Is Sarah McLachlan a secret punk rocker? To be sure, her rebellion is hushed. On Afterglow, her first studio album since 1997's Surfacing, McLachlan’s music is as tempered as ever; at times even the piano chords at the heart of the sound are tucked neatly beneath layer upon layer of strings and overdubbed voices. Listen to what’s being sung within this soothing aural bed, though, and hear the just-before-sleep murmurings of the quietest riot grrl: "I’m a train wreck waiting to happen.... a wildfire born of frustration," "How stupid could I be....
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