In 2003 Stefie Shock released her second album, The decor. Twenty years later, the singer-songwriter is celebrating the occasion by releasing a vinyl and digital reissue of what he considers the best album of his career.
“The 20th anniversary of my album was a great occasion,” says Stefie Shock. Reissues, we like that! The Decor is my favorite album, it’s the one that deserves a reissue.
The 53-year-old singer has been cooking this project to re-release the disc that won him the Félix for pop/rock album of the year in 2004.
Adding to the pleasure of opening the original sessions in spares and diving back into his musical memories was the desire not to be forgotten. Some fear not doing justice to the original product either.
“I never went back there,” explains the artist, who here offers remixed versions of six of the eleven songs that make up the album. I wanted to remix certain songs to fix certain shells or clumsinesses of the past.
However, the piece of love in the desert remained intact. “Because for this song, which has 103 tracks, there was no better mix!”
This new Scenery combines the popular tracks The Scenery, A Man Overboard and Everyone is Sad. The song Salut Chantal is also well-established in the news, although it can also be found on the soundtrack of the film The Diver, which is expected to hit theaters on February 24th.
As for Heresy, it’s the only exclusive song written at the time that has never been released to the public to this day; because of a long argument with the co-composer.
memory album
Stefie Shock admits this project has healed a lot of open wounds. Because the creation of the album Le Décor was painful for the then 33-year-old singer, who suffered from anxiety.
“I finished the album in dire need,” he recalls. I was confident that I could do everything on my own, I lacked experience and my anxiety was at its peak. I had panic attacks at night, the record company I worked with went broke, the first mixer hijacked the hard drive, basically I had no quality of life anymore.”
Luckily, the album Le Décor was critically acclaimed and charmed admirers. Subsequent touring and winning the ADISQ Gala marked the consecration for the Montreal-based singer, who released seven studio albums between 2000 and 2019.
As far as confidentiality goes, today’s Stefie Shock isn’t hiding anything: she’s felt a little forgotten and neglected over the past few years.
“It’s very difficult, but the sacred fire is still there,” he said. I keep elbowing. The competition is extremely tough, but I remain a very privileged artist.”
He will be back on tour in Quebec theaters on February 25th at the Théâtre du Marais in Val-Morin with a new show in quintet mode.
In the spring, Stefie Shock will then work on his next project: writing a rock opera in which he will play the leading role. The central theme? “Life,” he breathes, smiling and mysterious.
- The singer will perform in Quebec City on March 10 (Centre d’arts La Chapelle) and October 12 (Palais Montcalm) and in Montreal on October 13, 2023 (Théâtre Outremont).
- The scrapbook The decor – special edition 20e anniversary by Stefie Shock is now available on vinyl and digital.