Fumbling Towards Ecstasy

Fumbling Towards Ecstasy is the album that transformed Sarah McLachlan from cult hero to household name. In place of the post-New Wave backdrops that defined her early work, McLachlan’s third effort finds her operatic, otherworldly vocals echoing off spare, dreamy soundscapes designed by producer Pierre Marchand. From the plaintive guitar on “Good Enough” (an aching ballad that touches on domestic violence) to the throbbing percussion on the sinewy kiss-off “Plenty”, Fumbling crystallises the singer/songwriter’s distinctively moody sound.