Sarah Mclachlan readies new live album

By KAREN BLISS -- Jam! Music

While Vancouver songstress Sarah McLachlan is busy writing her next studio album, Nettwerk Records will release a live album and video in April. It will also be available in the new DVD format.

It has nothing to do with Lilith Fair, however, which has been put away until next summer. The concert was culled from two performances in Portland, Ore. during McLachlan's 1997/98 Surfacing tour.

According to Nettwerk's VP of A&R and marketing George Maniatis, all the shows were recorded on the tour, but renowned video director Sophie Muller was only available on those two days.

"She's shot videos for Weezer, Annie Lennox and Sinead O'Connor and she shot both of those nights in Portland. The live footage is awesome," says Maniatis. "It's going to be released as a two-hour DVD, as well as on VHS and CD."

The final track listing and title for the concert recording have yet to be determined. A live single will also be released in March.

Nettwerk Records' distribution deal with EMI Music Canada is also up in March, so McLachlan's latest project might 'surface' through another major label.

McLachlan, who is in the middle of a copyright infringement suit in Vancouver right now, has been writing for her next studio album, says Maniatis.

"We're going to have a new record in 2000 or 2001 because next year she's doing Lilith Fair Asia/Australia, Lilith Fair Europe and then North America in the summertime."