OTTAWA — Over recent years, Canadian singer and songwriter k.d. lang has described her current phase in her career using various terms. At times, she has identified herself as retired or semi-retired, while other times stating that her creative muse has been elusive.

It has been five years since she released the album “Makeover,” which did not feature new material, and a decade since her last album of original songs, “case/lang/veirs,” a collaboration with artists Neko Case and Laura Veirs. On an early October day prior to a tribute concert in her honor at the National Arts Centre, lang expresses her feelings more succinctly, stating, “I’m definitely in a recess.” She elaborates that the term “recess” perfectly encapsulates her current state, as she enjoys playing and spending time with friends. However, she conveys a sense of detachment from fully engaging in the music industry once again.

From the very beginning, lang describes her relationship with the music business as fraught, referring to it as “a charged subject.” She first gained recognition in the mid-1980s with her band, the Reclines, and won a Juno for most promising female vocalist for their album “A Truly Western Experience,” which she famously accepted while clad in a wedding gown. Her rise continued with a memorable duet with Roy Orbison on his classic song “Crying,” which won her a Grammy.

lang also achieved notable recognition with her hit “Constant Craving” from the acclaimed album “Ingenue,” which earned her a second Grammy. In 1992, she publicly came out as a lesbian in an interview with the Advocate, a bold move made a year before Melissa Etheridge and five years ahead of Ellen DeGeneres. lang reflects on this experience, revealing, “It felt wonderful and burdensome. I felt a tremendous sense of pride, but I also felt like it derailed the focus from my music.” She acknowledges the complexity of her position as a representation of the LGBTQ community, likening it to the impossibility of representing an entity as vast and fluid as water.

In the current interview, lang expresses that discussing her relationship with fame and the music business feels overwhelming and complex. She notes, “It’s very, very hard for me to distill that into a quip for an interview,” acknowledging the difficulty of articulating her feelings on such significant matters.

During a photoshoot following the interview, lang removes her leather sandals to go barefoot, a trademark of hers that began as a tribute to fellow Canadian artist Anne Murray, who also performed without shoes. This returning homage was echoed during the tribute concert on October 2, where performers Jill Barber and Allison Russell also appeared barefoot. During the concert, Barber expressed how lang’s career had paved the way for her own, while Russell recalled how a famous 1993 Vanity Fair cover featuring lang and Cindy Crawford played a significant role in her queer awakening.

While lang acknowledges the positive impact her fame has had, she also carries a complicated perspective towards it. She admits, “There were times when I loved it, and I reveled in it, but in general… I see it as surreal and performative.” Moments of reflection led her to embrace her Buddhist practice, which commenced around the turn of the millennium and has deeply influenced her thoughts on fame and identity. “The Buddhist texts teach you that this is a phenomena. This is phenomena, this isn’t real. And so you don’t have to take it that seriously,” she says, having used Buddhist principles to reframe her career focus toward the art of singing rather than the pressures of performance.

Subsequent to her realization, she collaborated with Tony Bennett on the album “A Wonderful World,” which won her another Grammy, followed by “Hymns of the 49th Parallel,” showcasing her interpretations of classic Canadian songs. Despite continuing her musical endeavors, her life took a personal turn when her mother fell ill, prompting her to relocate to Calgary to be closer to her. lang devoted a decade to caring for her mother, who passed away at 99 in May 2022. Reflecting on that period, lang states, “I did participate in my mom’s last 10 years wholeheartedly… I was fully present and fully there for her.”

Post her mother’s passing, lang released “Makeover,” which featured remixes of her past songs, but new material has been sparse since then. “Lots of times I think maybe I sang for her,” she shares, suggesting that her motivation to perform was intertwined with her mother's presence. Although still identifying as a performer, lang describes her performance lifestyle as not a regular part of her routine anymore. She expresses a complex sense of liberation in this shift, saying, “I actually miss the act of singing but I don’t miss the act of performing in public.” Currently residing in Portland, Oregon, she characterizes her life as calm and simple, filled with routines such as enjoying coffee, solving puzzle games, and frequenting farmers markets. In a lighthearted admission, she notes that nowadays, you’re more likely to find her singing to dogs rather than in public performances.