After a five-year hiatus following a family tragedy, the soul singer is back.

By Lenny Stoute

Lock up the boys. Liberty Silver is back and hot times are on the horizon.

After stepping out of the spotlight to deal with a family tragedy stemming from a fatal house fire, the major mama from Mississauga is releasing her first album in five years. Entitled Groove Symphony, it’s an extremely significant project for Silver, not only as a career benchmark but also as a musical memorial to her father, gravely ill at the time of this interview, and the things she has been through in recent years.

“Essentially, I had to step up and take responsibility for raising two of my granddaughters,” she says. “I felt family was more important than career and I acted on that. Raising the kids gave me a new appreciation for being here and once they were on the right track, I was ready to get back to making music. There was such a backlog of emotions and ideas, I had all the writing done in a month. I was born to make music, so I knew when the time was right it would all come pouring out.”

At Last (2005) was the last time we heard new music from Silver, and fans of that album might be surprised by her new sound, which is several steps away from her usual smooth jazz stylings. “It’s a marriage of the best of old and new school soul. It’s taking a path, like a symphony built on the groove. If the album has a mandate, it’s putting forward spirituality without religion,” she says.

The release also served as a way for Silver to get more hands-on. The singer sound engineered and co-produced Groove Symphony, which is something she’s done before and says she enjoys.

Her involvement resulted in song choices that feature a little bit of everything. “They’re unified by the new sound,” she says. “We have the best of old and new school R&B as well as some jazzy soul and power ballads.” The mix translates well, coming off lush and full, without sacrificing that scrappy old school soul band sound. And, while fans of the old Silver vocals won’t be disappointed, the chanteuse says she learned many new things about herself leading up to the recording of the album.

“I feel negative things are a trial to see what you can deal with,” she says. “I’ve had a lot of negative experiences, but I steadfastly lean to the positive because I believe that if I put positive energy out there, I will attract positive situations.”

Silver’s at that stage in her career where she can look back and note her positive benchmarks (three Junos, and the high esteem in which she is held for her good works as an activist for the plight of the disadvantaged), while simultaneously looking forward to the next career phase. Even with all that, Silver realizes the waters are uncertain for urban music in Canada.

“I worry about the new people coming up because the Canadian music industry hasn’t gotten better at marketing its urban music,” says Liberty, who has plans to tour locally and internationally with Groove Symphony. “The people responsible seem scared to take chances and are playing it safe. They’re still not sure how to move Canadian talent onto the U.S. and international levels. They had better success with hip-hop because that’s an easier sell.

I love Flow93.5 FM, God bless them, but they’re still playing too much imported hip-hop and I’m not hearing enough Canadian music. Luckily, I have an international fan base, which gives ongoing support. The music industry has a great respect for me, and I’ve earned that.”