The grand return of Karkwa is certainly one of the key events of the cultural season. After 13 years of silence, the formation finally offers us In this second. Interview.
• Also read: Karkwa presents two surprise shows in a small Montreal venue
Laughter, jokes and songs echo in the Dandurand studio where Karkwa’s new album was conceived, dreamed and created. These joyful exclamations from Louis-Jean Cormier, Stéphane Bergeron, François Lafontaine, Martin Lamontagne and Julien Sagot will often explode during the discussion, as proof that the years of hiatus have not undermined their complicity.
The phrase “conspicuous by its absence” takes on its full meaning when we think of Karkwa. Founded in 1998, the group experienced a slow but sure rise thanks to Le Pensionnat desestablishés, Les Tremblements s’immobilisations and Le Volume du vent.
Archive photo, QMI Agency
Celebrated after the release of the album Les Chemins de verre in 2010, the Karkwa went elsewhere when they were there. And they were there. We know the story: Louis-Jean Cormier and Julien Sagot quickly went on to solo careers, while François Lafontaine collaborated with several artists.
During this time, the group took great pleasure in teasing their fans about a possible return with cryptic releases on social networks and some notable shows between La Noce and FME.
Suddenly, Karkwa Perfect, the first excerpt from In the Second, launched on the screen.
Why now? “For fun,” says Louis-Jean Cormier. We are no longer in a career process at all. The last few months of playing around with songs we like… It was fun to see each other again!”
François Lafontaine agrees. “It was certain that if we left we had to have a record.” Louis-Jean Cormier continues: “Creating is the aspect that we really love, and the most. The key is to sell tickets fast and sing to people full of nostalgia.
A democratic album
For this album, which the rock group describes as “the most democratic sound”, we find the Karkwa sound without falling into repetition. “We have immersed ourselves in the pure essence of Karkwa. Sometimes you have to remix a bit,” jokes Louis-Jean Cormier. We can’t say the group froze the sauce. It’s almost invigorated by their personal musical explorations that the boys have taken on the leadership of Karkwa without the weariness that sometimes accompanies long music careers.
“Everyone touched everything, played a lot of instruments,” says François Lafontaine about the creative process, which lasted a year. “We really wanted the compositions to come from the Karkwa unit. Like a five-headed monster!” explains Louis-Jean Cormier.
Successful bet. The band is in great shape and doesn’t shy away from exploration, every exit from the track leading to nice surprises. Intense, soaring, dark and sometimes even frightening, the album allows light and hope to permeate through several musical flights that already give us an idea of the wall of sound that awaits us at the performance.
Photo Chantal Poirier / JdeM
“It is true that there is light. There are forty, jokes Louis-Jean Cormier. This is the fate of musicians at the beginning of their careers: it is difficult to sing about the birds and the good weather. Now we are able to go there, we accept it! I think we could hardly have made this album twelve years ago. We have a great group of people who have gone through their mid-life crises.”
The lyrics, while still ethereal in a Karkwa way, have a slightly more down-to-earth side. A look at society, love stories, illness, letting go… Louis-Jean Cormier, who wrote the lyrics together with Julien Sagot, comments: “When the pen lay on the melodies, it was somewhere within herself.”
Debunking the myth
Coming back after all these years carries an obvious risk. Louis-Jean Cormier wants to make this clear. “We value these moments very much. If we were to persevere and move on over time, we would deflate this myth balloon that has existed for 12 years. Will we fall back into old patterns, dependent on each other and tied to a life project? These are questions that we consciously want to leave out.”
It’s more of a lightness that you feel with the Karkwa. “I’m very excited to see how this will change the attitude of the people and the band,” admits Louis-Jean Cormier. Today we all see the job differently. We are absolutely not in the strategy or plans. Often that’s when everything happens.”
And what would Karkwa be without taking risks?
Karkwa will perform at l’Impérial de Québec on September 8th. You can find all dates here.