After 30 years of music, Sylvie Paquette has the clarity to realize that there are many people who will listen to her Until nowher new album, in which she completely transforms 13 of her own songs, will have no idea that these compositions had a life in the 1990s and 2000s.
“This will be a discovery for most people,” she predicts.
How can this be explained for a respected artist who has nevertheless won the Félix Leclerc and Sylvain Lelièvre prizes?
First, the rereadings, recorded with the help of several guest artists, don't really resemble the originals.
“I wanted to go somewhere else,” she says, recalling that in the past she had allowed herself to invent a confusing cover of Jean-Pierre Ferland’s song “Ton visage.”
Up to this point, for example, the softer and more internalized version of Panne d'amour devised by Salomé Leclerc has nothing to do with the much rockier and more direct version released on the 1997 album Oser If you have the repertoire of Sylvie Paquette is overly familiar, it's easy to believe it's a brand new song.
The hoped-for positive effect: that people will want to hear the originals. “It would make me so happy because I take full responsibility for her. […] Covering my songs is like giving them a second chance.”
Sylvie Paquette in an interview with Le Journal. Photo Stevens LeBlanc
In the dark
There is another reason for this expected public reaction, Ms. Paquette analyzes, and that is that she has spent much of her career in the shadows.
Even though some songs from her first records were played on the radio – she recalls the success of certain tracks such as “Garde-moi” with her friend Daniel Bélanger – she spent most of her career in the shadows of the media.
“Maybe I would have liked to reach a wider audience. I think some of the songs could have made it back then. Over the years I played less and less on the radio and television.”
“I understand reality, I'm not a bitter person,” she quickly feels the need to clarify, but remains convinced that her music is accessible.
What is the problem then? “I always sat between two stools. I'm not friends with the underground, nor with the pop or variety singers. I think my musical style is difficult to categorize.
And now the scene
Because so far it is clear that the guests' choice puts him in a rather alternative drawer. In addition to Salomé Leclerc, Rosie Valland, Ingrid St-Pierre, Antoine Corriveau, Elliot Maginot, Chloé Lacasse, Émilie Proulx and Philippe Brault also took part in the game of song metamorphosis.
She could have done the exercise alone, but she liked the idea of stimulating creativity in others more.
“These are all artists that I admire and whose musical stories I love,” admits Sylvie Paquette.
This project, as the press release announcing the album's release clichés, precedes the beginning of a new chapter in the musical journey of the artist, now based in Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures, a suburb of Quebec.
“I want to make a scene to celebrate the success so far. After that there will be something else, but for now I would really like to share my story and my 30 years of music with the public.
- The album Until nowby Sylvie Paquette will be available on January 26th.