Hawksley Workman , Jean Martin , Daniel Romano , and Joshua Van Tassel all get production or co-writing credits .
But Slean ’ s first and arguably most important collaborator was a young boy .
When her time on her farm had run its course , she headed back to Toronto . After finding an apartment , she was offered an interesting proposition : reduced rent if she taught her new landlady ’ s son about singing and music .
“ I don ’ t know what it was , but I think connecting with this kid and just singing show tunes in my apartment , it just reacquainted me with how much I love music – all kinds of music , how fun it is and how uplifting it can be ,” she says . “ It ’ s this simple , beautiful phenomenon . Every human being on Earth sings . I think it was there the music started coming out . It was maybe a note to myself that it doesn ’ t have to be perfect , it doesn ’ t have to be an epic masterpiece , it can just be a song .”
Those teaching sessions led to the writing of what would become the first track on the album , “ Perfect Sky .” The song starts with a simple , muffled kick drum pattern that mimics the human heart – a flawed , easily damaged , delicate organ , and a reminder that the best things in the world aren ’ t necessarily perfect .
Other pieces followed , inspired by equally incredibleyet-mundane interactions . “ Every Rhythm Is the Beat ” came from an unusual encounter on a train several years ago that led to a life-altering conversation . During a recent interview on CBC ’ s Fresh Air , Slean told the story of finding herself talking to an intimidating , armed man while taking public transport .
Their conversation got emotional . The man cried as he told Slean about his years caught in a cycle of selling drugs . The two stayed in touch over the ensuing years , and recently Slean received a message from the man . He had been stricken by cancer but had found solace during his recovery in poetry and music .
“ My takeaway from that experience is that , in this really profound way , we kind of are each other ,” explains Slean . “ In the physical realm , we feel very distinct and separate . My thoughts are my thoughts and my hunger is my hunger and my sadness is my sadness . But in some way , we are so not separated . My experience with this person made me see that in some startling way . It just seems so magical to me .
“ He said to me he knew it wasn ’ t right what he was doing , selling drugs or whatever . Sitting there just talking to him , I made no judgment . I was just totally taken aback that this person was baring his soul to me . But I think that was the role that I played in that interaction and he played a very profound role for me in that interaction .” Two unconnected stories involving two very different people Slean had met – a hardened criminal and an innocent kid . But both experiences illustrated something fundamental about how we are all connected , a theme that can be found throughout Metaphysics .
36 • CANADIAN MUSICIAN
PHOTO : DAVID LEYES
Metaphysics is the study of ethereal questions that get to the core of humanity : What is thought ? What is existence ? What is the mind and what is its relationship to the body ?
For a musician aiming to express feelings that are universal , those kinds of deep questions can be fundamental to their art . For those who immerse themselves in the necessary evil of the business side of things , though , it can be frustrating in how far the fiduciary and marketing decisions can take you from the divine or spiritual side of making art . It ’ s hard to focus on touching souls when you ’ re knee-deep in contract negotiations or budget decisions .
“ It ’ s completely maddening ! But you have to remind yourself that you ’ re treading the intersection between two very , very different worlds ,” says Slean . “ The world of music has nothing to do with the world of business , which is strictly about profit , strictly about positioning and branding and competition , which I find anathema to creativity . Navigating the business part of it is infuriating , it ’ s frustrating , it ’ s saddening , but I just remind myself this isn ’ t music at all . Music is the sublime energy that washes over me when I hear Schubert .”
Resolving that paradox weighed heavily on Slean ’ s mind during the writing of Metaphysics . She turned to writers like neuroscientist / philosopher Sam Harris and cognitive scientist Steven Pinker as she grappled to figure out where she stood in both the physical and eternal worlds .
“ Isn ’ t that just the human predicament ? That ’ s what I think I struggle with intellectually and spiritually and most people do who think about life in any sort of sustained manner ,” says Slean . “ It is so perplexing to be in the physical world . It ’ s a pure fact that you ’ re here and you have dimensions and you are matter , so you have to move the body around and the body has to influence the environment and this exchange between the body and other things . There ’ s no getting around the scale of that and the way that works , but we also know and sense intuitively that there ’ s a dimension to us that isn ’ t physical . You don ’ t have to call it something ; you don ’ t have to use the G-word , but the universe is alive and it ’ s intelligent and that ’ s kind of where it ends for me in terms of certainty .”
Music itself exists as a bridge between those two realms . Listening to different styles evokes different emotions through things as elusive as different shaped sound waves . ( For her part , Slean cops to listening to a lot of classical music and Kendrick Lamar as of late .)
Any songwriter knows how frustratingly out of reach that “ Aha !” moment can be , where inspiration strikes and thoughts and feelings get perfectly translated into the physical action of singing or playing an instrument . To Slean , artists exist as that bridge , bringing over thoughts from the non-physical world that can have a very real influence on the so-called “ real ” world .
“ There ’ s this whole long line , the arc of history and the arc of how art evolves , but there ’ s also the individual who is the product of that but who in some sense is called to change that or rebel against it or add something new . So , you ’ ve got those two things going on inside one creative voice . There ’ s a tension there . I think that tension is a kind of a wellspring of artistic activity . At least it is for me …”
Once inspiration strikes , the very real , very physical job of capturing it begins . There is very little spiritually satisfying about doing line tests or screwing with a stubbornly out-oftune piano .
However , even within the tedious , there ’ s a chance to connect with something great . The trick is keeping yourself in a mental space that allows you to recognize the big moments when they come . Patience , it must be remembered , is a virtue . “ The unexpected , the divine if you want to call it that – every moment there ’ s that chance . I think managing that sort of knob twiddling and mic placement and things like that , if that can be quick and painless and done with humility and patience , those moments where the mystery pierces time are more frequent . If you rebel against the process and it drives you