Diamond-Selling Artist Amanda Marshall Returns With New Album, Heavy Lifting
Diamond-selling and multi-JUNO nominated singer-songwriter Amanda Marshall has returned after more than a decade and a half with a new album, Heavy Lifting.
Amanda is extremely excited to return with Heavy Lifting, a record she is proud to have made largely on her own for the first time in her career. Originally the new collection of songs was going to come out in 2020 in celebration of Amanda’s Diamond certified self-titled debut album, but COVID side-lined those plans and Amanda is thrilled to get this new music out there, and to connect with fans again.
The new 11-song collection demonstrates that Amanda’s voice remains a force of nature and that her skills are as sharp as ever. It’s evident on Heavy Lifting’s opening track and first single “I Hope She Cheats,” featuring a searing lyric about getting over heartbreak and Marshall seamlessly blending her trademark soulful blues-rock approach with modern R&B.
Listen to Heavy Lifting below and learn more about Amanda Marshall via our mini-interview.
First off, care to introduce yourself to our readers?
Amanda Marshall, recording artist. Between 1995 and 2001, I made three albums for Sony Music. My eponymous debut is one of 24 albums in Canada to have achieved Diamond status, and my two following albums were each multi-platinum. After a two-decade hiatus, I recently released my first new single, “I Hope She Cheats”. My new album Heavy Lifting is out on June 9, 2023, and I will be on tour this summer across Canada.
You are back after more than a decade with a new single, “I Hope She Cheats.” What made you decide to make the return to the industry?
After such a prolonged absence, there was a considerable question in my own mind as to whether I would make music for public consumption again — quite frankly, I was pretty ok with it. But in 2017, I was chatting with a friend of mine who happens to be a really successful American record producer. In the middle of the conversation, he rather abruptly blurted out, “What the hell are you doing? You’re too young to retire, and you’re too good not to try. Don’t waste your gift”. It kind of startled me into action. The album was already in the works; it took another 24 months or so to finish up. Then the pandemic hit, so the release was delayed a bit, but everything happens exactly when it’s supposed to. I couldn’t be happier with it.
Tell us a bit about the creative process behind the first single “I Hope She Cheats”
“I Hope She Cheats” was written by Marsha Ambrosius and Canei Finch. Marsha was half of FLOETRY in the early aughts, and she recorded the song on a solo album in 2011. I heard it by accident in a store one day, around 2018. It stopped me cold; it’s the most clever, badass lyric I’ve heard in ages. I went home and wrote the arrangement, and the cocky humour of it made me re-examine my approach to some of my own songs. It really set the tone, and I was adamant that it should come out first. I love this song. It’s the perfect introduction to the album.
You have unveiled your album, Heavy Lifting. What was the highlight of the creation process?
Total creative freedom. It made me fearless. This is not a record that is chasing trends. It’s fun, but it’s musically and lyrically substantial, and comments on issues that are very real —domestic violence, consumerism and religion, and sexual harassment. All of that was a result of having the luxury of time to refine and decide exactly how I wanted to approach things.
You’ll be hitting the road on a cross-country tour, starting June 11 in Moncton, NB. What can attendees expect from your live performance?
An older musician once told me, “Don’t matter how many gold records you got. Records is business. Stage is soul”. That’s what we do — we bring ourselves, body and soul, onstage. People are going to hear familiar songs like “Dark Horse” and “Birmingham”, and our job is to make them fresh and alive. It’s important for music to feel and sound like there’s blood pumping to it — you can’t fake that, and the new material fits in perfectly. It’s going to be great.
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