When Sarah Slean cancelled her Hot August Nights date at the Grand Theatre, she was melting down a bit herself.

"I was just going too hard, trying to do too much," says Slean, who was splitting time between Canada and Paris. She had been in France since February to help promote the release of 2004's Day One (Warner) in Europe.

Having just resettled in Toronto, the singer and songwriter plays the Grand tomorrow night at 8 p.m.

"I'm glad we could get a reschedule," Slean says, apologizing for missing her August date.

"Normally, I can take it -- but when you throw in about 10 plane trips," it was too much, she says.

Still loving Paris, she is firmly grounded in Toronto for now. "You know the things you're passionate about. You know the priorities," she says of her life and art now. Guided by "music, friends and family," Slean is keeping busy.

On Oct. 18, she's up for a Gemini for her sultry performance on CBC-TV's film noir musical Black Widow.

The final touches on her new album, Orphan Music (Warner), are nearly done. The live and studio recording is designed to catch the Slean in-performance magic her fans have always loved. It should be out later this month.

Orphan Music takes its title from Slean's sense that her songs -- or "little urchins" -- seem to exist for a moment and then disappear into the air during a live performance.

Three years ago, in another meltdown minute, she left her Toronto base and spent four months in a log cabin near Ottawa, returning with Day One's songs "buzzing from fingertips and my toes."

This time, she's back from Paris. She has brought songs to her new recording taken from shows in Toronto and Vancouver and studios in Toronto and London, England.

A song recorded in England is called Little London Knight.

On the eve of her hot October night, Slean is amused to find Londoners might assume the song's title has a hockey connection.

"Doesn't everything in Canada?" she laughs.