Rachael Sage on new album Canopy: ‘I wanted to include more women’s voices – but all marginalised people too’ (EXCLUSIVE)
A musician, painter and proud member of the LGBTQ+ community, Sage talks artistry, optimism and the stories that shaped her new record
By Dale Fox
When Rachael Sage appears on screen from her home in upstate New York, it’s an unexpected delight. I’d told her team there was no need for cameras, but she pops up in full glam anyway – bold red lipstick, colourful glasses, and flowers threaded through her hair, framed by the soft morning light behind her.
At one point she turns her laptop to give me a glimpse of her loft space: exposed brick walls hung with her paintings, bright red chairs, a piano flanked by guitars and a drum kit, and daylight pouring in through tall windows (“This is the spot in my apartment that doesn’t show any of the mess,” she jokes). It feels like a mini tour inside her creative mind – a collage of art, music and, of course, colour.
That blend runs through her latest album Canopy (recorded with her long-time backing band The Sequins), a piano-led collection exploring inclusivity, acceptance, and peace. Across mid-tempo anthems and upbeat pop moments, Sage folds her flair for melody and storytelling into a tactile, hand-crafted package featuring her own artwork, each piece echoing the record’s themes of unity and self-expression.
Fresh from UK dates alongside Toyah Willcox and Rebecca Ferguson, Sage is now set to join The Overtones’ UK tour. She’s also recently been announced as the first ambassador for Rainbow Mind, the UK charity supporting LGBTQ+ mental health.
Below, we catch up with Sage on Canopy’s message of connection, her place within the LGBTQ+ community, the story behind her colourful look, and why M&S is the touring essential she never knew she needed…
How does it feel now that Canopy is finally out in the world?
It’s a wonderful feeling. I mean, it does feel like a milestone manifestation of all of the hard work and labour of love that we put into this record – myself, my band, my collaborative engineers and mixers, and of course, my team at MPress Records. So it’s very satisfying. But on the other hand, we are not folks to rest on our laurels, so it’s also a beginning. And in a lot of ways, it just feels like the start of more touring, more travelling, where we can now bring this music to live audiences, which is exciting.
I’ve been listening to the album a lot in my car and it cheers up my long commute. Did you set out to make a joyful record?
There’s a mix. It’s a pretty eclectic, all-over-the-map album to me personally. There are songs like ‘Canopy’ that are more mid-tempo ballads, very grounded and kind of anthemic. And then, as you noted, definitely a few up-tempo ditties in there like ‘Live It Up’ and ‘Just Enough’.
As an artist and as a storyteller, I always look for different ways and different angles to approach related themes. The main themes on this record are inclusivity, acceptance and peace, so there are different ways of expressing all of that. My ADD works for me in the sense that I get bored if things start to sound and feel the same. I won’t want to even put two ballads in a row on an album or in a live set. I want to take you on a very dynamic journey.
What are your favourite tracks on the album right now?
‘Canopy’, the title track, is probably my sort of sober, mature favourite, because it does feel like a mission statement of this album in terms of wanting to include and incorporate more women’s voices specifically, but all marginalised people, in our spaces of empowerment and authority. I’m very proud of that song.
In terms of my favourites to perform, I recently relearned how to play ‘The Best Version’ and [Canopy track] ‘Kill The Clock’, which I hadn’t played since I recorded them. We did them the other night in New York City at a club called The Cutting Room and it was just like flying. There’s a lot of drive to them, a lot of momentum tempo-wise, many lyrics a minute, so they’re challenging for me to sing but also a lot of fun.
What inspired the single ‘Canopy’ and its lyric imagining a world shaped by women’s voices?
I don’t always remember the exact moment when the first lyric to a song ignites in my mind. But I do recall that there was a sort of violence-fatigue factor that happened to my brain where I was starting to feel that nightmarish numbness that can happen when you’re exposed to one image after another from all over the world. Not one place, not one country, one type of people, but the recurrent violence that we’re witness to on the news and in social media, and it almost seems that we’re encouraged to see.
It made me think on a subconscious level. Not ruling the world per se – that’s more of a poetic phrase – but being more heard, more involved, more included. That’s really the vantage point I started writing the song from.
The Canopy physical releases include your own artwork. Did the music inspire the art, or vice versa?
There is a painting on the back that I made one night while listening to my track ‘Canopy’. That’s probably the most literal reaction to the music. Those are the colours that came out. I do have a bit of synaesthesia, so I see music in that way.
Broad strokes, the colour palette and sensibility for this album were inspired by two things. The first was an incredible art exhibition at The Shed in New York City called Luna Luna. The original Luna Luna was mounted in Berlin in the 80s and it featured artwork by visual art heroes like Basquiat, Lichtenstein and Keith Haring, pop artists who created huge rides and carnival-themed interactive installations as part of an art park. When it was remounted in New York City, I was first in line and went five times. All the colours were just so me. I felt like I was walking into the inside of my brain. I tried to create paintings for this package that would have been what I would have contributed had I been invited to paint something in this festival.
The specific Canopy fold-out of the CD package is very origami-esque. It can be viewed two at a time or the whole thing can fold out and become an art piece. That was inspired by a Japanese handmade art book I found in an East Village bookshop. I had to buy it right away. It was like 100 bucks. I couldn’t read it, but the artwork was lovely and minimal in Japanese, and it had that unique fold as a book dimension. I thought, wouldn’t it be cool to make my version of that?
