Marie-Pierre Arthur

One of this blog's favourite interprète-auteur-compositeur (and Québecoise to boot), Marie-Pierre Arthur returns with here third album "Si l'aurore" and those of you expecting it to follow the familiar well-worn chemin of her indie-rock and folk-tinged predecessors (2009's eponymous debut and 2012's break-out "Aux alentours") might be in for a bit of a surprise...

"Si l'aurore" sees Marie-Pierre take a confident step-back into the past to create an album full of soulful, synthesiser-infused songs that hark-back to the era of late 70's, early 80's pop and an apparent love of "yacht rock" (shudders - wasn't that why we invented Punk?)

The single and opening track "Rien à faire", over a captivating surf-guitar intro does indeed threaten to recall Fleetwood Mac from around the time of both their white "Fleetwood Mac" album and the seminal "Rumours."  However, seeing as I own and rate both very highly, it is safe to say this song is indeed a bit of a grower. 

In fact, the 70's and 80's theme is weaved throughout the album. The title track, "Si l'aurore", is a nailed-on 80's bluesy, dance-floor smoocher; Marie-Pierre's incredibly powerful voice is initially accompanied by just a simple piano that is propelled into a lush symphony of swirling synthesised keyboards, gentle percussion and multi-tracked chorus. Meanwhile "Papillons de nuit" and "Il" sound like 70's French pop-songs (which since they're pop-songs - sung in French - probably isn't that surprising); both are - to my mind - reminiscent of the group Il Était Une Fois.  

At a tad over 6 minutes, "Comme avant" is not only the longest track on the album, it's arguably the most ambitious and the one song that mixes her indie-folk past with the soft rock sound that she has encapsulated on this album. The vocals are absolutely sublime, the retro-vibe is deliberately throttled back and for the first couple of minutes you could be mistaken that you're listening to an out-take from "Aux alentours"... And then about half-way through, the mood suddenly changes; the song fades to simple piano and vocals interlude that ultimately climbs and soars... Just as it reaches a crescendo, it breaks-out into the most uplifting of saxophone solos (Yannick Rieu - chapeau, sir) and a cacophony of keyboards and percussion. It's an absolutely stunning composition, arguably amongst the best she's recorded and worth the album's admission price alone.

Whereas Marie-Pierre's previous albums were primarily guitar-led (indeed she's no mean bassist herself), keyboards are omnipresent here - primarily thanks to partner François Lafontaine - and the imploring "Le silence" with it's effortless vocal style and plaintive refrain of "ecoute-moi", rich synthesisers and staccato 'claps' is probably as good an example that was recorded.  

However Marie-Pierre, hasn't totally turned her back on her roots. "La toile" is a fine contemporary pop-rock song, while "Cacher l'hiver", is an irresistible up-tempo folk-tinged indie-pop number that could have quite easily been recorded during the sessions for "Aux alentours", save there's just a hint of the Stevie Nicks in the refrain (there's those Fleetwood Mac references again). 

"Si l'aurore" fades out with the slower, mellower closing numbers "Dans ma tête" and "Dis-moi" giving Marie-Pierre's voice one last chance to shine centre-stage. It isn't the perfect album - sometimes the lines between homage and cheesiness become dangerously blurred, and as I mentioned at the start of this post, anyone expecting an album along the lines of Marie-Pierre Arthur's earlier offerings might be disappointed. However, listen without prejudice. It takes an incredible amount of courage - and no small degree of confidence - to set sail for a new musical direction (albeit one that looks back to the past) and there are few amongst her contemporaries that posses such a distinctly powerful yet soothingly melodic voice.

Marie-Pierre Arthur Website
"Si l'aurore" (Bandcamp)