Heather Ward reimagines a classic with new single "Closer to the Heart"

In an age that tends to offer little beyond copies of the originals from Canada, we bring you Heather Ward's Jazzy reimagining of RUSH's "Closer to the Heart." The Canadian-born singer doesn't merely pay homage to this song but takes the iconic anthem and makes it her own.

Lifted from her first solo album, "Honeysweet," it's so much more than a beautiful musical gesture in many ways. It's a tender homage to the memory banks of her life. The decision to cover "Closer to the Heart" is inspired by a formative moment of her life, a teenaged memory of watching RUSH perform in a hockey arena in her hometown of London, Ontario. "It doesn't get more Canadian than that," she quips, remembering how her partner, Dave, first turned her onto the band when she was just 15 years old. The memory is there in every note.

Instead of playing up the original's towering rock energy, Ward hews closer to her jazz sensibilities, imbuing the song with elegance and heft. She's no stranger to transformation, musical or otherwise. Her voice has been a rock of strength in Seattle's jazz and theater world since 1997, but this one, particularly given that it takes place across generations, just resonates even more. The song was reinterpreted with the involvement of her youngest child, a Berklee College of Music graduate, giving a new and technically nuanced twist to the arrangement.

The result is a haunting, harmonically dense version that remains true to RUSH's original message and simultaneously introduces its own texture and mood. The recognizable words soar atop a subtly swinging beat, cocooned within warm chordal shifts as brushed drums, producing a rendition that feels small but grand, specific but transcendent.

"Closer to the Heart" is transformed from not just a song to a story about youth, influence, love, and those full-circle moments that make life taste sugar-sweet. And it's about as much Heather Ward's musical talent as it is about the life behind the music.

Heather Ward isn't just covering a Canadian rock classic on this release but reimagines it through memory, motherhood, and musicianship. It's a lovely, ballsy move that sets the tone for a fantastic solo debut and announces her as a storyteller with soul and substance to spare.

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