Jane Ehrhardt
I think it is fair to say I have a new favourite artist to add to my list...
Originally hailing from Moncton, New Brunswick, Québec City-based Singer-songwriter Jane Ehrhardt has been recording rock-infused country-folk albums since 2007 and "The Airs of My Heart", but - and with the most wholesome of apologies - an artist that I've only recently discovered thanks to the release of her fifth album and her first francophone offering "Terminus".
Indeed, I'm immediately hooked by the classic weeping country guitar that opens the album's title track even before Jane's quietly powerful vocals and evocative lyrics fill my senses. "Terminus" is a beautifully atmospheric song - there's an image of an endless wait for the last bus serving as a metaphor for a new if uncertain future and escaping from the past.
"Reine de rien" (and the poetic word-play of the title - "Queen of nothing" - just doesn't have the same ring) offers a complete change of scene. There's the counter-play between Jane's classical guitar and that of Hugo Le Malt's electric; the deft orchestral strings of double bass and cello; all intertwined with lyrical mysticism and ethereal vocals.
Now for a folkstress ((c) ecoutedonc.ca) there are enough hints in this album's 'middle-eight' to suggest that Jane Ehrhardt can more than turn her hand at crafting an incredibly catchy rock melodies. "Effacer" hits you with rib-crushing bass, screaming and wailing guitars and deliberately flat and distorted vocals. There's a hint of sixties psychedelia in both the songs' tone and lyrical mysticism. Meanwhile "Parvis céleste" is an incredibly theatrical rock-opus. Piano, double-bass, metronomic percussion (a tip of the hat to Simon Paradis) are intertwined with the most exquisite of vocals - powerful yet immensely warming - before the song builds to a powerful climax of percussion, electric guitar and heavenly choirs...
I'd also suggest that Mlle. Ehrhardt can also create the most intense feelings of Melancholy. While "Parvis céleste" hits you with its amazing electro-orchestral sound, the power of "Sable brûlant" is in the simplicity of the arrangement of Jane's vocals - there's solemness and sadness, yet at the same time redemption - and the piano accompaniment. The whole performance feels incredibly personal - and in a momentary epiphany I get it - this is deeply and intensely gospel - it's just immense.
But all good things must come to an end and in "L'aurore" Jane Ehrhardt just about manages to cram nearly everything that moves me into a song; it's incredibly uplifting, the string arrangements of the cello and double-bass add depth and warmth. There's also a noticeable change in the vocal style - lighter, joyous - the lyrics are playful; "...Happy is he who finds love, Who waited years for his turn..." Has she saved the best 'til last? It's a tough call - I'm driven by moods and emotions - but seriously though "L'Aurore" deserves to be in everyone's end of year list...
So it has taken eight years for Jane Ehrhardt's uniquely atmospheric songwriting talents to find their way from the Eastern Provinces of Canada to my little Francophile refuge here in Southern California. I'm suspecting that here is yet another artist who is unlikely to be treading the boards in the City of Angels... Even more reason to make a pilgrimage nord du 49e...
Jane Ehrhardt (Website)
"Terminus" (Bandcamp)
Originally hailing from Moncton, New Brunswick, Québec City-based Singer-songwriter Jane Ehrhardt has been recording rock-infused country-folk albums since 2007 and "The Airs of My Heart", but - and with the most wholesome of apologies - an artist that I've only recently discovered thanks to the release of her fifth album and her first francophone offering "Terminus".
Indeed, I'm immediately hooked by the classic weeping country guitar that opens the album's title track even before Jane's quietly powerful vocals and evocative lyrics fill my senses. "Terminus" is a beautifully atmospheric song - there's an image of an endless wait for the last bus serving as a metaphor for a new if uncertain future and escaping from the past.
"Reine de rien" (and the poetic word-play of the title - "Queen of nothing" - just doesn't have the same ring) offers a complete change of scene. There's the counter-play between Jane's classical guitar and that of Hugo Le Malt's electric; the deft orchestral strings of double bass and cello; all intertwined with lyrical mysticism and ethereal vocals.
Now for a folkstress ((c) ecoutedonc.ca) there are enough hints in this album's 'middle-eight' to suggest that Jane Ehrhardt can more than turn her hand at crafting an incredibly catchy rock melodies. "Effacer" hits you with rib-crushing bass, screaming and wailing guitars and deliberately flat and distorted vocals. There's a hint of sixties psychedelia in both the songs' tone and lyrical mysticism. Meanwhile "Parvis céleste" is an incredibly theatrical rock-opus. Piano, double-bass, metronomic percussion (a tip of the hat to Simon Paradis) are intertwined with the most exquisite of vocals - powerful yet immensely warming - before the song builds to a powerful climax of percussion, electric guitar and heavenly choirs...
I'd also suggest that Mlle. Ehrhardt can also create the most intense feelings of Melancholy. While "Parvis céleste" hits you with its amazing electro-orchestral sound, the power of "Sable brûlant" is in the simplicity of the arrangement of Jane's vocals - there's solemness and sadness, yet at the same time redemption - and the piano accompaniment. The whole performance feels incredibly personal - and in a momentary epiphany I get it - this is deeply and intensely gospel - it's just immense.
But all good things must come to an end and in "L'aurore" Jane Ehrhardt just about manages to cram nearly everything that moves me into a song; it's incredibly uplifting, the string arrangements of the cello and double-bass add depth and warmth. There's also a noticeable change in the vocal style - lighter, joyous - the lyrics are playful; "...Happy is he who finds love, Who waited years for his turn..." Has she saved the best 'til last? It's a tough call - I'm driven by moods and emotions - but seriously though "L'Aurore" deserves to be in everyone's end of year list...
So it has taken eight years for Jane Ehrhardt's uniquely atmospheric songwriting talents to find their way from the Eastern Provinces of Canada to my little Francophile refuge here in Southern California. I'm suspecting that here is yet another artist who is unlikely to be treading the boards in the City of Angels... Even more reason to make a pilgrimage nord du 49e...
Jane Ehrhardt (Website)
"Terminus" (Bandcamp)
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