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Eclectic TASTEMAKER ; K.D. Lang's 'Watershed' Is the Self-Examination of a Woman in Love BY KATHALEEN ROBERTS JOURNAL STAFF WRITER, ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL

The soaring voice is as full and ripe as the Canadian prairie.

And the "Ingenue" has mellowed from painful infatuation into a kind of contentment.

That beguiling hybrid of androgyny and vocal fireworks thrust k.d. lang into fame in the '90s -- a guest spot on "Ellen's" coming- out episode, a provocative shave by Cindy Crawford on the cover of Vanity Fair and duets with Tony Bennett.

"Watershed," lang's first collection of original songs in eight years, has been percolating since 2001. The singer/songwriter will be at the Lensic Performing Arts Center at 7:30 p.m. Sunday.

Now 47, lang began writing the album's songs seven years ago. But she got sidetracked by a call from Bennett, and the pair produced the Grammy Award-winning "A Wonderful World" compilation of Louis Armstrong songs. Unsure what to do next, in 2004, lang produced "Hymns to the 49th Parallel," her spare tribute to the Canadian songbook featuring crystalline covers of songs by Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young and Bruce Cockburn, among others.

"Then in 2006 I sort of stopped and said, 'Oh my goodness, I have almost enough (songs) for an album,' " she said in a telephone interview from Chicago.

Lang recorded the demos into her laptop, determined to retain a freshness often sacrificed in the studio.

"I had all these raw, intimate performances, and I really wanted to protect and maintain that intimacy," she said. As a result, much of what you hear on "Watershed" amounts to first approaches. "Jealous Dog," for example, is entirely a first take.

A veteran of legendary producers like Owen Bradley (country), David Kahne (pop) and even rockabilly (Dave Edmunds), lang says she meant to hire a producer on "Watershed" but finally mustered the confidence to do it herself.

She says she writes mostly when she knows an album is due, beginning with the music, the melody and the song structure before putting pen to paper.

"I do spend some time writing streamof-consciousness poetry," she said. "I will return to my books to pick up lyrics."

Known for her uncanny ability to absorb and project a carousel of styles, lang has often built her albums around a theme -- the clear- eyed country of "Torch and Twang," the dragons of smoke on "Drag." "Watershed" chronicles the daily ebb and flow of a committed relationship amid a tide of selfreflection. It's quite a departure from lang's biggest hit "Constant Craving," a searing chronicle of the thrill of obsessive infatuation. The besotted singer reportedly moved from Canada to Los Angeles to be near a woman who was already living with somebody else. Lang now lives with Jamie Price, her partner of six years. The pair met through their mutual Buddhist teacher.

In some ways, "Watershed" represents a mature version of "Ingenue," lang said. " 'Ingenue' was definitely my hybrid way of singing and writing music, and I think 'Watershed' is, too. I have eclectic taste. I have a shuffle mode in my brain."

Today's rotation includes her opening act, pianist and composer Dustin O'Halloran, esoteric classical music, alt-country queens Gillian Welch and Neko Case, and indie rockers Band of Horses.

The album also resonates with lang's conversion to Buddhism after the height of her fame eight years ago. "I think I've been a Buddhist all my life," she said. "I think it's sort of all- pervading. I think it's made me a happier person, a more appreciative person, a little more gentle and less judgmental of others and myself, because, of course, that's where it starts. It's made me slow down and really absorb and have empathy and compassion for others.

"At the beginning, I was very intimidated by incorporating my music into my beliefs because Buddhism, like all faiths, is so enormous and infinitely challenging and deep," she continued. "I discussed it with my teacher. He said don't worry, just write. It became a very Buddhist record in that it's about really looking into yourself. The overall theme is self-examination."

Several tunes are straight-ahead love songs. Others, like "Thread," teeter on the prickly cusp of the contradictions inherent in any long-term commitment: "One says love is tragic/one says miracle/One becomes a skeptic/one vulnerable."

Kathryn Dawn Lang was born in Edmonton, Alberta, one of four children born to Audrey and Fred Lang. All four siblings studied classical piano, although neither parent was professionally trained.

"I was constantly immersed in classical music," lang said. "I listened to Chopin, Bartok and Shostakovich for hours and hours after school every day."

By the time she enrolled in Red Deer College, she was fascinated with the life and music of Patsy Cline, forming a tribute band called the Reclines in 1983. It was while she was at Red Deer that a vocal coach recognized her as a serious singer when she slouched into his office in a baseball cap.

"He said, 'I don't care if you are a lesbian; you are a mezzo soprano and that's what this is about,' " lang said.

"It's about being honest and open about who I am and coming out," she said.

"Obviously, I am a singer. I don't really think of it as something more than being a very good mason or a very good nurse. We all have our gifts, and music is mine."

In 1986, she signed a contract with an American record producer in Nashville. By 1989, Roy Orbison had asked her to record a duet of "Crying," which won them the Grammy for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals.

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She realized she had a voice when she was 5. "I was taking piano and my piano teacher suggested I try singing, because I didn't show much interest in practicing," lang explained.

The same year, she realized she was a lesbian when she developed a crush on her swimming teacher, although she had no name for it at the time. She came out to herself at 13. She told her mother at 16; three out of the four Lang children are gay.

"It wasn't something I thought of as unnatural until somebody told me it was," lang said.

Armed with a butch haircut and baggy suits, lang has always played with gender roles, acknowledging the disconnect between her sensuous vocals and her masculine look with a wink. She still gets mistaken for a man at least once a day.

"People say, 'Can I help you, sir?' " she said. "I wouldn't say I like it or I dislike it. I fall into it, because I like to play with perception. Then I look them in the eye and smile, and it's quite obvious I'm a woman." If you go

WHO: k.d. lang WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Sunday WHERE: Lensic Performing Arts Center, 211 W. San Francisco St. COST: Tickets are sold out. CONTACT: 988-1234 or www. ticketssantafe.org

http://archives.cbc.ca/ar.../music/topics/1737-12020/