Sarah Slean

Biography

Sarah Hope Slean (born June 21, 1977) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, composer and musician. She has released eleven albums to date (including EPs and live albums). She is also a poet, visual artist, and occasional actress.

Major recordings

Slean recorded her first EP Universe×Universe1998 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 44 tracks1Weight2:532I Know5:123Angel3:444Me & Jerome3:265Universe4:146Pie Jesu2:477[silence]0:048[silence]0:049[silence]0:0410[silence]0:0411[silence]0:0412[silence]0:0413[silence]0:0414[silence]0:0415[silence]0:0416[silence]0:0417[silence]0:0418[silence]0:0419[silence]0:0420[silence]0:0421[silence]0:0422[silence]0:0423John the 23rd4:3124[silence]0:0425[silence]0:0426[silence]0:0427[silence]0:0428[silence]0:0429[silence]0:0430[silence]0:0431[silence]0:0432[silence]0:0433[silence]0:0434[silence]0:0435[silence]0:0436[silence]0:0437[silence]0:0438[silence]0:0439[silence]0:0440[silence]0:0441[silence]0:0442[silence]0:0443[silence]0:0444Climbing Up the Walls5:12 (1997) at the age of nineteen. It was followed by Blue Parade in 1998. Night Bugs was her first major label album, co-produced by Slean and Hawksley Workman, and released by WEA in Canada and Atlantic Records in the United States. It was heavily inspired by cabaret music. Slean composed all the string and horn arrangements for these albums - by hand in traditional notation.

On 28 September 2004, Slean released her fourth album, Day One×Day One28 September 2004 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Pilgrim3:482Lucky Me3:273Mary3:504California5:505Day One3:506Out in the Park4:297Vertigo4:468When Another Midnight4:169The Score4:2810Your Wish Is My Wish3:2811Wake Up3:4612Somebody's Arms4:20. Here Slean's piano takes a less important spot for the first time in her career. The focus is more on beats, rhythms and guitar, which is evident in the album's first single, "Lucky Me". The up-tempo title track "Day One", and "Mary", a song about Slean's grandmother, were released as the second and third singles. Slean was first introduced to VS orchestral libraries and MIDI sequencing on this album, and composed all the orchestral accompaniments.

In October 2006, Slean released a mostly-live album, Orphan Music×Orphan Music14 November 2006 · Album · Compilation,LiveSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 15 tracks1Lucky Me3:412Somebody's Arms4:013Eliot5:064Mary3:575Last Year's War5:216Out in the Park4:017Pilgrim3:408Narcolepsy Weed5:189The Score5:0710Weight (DNA)2:4411Wilderness (Balde)3:0812Little London Night (Balde)3:2613California (DNA)4:3714Lucky Me (DNA)3:0815Pilgrim (DNA)3:17, which consists of songs recorded live at Toronto's Harbourfront Theatre and the Vancouver East Cultural Centre. Other new tracks featuring Slean and the piano were recorded at DNA Recording Facility in Toronto and Kensaltown Studios in the UK.
On 13 December 2007, Slean's website underwent a massive overhaul in preparation for her newest studio album, entitled The Baroness×The Baroness11 March 2008 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Hopeful Hearts3:322Get Home3:423Euphoria3:134Goodnight Trouble4:385Notes From the Underground4:036Sound of Water/Change Your Mind4:147No Place at All3:588Please Be Good to Me4:049Willow3:3110So Many Miles3:3511Shadowland4:0712Looking for Someone3:50. Visitors to the new site were invited to sign up for Slean's new mailing list, and in doing so would be able to download a demo version of her newest single, "Get Home×Get Home29 January 2008 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Get Home3:48". People who pre-ordered the new album from the new website's store also received a download to the non-album track "Parasol". The Baroness was released on 11 March 2008. The iTunes version of the album included two additional non-album tracks, "The Rose" and "The Lonely Side of the Moon." In September 2008, Slean announced her intention to release the non-album tracks from The Baroness as an EP. Both Parasol and Modern Man have been confirmed by Slean in Question and Answer sessions in her official website. On 13 November 2008, the official Sarahslean.com newsletter announced the title for the EP to be The Baroness Redecorates×The Baroness Redecorates9 December 2008 · EPSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 7 tracks1Parasol3:202Lonely Side of the Moon4:213Modern Man I & II5:204Compatriots3:045The Rose3:256Hear Me Out3:577The "Disarm" Suite6:07. A full track list was also provided.
Slean released her fifth studio album, a double album entitled Land & Sea×Land & Sea27 September 2011 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 18 tracks · 2 discsDisc 11Life4:042The Day We Saved the World3:473Set It Free2:454Everybody's on TV2:585Amen4:036I Am a Light3:207New Pair of Eyes3:558Girls Hating Girls4:109Society Song3:13Disc 21Cosmic Ballet6:022Everything by the Gallon4:203The Devil & The Dove4:054Napoleon4:205Attention Archers3:216You're Not Alone5:007The One True Love4:538The Right Words3:339My Eyes & Your Eyes3:38, on 27 September 2011. As previously with Beauty Lives, a 100 special handcrafted editions were sold of the album. Land & Sea is also Slean's first record to be released on vinyl. Sarah composed the orchestral arrangements for three songs and her mentor Jonathan Goldsmith arranged three others .