Are you inspired by any UK artists?
Growing up, I was so into David Bowie. I loved his look, his adventurousness, his imagination, his ability to transform, his costuming and just creativity. In college, I dated a guy who was obsessed with David Bowie, so I was listening to him all the time. And one of my ex-girlfriends was really into Kate Bush, so we were listening to Kate Bush a lot in college.
My favourite concert I’ve ever been to in the UK was my number-one favourite songwriter, Elvis Costello. I sat next to Bob Guccione Jr., who was editor of Spin magazine at the time, on a flight over [to the UK]. He gave me two tickets to see Elvis Costello at Hammersmith Odeon. It’s indelibly etched in my memory how extraordinary that concert was.
Where does your colourful aesthetic come from, and how does it feed into your sound?
I have gone through different phases. Oddly enough, in high school I was a bit goth. I wore a lot of black. I still wear my stumpy combat boots. But I gradually started to transfer my aesthetic as a visual artist – painting, collage, découpage – onto my attire and stage costuming. Whether it was being more sparkly or glittery, it’s a form of amplification and projection for me of the positive, optimistic, uplifting aspect of my personality and spirit on a good day.
I do mix it up sometimes. Every once in a while, I’ll be about to go on stage and I’ll have a mostly black outfit and one of my bandmates will look at me like, are you OK? Then I know I should change the black jacket for a red jacket. We aren’t upbeat all the time and I’m certainly no Pollyanna, but I do find that “dopamine dressing” is just always how I’ve been.
Since my cancer experience a few years ago, I stopped dyeing my hair bright colours because I didn’t want to put those chemicals in my body. I think my colour palette for dressing and sticking flowers in my hair notched up a bit.
How did your Rainbow Mind ambassadorship come about, and what does it involve?
It was a huge honour. They approached me and felt that my work and my sensibility would be a good fit. They were aware that I am out as bisexual. I’m part of the LGBTQ+ community, not only in America, but in the UK and internationally. I’ve played Prides in many countries. I have done advocacy for similar types of organisations in the United States, like The Trevor Project.
To be connected with Rainbow Mind, who are doing such beautiful work in terms of mental health in the LGBTQ+ community, and encouraging queer people to be themselves, to provide safe spaces, to connect with counsellors who are also in the community – which is unique to Rainbow Mind – that aspect is very inspiring to me. It fits the themes of Canopy: safety, acceptance, self-acceptance.
There are songs on the record like ‘Just Enough’ and ‘Nexus’ that examine where we are in our broader culture with so much hate and ignorance about trans and non-binary people. Anything I can do to amplify their message and support them, I’m right there.
You’ve just wrapped a UK tour with the iconic Rebecca Ferguson and Toyah Willcox, performing in cathedrals. How was that?
My new violinist, Sarah Jean, dubbed it the Cathedrals Tour. It was amazing. It imbibed each show with this reverential, ascendant, aspirational quality. When you take the stage in a place like Union Chapel in London or Worcester Cathedral, it’s very humbling. You feel simultaneously quite small and kind of insignificant, but also inspired and energised by the absolute scale, majesty and beauty of the cathedral space. The art and architecture, sculpture, and certainly the religious component – it’s there, no matter what you believe. It seeps into your performance.
There were moments when my violinist and I were playing ‘Blue Sky Days’, talking about heaven, looking at the ceiling and the height of the space, and the reverb. It was pretty otherworldly. Toyah and Rebecca are such extraordinary singers. Their sheer vocal power and tonality is so inspiring. They also happen to be really lovely, down-to-earth and open women. It was a treat.
You’re joining The Overtones’ UK tour. What can we expect?
I think it’s time to bling out another guitar, maybe put red paint and crystals on it. I’m super excited. This will be very different for me. I’ve never toured with a vocal group of this nature. Their voices are amazing. They’ve had so many hits and big success. I don’t really know what their audiences will be expecting, but it is a holiday-themed tour. We will be preparing a few songs of that nature, some original, maybe a cover or two. Then I’ll curate the most up-tempo, celebratory, light-filled repertoire from my back catalogue. I’ll be over with my trio, Rachael Sage and The Sequins, which will be a lot of fun.
And finally, and most importantly, did you try any classic UK food rituals while you were here?
I can extol the virtues all day long of M&S. That is where I go to get all my little rabbit food, super healthy, anti-cancer greens and sprouts and salads and fruits. I am not a very rock ’n’ roll eater because of my health history. I keep it very low on sugar, very high on greens, fruits and vegetables. I freaking love M&S. If M&S want to sponsor my next tour, here I am. There’s nothing like, when you’re on the road and you’re tired, getting a good solid spinach and egg pot or a falafel couscous salad. I’m so here for it. Maybe not so much on the Greggs, but yay to M&S. And I love the beautiful Indian and Turkish, Middle Eastern food that’s all over England now.
Canopy is available to stream now. The Canopy physical releases are available to buy through MPress Records. Tickets for The Overtones’ UK tour featuring Rachael Sage are available through Rachael Sage’s website.