Whitehorse

The ever-wonderful, insightful - and most importantly - font of most things musically Franco-Canadian, Écoute donc ça ("...Tout ça en français. Avec un accent québécois...") - alerted me (and a few gazillon others via Twitter) to “Éphémère sans repère” a new mini album from Canadian folk-rockers Whitehorse; the husband and wife duo of Luke Doucet and Melissa McClelland...

The idea behind "Éphémère sans repère" sees the duo take five of the best known tracks from their eponymous debut album "Whitehorse", critically acclaimed (and Polaris Music Prize nominated) sophmore release "The Fate of the World Depends On This Kiss" and 2013's "The Road to Massey Hall", together with a brand new Francophone song "Le cadeau."

I'm possibly at an advantage in that having never heard of the band before (sorry...) and thus not having heard the original English language versions, I've no point of reference to compare against (albeit that "Un Canadien errant" is a traditional French-language song written in 1842 by Antoine Gérin-Lajoie concerning the aftermath of the Lower Canadian Rebellion.) 

Having said that, these songs sound more like originals rather than just mere translations. A lot of the credit in this respect has to be given to renowned Montréal-based songwriter and producer Pierre Marchand, who transcribed the songs into French. However, great lyrics alone do not a great song make (not strictly true - but you get the gist), but the quality of musicianship - with lots of twangy and reverbed guitar, and great girl-boy sparring harmonies (been a sucker for these since I first heard Helen McCookerybook and Carl Evans of Brighton's The Chefs back in the day) - would make this a stand-out album in any language.

The album's opener "Éphémère sans repère (Devil’s Got A Gun)" is a fantastic rocking number, full of chugging guitars, perfect harmonies and a chorus hook that has been embedded in my skull for the past couple of days (check out the video - complete with sing-along lyrics - below):

 

"Le cadeau" and "Je suis devenue lionne (Out Like A Lion)" are also both decidedly up-tempo numbers. The former is definitely in the alt-rock camp - I can't give it any higher praise than to suggest that the song is structured and  sounds sooo similar to Anik Jean - especially her sublime "Schizophrène" - there's that chugging  guitar riff again, and a subtle but noticeable emphasis on Melissa's vocals... and then there's those added duelling harmonies... The latter is simply a great pop-song; again those harmonies are just spot-on... but then there's a middle-eight that just hits you in the solar plexus - all crashing, reverbed guitar - the song builds to a crescendo of angelic vocals and wailing guitar... gorgeous!

The gentle ebb and flow of "Les oiseaux de nuit (Night Owls)" provides for a noticeable change of pace. This song just revolves around the pair's vocal harmonies accompanied by a simple acoustic guitar and demonstrate that this duo are equally comfortable with slower, lilting and heartfelt tunes as they are with guitar-driven rock. Meanwhile "Brisée (Broken)" is about as good an upbeat country-folk song as I've heard this year.

Finally "Un Canadien errant" and a stunning acoustic song that originally appeared on "The Road to Massey Hall." It's an incredibly heartfelt and humble song that truly conveys the hardship and longing of the homesick author forced into exile...

"Éphémère sans repère" is a mini-album chock full of expertly and exquisitely crafted songs that linger in the head long after the album has finished. The songs sound as fresh and original as their English-language counterparts and I expect this album will be appearing in a "Best of..." list come the year-end...

In the meantime, I'm off to check out Whitehorse's English-language albums...

As an added-bonus, a couple of live studio versions from BRBR's "Boîte Noire" sessions of "Je suis devenue lionne" and "Un Canadien errant"... Enjoy!