Andrew MacNaughtan

Unchained Melodies | Jann Arden gets liberated on her new album Free.

JANN ARDEN
Jubilee Auditorium (11455-87 Ave). Wed-Thu, Nov 25-26 (8pm) Tickets: $62.65-$88.65, available through Ticketmaster (451-8000/ticketmaster.com).

When Jann Arden picks up her phone, I think for a moment that somehow I’ve called the wrong Canadian songstress.

“Hello, this is Céline Dion,” the voice says.

“Hi, Céline” I say, playing along. “What are you up to today?”

“Oh, just hanging out with Anne Murray, Sarah McLachlan ...”

All right, all right — time to get Arden to drop the act, but not before telling her that she probably wouldn’t have a hard time fitting in with that crowd. She brushes off the compliment: “You never know where you’re going with music,” she says, “Every time you undertake even writing a song, it’s a crapshoot. You never feel like a professional.”

Though she might not be able to match Céline’s successes — few can — Arden’s list of accomplishments isn’t too shabby: multi-platinum records, a slew of top 10 singles, eight Junos and a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame. Her latest record, Free, is her 10th, but one she views as a fresh new start after a period when she simply wasn’t enjoying the process of making music to the extent she had in the past. “No idea why really,” she shrugs. “You just get worn out and you can become complacent, just go through the motions. It’s probably just called lazy.”

She’s dubbed her current tour “An Intimate Evening With Jann” — no opening act, just an all-Arden evening with an extravagant new set and a few surprises. “There have been a few tours,” she says, “where I think to myself, ‘I don’t know if I’m up for this,’ but I’m really looking forward to it this time.” And she’ll have a new album full of intimate material to draw upon — like the title track: “I’m selling my soul right back to Jesus,” Arden sings, “taking up hope and giving up weakness, untangling the strings; I’m free.”
“I don’t write music, I make it up,” Arden says. “I don’t read music; I very seldom know what chords I’m playing, so when I’m writing, I just make it up as I go along. It’s not a process I think I’d want anyone sitting in front of me watching.”

However, that’s what happened while she was making Free: she hooked up with a brand new band and took on new songwriting partners including SHeDAISY’s Kristyn Osborn. “All these things bring a newness to the music,” Arden says, adding that she can probably hear the changes more clearly than her listeners. “I can’t remove myself from the music. It’s like how you wear down the heels on your shoes. I’m still wearing those same little spots out — there’s always a part of me.”