Songs in key of Ay?

K.D. Lang

She's Canadian you know. If you'd forgotten, k.d. lang's latest album, Hymns of the 49th Parallel, is quite a reminder. On it she swoops through 11 songs by Canadian songwriters including Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Ron Sexsmith, Jane Siberry and one of her own string-laden arrangements of pure maple syrup.

It's yet another sidestep for the singer since those country beginnings then early 90s commercial peak on Ingenue and her high profile as pop's most famous lesbian. She's taken the album on an international tour, singing with the orchestras of the cities she plays, which will include Auckland and Wellington next month.

So Hymns of the 49th Parallel huh? It's an album with latitude.

Ha ha ha. I might have to use that.

So why an all-Canadian album?

Just working with Tony Bennett and hearing him talk about the American songbook and experiencing the American songbook made me start to care about the Canadian songbook and how it's actually never been done before. It seemed like a nice time to do it.

And the more I thought about it the more inspired I got.

It could be seen as a political gesture.

Yes slightly.

How intentional was that?

I was aware of the undertones.

Only an undertone?

No it's not a huge statement but it definitely is an ingredient.

A lot of these artists whose songs you do, they don't live in Canada any more.

Yeah but they have places in Canada. I know that Ron Sexsmith, Jane Siberry and Bruce Cockburn all live in Canada. I know that Joni has a place, I know that Neil has a place and I'm pretty sure that Leonard has a place and I have a place.

Does it sound different when you perform it there?

In Canada? It definitely was a very nice homecoming to able to sing these songs in Canada. It's so innate for me so it's hard for me to know, but I know that certainly this is the soundtrack of my youth.

Were you a Neil Young kind of teenager?