just become a different person. … I go into a very ‘Bohemic’ lifestyle where I allow myself to do things that I don’t generally allow myself to do — which is eat a lot more, drink a lot more, smoke pot, not exercise, sleep late, you know, whatever it takes to get through the writing process.
“The common misconception is that melancholy is better fodder for good art. … You know, life is full of curves … and I certainly know this state of mind may not last forever. So, I guess ultimately I … hope that the taps of creativity don’t shut down on me.”
You used to have a girl in every port. What are you going to do when those port girls come calling on tour? Is there a mantra you have to ward them off?
“I’m gonna run! I don’t know what I’m gonna do. I’m pretty much in love, but, uh, geez, I know it’s going to be a challenge. Let’s see what happens.”
Is it hard to be committed to one person?
“Of course, it’s probably the biggest challenge of my life. I’m sure Leisha feels the same way. I’m a romantic. I think that fantasy, within yourself, is one of the greatest places to go. I love fantasizing about romance and things, so it’s a wonderful thing to have tucked away inside yourself.”
How many times has k.d. lang been in love?
“Infinitely, and it will continue every second. Every time I turn around there’s someone new to fall in love with.”
If you were single, whose doorbell would you be ringing?
“Cate Blanchette, bar none. But she’s married, so maybe not Cate, but she’s my biggest crush right now.”
How has being out affected your relationship with the music industry and your sense of place in the gay and lesbian community?
“My basic approach to music is pretty eclectic, so radio is a little afraid of me in general. I think — without being bitter about it — [being out] has certainly affected my commercial aspect. I think in some ways it has helped me. Ingenue wouldn’t have been so successful if I hadn’t come out in “Vanity Fair” and [without] the momentum that coming out gave to that record — but I think something happens internally. I think there is some sort of reorientation that goes on in the outed subconscious. … Your position in society internally has changed. Like when “All You Can Eat” came out, people just totally read that as sexual innuendo. It was really more a statement on my position with fame, rather than my position with sexuality.”
What do you think about Sinéad coming out?
“I think it’s great. I’m not sure if I — I’d have to, you know, have some proof. Let me do some research on that one and I’ll get back to you.”
You say you want your music to be like water, a necessity in people’s lives. What’s a necessity in your life?
“Tofu. Sunshine. Dogs. Motorcycles.”
Favorite color?
“Right now I’m focusing on yellow, orange and white — which are the colors of the album.”
Who came first, the girlfriend or the dog?
“The girlfriend.”
Does she like the new album?
“Yeah! Are you kidding? She’d be out if she didn’t!”
Leisha does some acting and so have you. Will we see more roles for you in the future?
“Let’s face it … I’m a singer. I’m not an actor. I think it does expand my abilities as a performer and I like to exercise that, but I wouldn’t squeeze out a good actor for a role.”
What’s next for k.d. lang — political office?
“Never, never, never. My political office walks around in my chest with me — it’s called my heart and my spirituality. I’m not a political person at all. What’s next? I tell you I don’t know. I’m pretty myopically focused on this tour. I’m going to give it everything I have. I feel real good about the songs and I feel good about my openness with the audience this year, so I’m kind of fixed on getting a good job done.”
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