Happy 30th Anniversary to k.d. lang’s second solo album Ingénue, originally released March 17, 1992.
Music and memories have an almost symbiotic-like relationship at times. Memories that lie dormant for years, so easily awoken with the sound of a song or melody that transports us back in time as if it was yesterday. One such memory is the first time I ever heard k.d. lang’s voice.
At the beginning of my final year of high school, I had taken a part time job working in a little music store that was connected to a very conservative bookstore. The manager of the music store, whose name has slipped from my memory, reminded me of Melissa Etheridge. She had cool hair styled into a sort of faux mullet, loved paisley waistcoats and had the most insane collection of cowboy boots I think I have ever seen. She was cool without even trying. Her music tastes were as broad as the day is long and because of her, I was educated in styles of music I may have never given the chance to.
One day at work as I unpacked a recent delivery, a CD was pushed in front of me. “Put this on Matt, it’s going to blow your mind.” That CD was Ingénue, lang’s second solo CD and one that came with a whole lot of controversy and was, one could even say, polarizing. Not because of the songs or lang’s talent, both of which are unquestionable. But because lang had recently come out as a Lesbian and had become an outspoken advocate for animal rights, both of which may have alienated her Country & Western fanbase from her first few albums. Lang’s previous albums had all been steeped in Country music, something that for the first time, Ingénue wasn’t.
Ingénue moved lang into the adult contemporary arena, which allowed previous genres like country and pop to still have a strong influence on this album. Jazz and folk also feature heavily, giving way for a shift in lang’s vocal style, subtle but just as commanding. This album is personal, and it shows. Her songwriting was developing and as the album opens with “Save Me,” the emotional depth that the singer immersed herself in became abundantly clear.
There is a seductive allure about this album and as lang herself once put it, Ingénue’s sound is “post nuclear Cabaret.” Collaborators and co-producers Ben Mink and Greg Penny create a type of intimacy with lang that almost forces the listener to accept it as is or not at all. The album is confrontational at times, but it’s a pivot that lang needed to make in order to break the shackles from her previous albums. Even in its confrontation, lang still manages a confidence that is something few artists can lay claim to when on the path to reinvention.
Totaling ten tracks, there is so much beauty on this album, that it’s almost impossible to lean into just one or two songs as favorites. The buoyant “Miss Chatelaine,” the album's second single, is perhaps the song that demonstrates just how flawless lang’s vocality truly is. “Wash Me Clean” makes room for a more bluesy feel which again works perfectly with lang's vocal abilities. But it is the album's lead single and one that has been firmly associated with the singer ever since its release, “Constant Craving,” that closes out the album with some incredibly compelling rhythms and the most exuberant sound.
Then, of course, there is lang’s voice. An undeniably crystal-clear toned instrument that straddles all of the complexities of a jazz singer and the exuberance of just a hint of pop music, coupled with the inflections of folk and country to respect her musical roots.
Ingénue is lang’s document of self-realization and working out just who she is—a place that we all have been at some time in our lives, albeit away from the public eye.From a songwriting perspective, the exploration of self-understanding doesn’t get much better than “Outside Myself.” The realization that the darkness and light within oneself must find balance is the sum of all parts not just for this song, but for the entirety of the album.
LISTEN: