Amanda Marshall - Heavy Lifting (2023) [Official Digital Download]

Music comeback story of the year? That would belong to Amanda Marshall, the Toronto-born vocal powerhouse who is emerging from the mists of time following an almost 23-year hiatus between albums.

"Heavy Lifting," a 12-song opus released Friday, is Marshall’s first original collection since her 2001 album "Everybody's Got A Story." On June 16 and 17, she will headline Toronto’s Massey Hall.

As Marshall, 50, explained in an interview, she's been out of action due to a decades-long dispute with a former manager that started after she fired him, post-tour, in 2002.

"It triggered this endless legal battle,” said Marshall, who has been off the road except for a Casino Rama appearance in 2012 and a string of 2017 gigs. “He wouldn't capitulate and I wouldn't capitulate, so it just dragged on and on. I was loath to release any new music during that period because it was clear to me that any new release was going to get sucked into this vortex of chaos.”

Although Marshall continued to write and record — she said she had the new album in her "back pocket" — the thought of rebuilding with a new team gave her pause.

"After it drags on for a while, you get sucked into regular life and you get quite comfortable,” said Marshall, who sold six million copies of her eponymously titled 1995 album — including one million copies in Canada — on the strength of hits such as “Birmingham” and “Let It Rain.” “When you dismantle that infrastructure, it can be really hard to put everything back together."

Sustained by the consistent royalty income from that first album — plus 1999's "Tuesday's Child" (300,000 copies sold) and 2001's "Everybody's Got A Story" (100,000) — Marshall hasn't had to worry about making money to support herself.

Tracklist:
01. I Hope She Cheats
02. Dawgcatcher
03. I'm Not Drunk
04. I Built This House
05. Rainbows in Gasoline
06. God Forbid
07. Not a Love Song
08. Halfway Love
09. Serves You Right
10. Special
11. Honest


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