Recollection, k.d. lang's first-ever career retrospective, which celebrates 25 years of music from the singer-songwriter, is due out on Nonesuch in just a matter of days, available worldwide on February 9. Both the deluxe, three-CD-plus-DVD edition and the standard two-disc version are available for pre-order in the Nonesuch Store with an exclusive, limited-edition signed print of k.d.

Among Recollection's many stand-out tracks are multiple versions of k.d.'s now-classic take on Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah." Disc one, a collection of favorite k.d. cuts, closes with the recording from k.d.'s Nonesuch debut, Hymns of the 49th Parallel; the second disc, containing songs never before released on a k.d. lang album, closes with a new version of the song; and the DVD on the deluxe edition features k.d.'s performance of "Hallelujah" live at the 2005 Juno Awards.

The Australian Associated Press spoke with k.d. about the iconic song and how her take on it fits into the larger canon of its other famous renditions. "k.d. lang's heart-stopping rendition of 'Hallelujah' is regularly held up as one of the greatest versions of Leonard Cohen's much-covered classic," says the AAP article, on the BigPond News site. "But the Canadian, whom Tony Bennett called the greatest singer of her generation, thinks Jeff Buckley's 'Hallelujah' tops the lot."

In the interview, lang explains how Buckley found something in the song that others hadn't. It's a skill she would use to great effect herself, both on "Hallelujah" and on the various works written by other songwriters that she has performed and made her own throughout her career.

"I think just having a singer's viewpoint into someone else's song is very good," she says, "because you don't have the same emotional barriers that you would if you'd written it yourself."

Read more of k.d.'s thoughts on the subject and the forthcoming collection at bigpondnews.com. For more on Recollection and to pre-order it with the limited-edition print now, visit the Nonesuch Store.