Slean's studio album Metaphysics×Metaphysics7 April 2017 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Perfect Sky4:192Every Rhythm Is the Beat3:533The Dark4:244Sarah3:315Loved Well4:316A Thousand Butterflies4:307Holy Ground4:058Not in Vain5:309The Gypsy4:4110Nothing but the Light2:55 was released in April 2017. A pre-order campaign for the album was held on PledgeMusic.

Other music work

In 2006, she contributed two covers ("Us and Them" and "Comfortably Numb") to Pink Floyd Redux, a modern 12-track tribute to Pink Floyd.
Another notable cover in Slean's repertoire is her down-tempo rendition of Our Lady Peace's guitar-driven song "Julia". Our Lady Peace has performed Slean's "piano" version of their song in their own concerts. Vocalist Raine Maida explained the origins of the piano version: "We’re gonna do a song from our first record now, that was given to us on a cassette tape, a very different version, from a girl named Sarah Slean from Toronto..."
Slean was also featured on the Fox TV network as the pianist in Sunrise, the fictional town where bodies started piling up in Murder in Small Town X, a short-lived reality TV series.
In October 2008, Slean performed at the first annual Canwest Cabaret Festival in Toronto. Slean performed sets of her own music accompanied by bassist Joe Phillips and drummer Mark Mariash, and also contributed to multi-artist "songbook" performances of the songs of Leonard Cohen and Kurt Weill.
In March 2009, Slean took part in the Juno Songwriter's Circle in Vancouver, alongside fellow songwriters Jim Cuddy, Jacob Hoggard (of Hedley), Doc Walker, Buffy Saint-Marie, Vancouver upstart Ndidi Onukwulu, and Hawksley Workman, who hosted. She played two songs from The Baroness, "Notes from the Underground" and "Looking for Someone".
In 2009 she took part in an interactive documentary series called City Sonic. The series, which featured 20 Toronto artists, had her talk about performing at the Rivoli while attending the University of Toronto.
On 18 April 2011, Slean chose a song called "New Pair of Eyes" from Land, to be included on the compilation album Songs of Love for Japan. She described the song as an "ode to the shocking wonder of existence". Songs of Love for Japan was available for only 3 days, with all proceeds going toward relief efforts in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on 11 March 2011.
Since at least 2021, Slean has worked on writing the music for the stage musical Maudie, based on the life of Canadian artist Maud Lewis. As of August 2025, the musical was still in development.
In 2026, Slean won a DORA for “Outstanding New Opera” as part of the compositional team for Canuck Cantatas.

Personal life

Slean was born in Pickering, Ontario. She attended Dunbarton High School in Pickering. After initially studying music at York University, she completed a degree in music and philosophy at the University of Toronto.
In 2008, Slean and fellow singer-songwriter Royal Wood got engaged while in Paris; the pair married in 2009, and would divorce in 2013. In January 2014, Slean said she and Wood had "parted ways as friends".
On November 7, 2020, Slean announced on her social media accounts that she was pregnant with a daughter. Slean gave birth to a baby girl named Abigail on March 11, 2021.

Radio releases

"Sweet Ones" (2002)
"Weight" (2002)
"Duncan" (2003)
"Lucky Me" (2004)
"Day One×Day One28 September 2004 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Pilgrim3:482Lucky Me3:273Mary3:504California5:505Day One3:506Out in the Park4:297Vertigo4:468When Another Midnight4:169The Score4:2810Your Wish Is My Wish3:2811Wake Up3:4612Somebody's Arms4:20"(2005)
"Mary" (2005)
"Somebody's Arms" (2005)
"Get Home×Get Home29 January 2008 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Get Home3:48" (2008)
"Set It Free" (2011)
"Sarah" (2017)

Awards and recognitions

2003 Juno Awards: New Artist of the Year – Nomination
2005 Juno Awards: Adult Alternative Album of the Year (Day One×Day One28 September 2004 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Pilgrim3:482Lucky Me3:273Mary3:504California5:505Day One3:506Out in the Park4:297Vertigo4:468When Another Midnight4:169The Score4:2810Your Wish Is My Wish3:2811Wake Up3:4612Somebody's Arms4:20) – Nomination
2005 Gemini Awards: Best Performance in a Performing Arts Program or Series (2004 Governor General's Performing Arts Award) – Nomination
2006 Gemini Awards: Best Performance in a Performing Arts Program or Series (Black Widow) – Nomination
2009 Juno Awards: Adult Alternative Album of the Year (The Baroness×The Baroness11 March 2008 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Hopeful Hearts3:322Get Home3:423Euphoria3:134Goodnight Trouble4:385Notes From the Underground4:036Sound of Water/Change Your Mind4:147No Place at All3:588Please Be Good to Me4:049Willow3:3110So Many Miles3:3511Shadowland4:0712Looking for Someone3:50) – Nomination
2011 Leo Awards: Best Music Video ("The Rose": CJ Wallis – Producer)
2021 Juno Awards: Best Classical Album (Vocal/Choral) -- Nomination
Two record engineers have been nominated in the Recording Engineer of the Year category at the Junos for their work with Slean: Peter Prilesnik in 2005 for Day One, and Jeff Wolpert in 2012 for Land & Sea.