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)

Comments

  1. Ha enfin! Marie pierre est de retour!
    Tu nous avais manqué bella!
    Album commandé via internet.....
    Souvenirs d'un super concert en avril 2013 a bordeaux sur la peniche de l'iboat!
    En esperant que vous reviendrez nous jouer votre super musique en France!
    La bise :-)

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