Martha Wainwright on new album, running café and memories of Scotland

The Canadian singer talks about the pain behind her new album, running a café, and her memories of Scotland

What’s the story behind your first album in five years, Love Will Be Reborn?

I just turned 45 so the record is fully in my middle age – I can’t pretend otherwise. I got to work with Pierre Marchand, a producer I’ve known since I was a kid. He produced Heartbeat’s Accelerating, which was sort of the comeback record for my mum and her sister (Kate and Anna McGarrigle). They were 45 at the time as well, and he was 30.

Here I am 30 years later doing my middle-aged record with him. I was married to a guy who produced a lot of my records but we went through a painful and horrific divorce, so this is a whole new thing and it’s a theme of the record. It’s a happy death theme – I’m getting older and closer to death, but I kinda like it.

Was it hard to write about the divorce?

I was sitting down with the guitar and bawling. I would come up with a melody or a couple of lines but had to leave it because it was too sad and painful.

I’d go back to them and over a couple of years I finished them, but only by letting them rest for a while as they were too sad – songs about not seeing my children so much or about being in court. Then, surprisingly, I met someone new, and hopeful songs began to creep in and helped me to finish the record.

You recorded the album in the basement of your venue, Café Ursa, in Montreal. What made you open a café?

I’d thought about it for years, even when I was in New York, and when I returned to Montreal and the kids were in school, and I got divorced from their dad, I realised I needed to be here more for them, that I couldn’t just go off and tour all the time anymore, so I thought this was the moment to try it.

With the help of friends and cousins we fixed the place up, got permits and put in an incredible amount of work. We’ve made zero money so far, but I hope there’s a way to at least get it in the black!

Are you hands-on in the café?

It’s a huge part of my life – it’s going to become a problem! I help with booking bands, I do a lot of the cooking and cleaning and the general running of it. My new partner is incredible, he’s a builder, so he fixes things and goes to collect the beer, does some booking and accounting.

It’s funny, we pour ourselves some pints – probably too many – and try to do the accounting, which is laughable. I thought I could do it but I can’t, so I end up running around with receipts trying to figure it out.

What are some of your memories of Scotland?

During my early 20s when I started writing, my dad (Loudon Wainwright III) used to take me on tour as his opening act. I remember him introducing me to Glasgow, probably at Celtic Connections, and he would take me to Rogano, his favourite restaurant. We’d often walk up Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh. These are places I’ve returned to many times.

First with my parents – I also came with Kate and Anna – and with my own records, playing in smaller clubs before my first record came out. These places become your home – you return to the restaurant or hotel or hall you know already and see some of the same faces in the audience. That’s extremely important and powerful.

Martha Wainwright’s new album, Love Will Be Reborn, is out on Friday