When the end of life approaches, deep inside remains the sum of moments spent with loved ones: this is the observation of the singer-songwriter Alexandre Poulin, who managed to glorify the recent death of his dear father in a 6e soft, delicate and luminous album. Out January 19th.
“The sum of loved ones is not a sad album,” assures Alexandre Poulin, who released his first album of the same name in 2008 (which received rave reviews).
“It's an album to celebrate life. Only the first and last songs are about my father's death; In between there are stories of people who met in life. I wanted the arrangements to be light and festive,” admits the 46-year-old singer, originally from Sherbrooke.
The happiness that fascinates
Since his childhood, the artist was fascinated by happiness and always found it a fertile ground for creation. After reading a long study on this topic, the observation among the people surveyed at the end of their lives was clear: it is the memories of loved ones that remain when everything around them fades.
Close to his father, who fought “like a warrior” against a malignant cancer for nine months, the pandemic will have had the advantage of being able to spend valuable time with him before his departure. The weeks before were filled with visits from relatives who greeted their friend one last time.
“My father asked for medical assistance in dying, but he died from a lethal dose of love. It was crazy to see people pouring into his room. I saw clearly that in the end there is love left, given and received. We hugged him tightly, he was so beautiful and peaceful. I said to myself: Here I have it, the sum of my loved ones,” says the touched father of Émilou, 9 years old.
Pierre-Paul Poulin / Le Journal de Montréal / Agence QMI
A great hunger to write
Loverdose was the first piece created for this new work. Because the categorical no to the idea of dealing with this great paternal loss on record has turned into a “great hunger” for writing. The song Dire Adieu also tells of the departure of his father – from whom he inherited his love of music – and closes the album in a gentle and bright way.
Between these two balsamic pieces, the lyrics touch on light themes (Jolie Françoise speaks of the first time the heart races, The sky in which I hide, of the possibility of love at first sight) and more serious themes (Les happy days, of our ways of idealizing love, The end of love, of the possible end of a love, arms like a house, of the sadness of friendship and of the empty heart, of a childhood friend that he wished he could have saved ).
Known for his sophisticated writing, Alexandre Poulin also enjoyed setting certain creative limits for himself. Mauvais sang about a person's downfall and even depression. Read (and sung) from end to beginning, the song transforms into a work of hope.
“I wanted to make it a literary game. I like that the state changes with the angle; Sometimes you just have to look at things from a different perspective to improve them. It becomes glowing and changes its perspective. It’s also a cornerstone of the album,” explains the former high school French teacher.
With Le grand calcul, Alexandre Poulin sings about the state of the world and everything that makes us human through the philosophical questions of the last man who will make the decision (or not) to save the world.
“The man who is always in his head should be more in his heart,” whispers the sensitive and fulfilled artist, who already has two years of touring and a hundred shows on his schedule.
-The album The sum of loved ones by Alexandre Poulin will be published on January 19th.