Music
"She waited like the stillness of the winter, her heart a fragment on a colour wheel, surrounded by the many shaded reasons it's not easy to be real, not easy to feel.
She clears a space to lay her brushes on, empties out a corner of her day, in cans of colours lining against the wall, in Betty's room, there is no gray. And she is ready, ready to paint the world, ready now, ready to paint the world."
(Linda McLean, Betty's Room)
I'm a singer-songwriter with four LPs: Betty’s Room, No Language, Snow Mountain River, and John Lennon's Bed.
My most recent recording is Songs for the Book,
which features acoustic intimate versions of songs, to be released with the publication of my book, The Importance of Being Important.
Acclaim
"There is a 'holy trinity' of Canadian singer songwriters, Sarah Harmer, Kathleen Edwards and Linda McLean."
- CBC Radio
“Material straddling the line between roots stylings and an adult contemporary-tinged sound à la Jann Arden or Sarah McLachlan that possess the ring of hard earned truths.”
- Exclaim Magazine
"These are tunes with the ache and retrospective wisdom of a dame in her prime.”
- NOW Magazine
“NO LANGUAGE serves notice of the arrival of a committed and focused artist.”
- Toronto Star
"While others create similar sounds, McLean approaches her music with a brightness that is exceptional. Exquisite."
- Roots Radio
“Once in a great while, out of the blue, comes an indie masterpiece. Such is the case of Linda McLean's NO LANGUAGE... Another superb Canadian female singer-songwriter you need to seek out.”
- Maverick Magazine, UK
"Ranked among the best of her North American contemporaries; “country-tinged beauty with reference points stretching from Lucinda Williams to KD Lang.”
- UK Music Media Review
“Only a few albums reveal a different favourite track each time you listen to it. "Betty's Room" is one of those rare pearls."
- Leo Blokhuis, Netherlands
