Acclaimed Canadian vocalist Emilie-Claire Barlow is a two-time Juno Award winner and six-time nominee who has released 13 albums throughout her impressive career.
Her performing career spans over 24 years in venues including Toronto’s Massey Hall, Montreal’s Maison Symphonique, Tokyo’s Cotton Club, and, recently, New York’s Birdland.
Last year, she released her latest full-length album Spark Bird and has been taking it on tour, including a stop at Flato Markham Theatre this Saturday night.
Barlow joined us to talk about her time in New York, her love of vinyl, and how she navigates a changing music industry.
The last time you were here in the studio, you were heading off to do some shows at Birdland in New York. I see you’re returning there later this year. What was the experience like?
It was incredible. Of course, Birdland is iconic. We stayed right in Times Square because I wanted to be walking distance from the venue. Because it was a three-night run, we really got to spend some time in the city and settle in a little bit, which was luxurious. I had a real moment after the first night when everyone else had left and I was doing the things I needed to do, and I headed out the stairs and out the door, and I was right in the middle of it all in Times Square. There I was by myself, walking along, and I was overwhelmed with emotion — the feeling of being in New York City and having two more nights ahead of us at that fabulous club.
I understand you’re going to do a vinyl edition of Spark Bird. Can you tell us about that?
It’s a really exciting project which I’m working on with Caroline Brown. She and I have collaborated on many of my albums. She’s a wonderful artist, illustrator and graphic designer. She created these beautiful avatar birds — one signature bird for each track on the album. The artwork is really an integral part of this project. To be able to expand on it with more real estate in vinyl packaging has been really fun for both of us. I love vinyl. I’ve always wanted to do vinyl. But for various reasons, it’s been challenging.
That must feel like such an accomplishment.
I’m really excited about it. I’ve been listening to a lot of vinyl lately, so it’s really become a bigger part of my life. I can’t wait.
It feels like you’ve been able to navigate the accelerated changes in the music industry over the years. What would you tell other artists who are trying to hang onto the steering wheel through the uncertainty in the industry?
The best advice I would give is to try to remain open-minded to new technologies. It’s really easy to get stuck in our ways or be nostalgic. As artists, we probably have a lot of nostalgia at times. I think being open to new technologies, and trying to listen and learn and be on the front end of those… Sometimes they work out, sometimes they don’t, but we certainly can’t predict what the next medium is for how we enjoy music. I could never have imagined streaming. I know there are some really positive things about it and some not-so-great things about it, but I think that remaining open and trying to be as versatile as possible […] is important.
How do you see 2024 shaping up for you?
I’m going to do a new record. I’d like to do another album. I feel like it makes sense if you have songs that work together as a whole. If there’s a concept involved, that makes sense. Also, since we’re talking about the music business, if you want to be considered, let’s say, for awards shows or for certain granting organizations, or even for promotion and publicity, doing an album still means something on that side. Of course, the bigger reason is that you feel like you have something to say and a reason why these songs need to be collected together.
I love that there are incentives that make it still attractive to make a full album.
There’s a lot of discussion on various music business newsletters about the strategy of putting out an album or the strategy of singles. When you release a single to streaming, you have an opportunity to pitch it to the editorial playlist makers and you get to tell them where you think this song might fit, and talk about the inspiration behind it and the moods you feel the song conveys. You really have an opportunity to feature that. When you put out an album, you only have one chance. So that’s why people have been releasing singles — which sort of harkens back to the older major-label days when people would release four or five singles ahead of the album. So, this is nothing new, but we’re going back to this because there is a strategic reason for doing it. I also loved this concept for Spark Bird, because as I mentioned with the artwork, each song had its own signature bird, so each individual song had its own artwork, and I wanted to make sure that I gave each one its moment. So, I released six of the eight songs as singles leading up to the release of the album. I think I might do that again. I like the idea of making an album, but also trying to incorporate some of the more modern strategies to give the songs the best chance of success in the streaming world.
This interview has been edited and condensed.