The Garden, Basia Bulat’s latest album, announces the colors of this new spring about to bloom, by offering us an hour-long reinterpretation of her repertoire, as if to visit the roses of a fable that have grown in the garden of Beauty and the Beast. Surrounded by a string quartet (John Corban and Tomo Newton on violin, Jen Thiessen on viola, Zou Zou Robidoux on cello), as well as Sarah Pagé on harp, Ben Whiteley on double bass, and Andrew Woods on mellotron, Basia Bulat manages to blend the warmth and charm of her folk and country roots with the elegance and technicality of classical music. Through this hybridization, we can guess the influence of an aesthetic signature that could well come from collaborations with the artist Meg Remy (U.S. Girls). For several years now, we have seen both the artistic collaboration and the friendship of these two women, one American-Canadian and the other Canadian of Polish origin, develop as they support each other in their double life as mothers and artists. The idea for this orchestral project came from chamber music performances with ensembles, which the artist initially saw as ephemeral and grounded in the present. In her own words, the title track was written during a painful period when her mind was distorted. Like an anchor, this song gave her something to hold on to; it helped her breathe and stay awake while keeping an eye on the future. Having succeeded in breaking a bad spell, The Garden reveals an artist who has fully found herself and, like a delicate folkloric embroidery, immortalizes the fairy-like blossoming of a mother.
