# 1943      Chantal Kreviazuk -    IN THIS LIFE
                                                                                        

                      What If It All Means Something, Columbia Records, 2003                             
      
                         BILLBOARD CHART ACHIEVEMENTS:
                                           Adult Top 40:  # 17

                  INTERNATIONAL CHART ACHIEVEMENTS:
                                    World Adult Top 20:          # 12
                                   
                                         # 1 at MATT RADIO   
                                  
 

Chantal's a pretty gal, and she's had numerous smashes in Canada, but here at MATT RADIO she's a one hit wonder.
Chantal Kreviazuk is calling to talk about her sophomore album What If It All Means Something, her upcoming spring tour through Canada, and, as if we could avoid it, the war in Iraq.

"It's surreal to have the television on and see blazes, bombing and violence over there, and then open the window here and hear birds chirping," she says.  "It's twisted."

Talking about the war, it is apparent that her sympathy runs deeper than most.  In 2001 she traveled east to Iraq with husband Raine Maida, front man for Our Lady Peace, on behalf of War Child Canada, an Ottawa-based company that sponsors children in third world countries, to discover the harsh reality of war and sanctions.

Kreviazuk has actually received flack from family and friends for her "heavy heart" for the less fortunate.

"People tell me that I should just let the world be the oyster that it is for me, and they ask me if the roles were reversed, would the world care about me?" she says.

It's as if because she is fortunate, she is expected not to be aware.  "You have to have an insight and sensitivity to the human condition and the human spirit," she says.  "You can't cut it off at certain limits to certain people.  It's all-encompassing."

She feels that she is aware of what should be the bare minimum for everyone.  The title track of her latest album addresses this sentiment.

"I have such a heavy heart for the world, on so many levels... I wrote that track for those people, to ask them, what if it all means something?" she explains.  "What if the unrest in the world means something to us?  You have to consider the entire world to be your community.  No matter where you are, you can be aware of your connection to the world."

Kreviazuk is now preparing to spread this message, on her first tour in support of What If It All Means Something.  In doing so, she realizes she is in a place where she can have an effect on those with heavy hearts in the audience.

"Music is healing, uplifting, and it can hopefully help us to not only escape from what is going on in the universe but also to gain enlightenment and insight," she says.  "It's about coming together to feel unity in our pain and in our sadness."

source:   Brian Bradley, the Brock Press Online, Brock University, April 1, 2003