There was a time when Sarah McLachlan was everywhere.

Almost ubiquitous in fact. Especially between the years 1998 and 2005. Starting with the Canadian singer-songwriter's 1997 album “Surfacing,” the singles from that album would put the singer on the world music map. Beginning with the pop-alt-tinged “Building A Mystery” that put Sarah right smack in the middle of the whole rock-chick sphere (that included Alanis, Sheryl Crow, Paula Cole, Shawn Colvin, etc), a category the media put female songwriters with a sensitive streak into. Nevertheless, it was a cascade of successful singles from Sarah thereon: the mid-tempo alt-rock “Sweet Surrender,” the piano-driven intimacy of the ballad “Adia,” and the heart-wrenching ballad “Angel” (about musicians lost to drug use), which became a de facto theme music elegy for the tragedies of the day.

Sarah was everywhere: TV, the news, the movies (“City of Angels”) and who could miss her fine visage on music channels everywhere – remember MYX, MTV Asia and Channel V? “Angel” stayed on the number one spot on Billboard’s charts for 12 weeks during its run and with “Adia,” was a regular fixture on the Hot 100. And in 1999, she won the Grammy for Best Female Pop Performance for “I Will Remember You.”

Mclachlan did not waste the attention heaped on her during these days as while her music and name was blowing up, she also co-founded Lilith Fair, the music fest and tour that mostly featured top female music acts that included Sheryl Crow, Paula Cole, Jewel, Natalie Merchant, Liz Phair, Indigo Girls, Suzanne Vega, Christina Aguilera, Nelly Furtado and others with Mclachlan herself as the headliner.

A graceful beauty with a smoky, delicate voice and a kickass talent on piano, guitar, and songwriting, Sarah was made for the spotlight. You could say that her achievements were the precursor to Taylor Swift.

And now she’s back with her new album “Better Broken,” her first in over a decade for the three-time Grammy winner. A little more mature looking, with some visible lines around her eyes, Sarah is still a gorgeous sight to behold. But of course, how she sounds now is what’s important. And the good news is that she’s back to form.

Immediate standouts include the piano-decked ballad “Gravity” that recalls some of her most memorable. Here, Sarah sings about familial bonds and the constants that tug and push on relationships, specifically the mother-daughter bond. Sarah's vocals sound like it’s 1998, airy and elegant, like the song’s sparse arrangement.

With current-day social upheavals, expect a strong, expressive artist like Sarah to have something to say about it. And that’s exactly what she does on the upbeat, head-bobbing power ballad “One In A Long Line” a song about the attacks and attempts at eroding women’s rights that goes: ‘I have a soft side and a forgiving heart /but don’t mistake me for weak / I’ve travelled roads that you will never roam/I carry treasures you will never own,’ which is very much plainspeak. But it’s a big middle finger/f*** you from McLachlan for all the weak-masquerading-strong-male politics of today. She finishes with ‘take your dirty hands off my wheel / f*** your judgement, your violence / if you think you can bring me down / well, go ahead and call the cavalry.’ It’s the same sentiment with “Rise,” albeit more hopeful.

But she’s also about giving comfort, like on “Only Way Out Is Through,” where the album’s theme is encapsulated: find bravery and light in the aftermath of pain.

Now that’s some timely wisdom from an OG rock chick.