Imagine going to sleep all snuggled up in your familiar bed. Now, you know that perfect way of waking up? When it’s not an alarm clock or the desperate need for the loo that jolts you into consciousness? And when your daily itinerary is blissfully blank? That way of waking up to nothing other than a bright, clear, waiting morning? Take that feeling, throw it in a bubble-making machine and right there you have
La fille de l’iceberg, the first track on
Ariane Moffatt’s newest album, astutely named
Tous les sens. It is that feeling of weightlessness that carries the listener, frozen in transcendence, through this stunning and refreshing album.
In case you can’t tell yet, I’m a fan.
Usually when I see artists described as unidentifiable, or am told that they fit into far too many genres to list, a little part of me thinks that either they’re just like every other ‘boundary breaking’ band
that’s ever been not completely boring, or that the reviewer simply couldn’t think of anything more interesting to say. Especially in this day and age when it is nothing particularly impressive to be a genre-escaping act and, moreover, having that basic element of ambiguity is an elementary need to turn heads. Yet still, this genre-less tag is immediately one I must pin to Ariane Moffatt. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t think she’s busting down walls exactly, but she’s definitely doing her bit in the rubble kicking throng. She possibly even has a wheelbarrow.
An overall electro-pop sound is revitalized with touches of sassy piano, brassy circus-jazz and an overtone of sensual self-assurance that gives just the right amount of
oomph. Even despite moments of Zellers commercial-esque tunes (see folksy track no. 2,
Breiser un coeur)
Tous les sens (aforementioned song included) is completely addictive in all its eclectic charm. Even Moffatt’s two song (arguably three song, if you include dance-pop track
Jeudi, 17 mai) trip to urban land somehow feels completely at home with not only her ballads, but also her self-aware lullaby,
Éternel Instant Présent, which opens with the winding of a child’s tinkling motorized mobile.
As I don’t yet speak enough French to get into a discussion of lyrics with any real authority, it is a subject I’ll leave for now. However, from what little I do understand I can see it is no coincidence that an infused sense of self-assurance comes through in Moffatt’s vocals. Synth-infused, reggae-pop track no. 3,
Je veux tout, which in my opinion is the album’s stand out hit, is irresistibly hip rolling- something which is owed at least in part to the artist’s roughly translated demand that she “wants everything”. Well, with a sound like hers one would hard pressed
not to give into any one of her demands. If you’re interested I did find
this translation of the song; clever, beautiful, and delightfully cheeky.
Her confidence, however, is never predictable or static. A strange vulnerability s
eems to echo through Moffatt’s music, filtering most noticeably into piano ballad track no. 11,
Perséides. Yet this vulnerability is not to be confused with meekness. Rather, it does even more to deliver the album’s carrying tone to a place of strength, something that is discovered through the artist’s unmistakable openness.
This is Ariane Moffatt’s fourth album, a reasonably impressive feat as her first was only released in 2002 (as,
hem, was her second…). What I am less than impressed by is the fact that I was not familiar with her work until recently. I am reluctant to blame myself for this oversight, while perhaps over-eager to look to the Canadian English radio stations for answers. How is it that I can hear Nickleback 20 times a day (if I would ever be so inclined) while there can be such obvious talent immediately under our noses, prepped and ready to fill the CANCON quotas without causing ears to bleed? It can’t possibly come down to language barriers as it’s not like any one can understand a word Lil’ Wayne says (for example).
Excuse my rant, CANCON and I have issues to be saved for another post.
On topic:
Tous les sens is a gem- electrifying, tender and bold- and Ariane Moffatt is a songwriter and musician to be reveled in.
Buy this album and show it to all your friends.
