‘Comes w/ piano and bed’
Wanna rent Sarah lean’s minimalist apartment in Paris?
Jen Zoratti

In case you hadn’t noticed, Sarah Slean is a bit of a romantic.

OK, she’s a big romantic.

From her captivating stage presence to her whimsical lyrics, the 29-year-old singer/songwriter has a poet’s way with words.

It’s fitting, then, that Slean would find herself right at home in the romance capital of the world. The native of Toronto lived in Paris for the better part of 2006, touring and promoting the European release of her fifth full-length album, Orphan Music.

Taking care of business is obviously important, but Slean also got the chance to embrace the Parisian boho culture head-on, right down to shoebox-style digs and a rented piano.

“It was a dream come true,” Slean says. “It was something I’ve wanted to do since I was 15. I was there for seven months, which is long enough to really start feeling like a resident, you know? I was really picking up the language, too.

“I had the tiniest apartment that’s legally allowable, I think, and I rented a white piano from this crazy old guy in plaid pants. I had that and my bed in a room. It was incredible. It really felt like the true Parisian-artist experience.”

Though Slean says she’d happily be a permanent resident of the European capital, she finds some undeniable comforts at home.

“The reason I came back to Toronto is because I have a lot of friends and family there,” Slean says. “I also had place waiting for me when I got back, which is a great feeling — one I’m not used to.”

But Slean won’t be staying stationary for long. She’s about to embark on a short Canadian tour in support of the new album, which is a compilation of bare-bones recordings of some of her best-loved songs and live performances from Toronto’s Harbourfront Theatre and Vancouver’s East End Cultural Centre. The whole package projects an understated beauty, and the naked production captures the essence of Slean’s music: the vitality of a song.

“Creating an album is like assembling a little choir,” Slean says. “You need lots of different voices. That’s why I felt that making a straight live album would have been a little monotonous, especially for an album that’s all about the little urchins that get lost by the wayside when you’re recording a studio album.

“I’m never happy with anything on a record,” she continues, “just because it seems so contrary to the idea of music, which is all about a moment in time. But I am happy with what a record represents, because I try to capture those moments in time.”

So perhaps Slean’s true home isn’t Paris after all...

“Being onstage is the best part because those songs get to live again,” she says. “They’re really, truly alive when you play them because nothing is ever the same. I never sing them the same, I never play them the same, the audience isn’t the same. That, to me, is what songs are all about.”