We have had the good fortune of visiting Québec on a few occasions throughout 2024 – with high hopes for one more brief sojourn before the year wraps up – and given our predilection for Francophone music, always make sure to check out the latest releases at several record stores whenever possible.
Perusing both the vinyl bins and CD racks during our most recent visit, we discovered a copy of “Le ciel est beau regarde les nuages,” the latest album from JUNO-Award winning Québecois pop artist Laurence Nerbonne. Released back in March, just handling this CD put smiles on our faces as we recalled our initial discovery of Nerbonne’s music in 2016 – her debut “XO” album prompting fond memories – and a chance encounter of hearing some of those album tracks live the following summer when catching a performance from this artist at the 2017 Francofolies de Montréal.
With our French language listening pleasures being sourced primarily from Franco radio stations of the folk-roots variety, Nerbonne’s mainstream popular music seemingly dropped off our radar just as quickly as it had arrived – at least until this past spring when a press release promoting her “On danse encore” single landed in the GDW email inbox. In hindsight, a cursory glance at that email and sampling of the music video obviously did enough to plant some seeds for future investigation – and suddenly, with that CD in hand, Nerbonne’s new album wound up in our shopping basket and came back home with us to PA.
Spinning the album during a recent workday commute, this collection of eleven original pop tunes proved incredibly infectious. From the delightfully peppy opener, “Rainbow” (complete with an English language ‘somewhere over the rainbow’ reference for good measure), to the hints of vintage doowop influences tucked away in the slow burning closer, “Je ne sais quoi,” Nerbonne takes her listeners on an epic music journey filled with plenty of highs, lows, and everything in-between. Whoa – did I just say that?
Let’s rewind things a little to allow me to add some much-needed context to that statement; this is the opinion of a middle-aged music blogger who upholds a firm belief that popular music as we know it died in the early 90s, with very little mainstream music winning me over since. Sorry to all you boy-band aficionados and Swifties out there, while I am sure that your love of twenty-first century commercial music is fully justified, it just rarely resonates with me. Yet, as an exception to the rule, it has been mainstream Francophone artists that continue to convince me otherwise with some invigorating interpretations of the genre – with both Marie-Mai and Laurence Nerbonne at the forefront, and now passing the baton to Ariane Roy, Hubert Lenoir and Roxane Bruneau to lead the charge for a new generation.
Where Nerbonne’s three previous albums saw a shift in experimentation between popular music and hip hop, this latest project demonstrates a musical melting pot that symbolizes her organic progression into this stage of her career. If you are looking for hints of her early catalogue, both “On danse encore” and “Dans mon mind” have enough catchy hooks and melodies to satisfy those cravings. Seeking something a little more underground or urban, check out both “Addict” and “Chat sauvage” – the latter being a collaboration with popular Québecois rapper Koriass. Nerbonne mixes both styles effortlessly, yet with purpose, curating a fabulous mix as the eleven tracks play out.
For this listener, however, it is evident that Nerbonne understands the popular music genre and taps into its roots for added authenticity. Early 90s pop influences can be detected throughout “Cold,” while “Hometown” has the flair of the turn of the century era. Let’s not discount “Cowgirl,” the potent country-meets-rock banger that teams Nerbonne with Mitsou (yes, the estranged artist of “Bye Bye Mon Cowboy” fame – who we were fortunate to see perform her hit tune as a guest of Pierre Lapointe’s “Chansons hivernales” show last fall). Active listeners will detect many popular culture references dispersed across these album tracks – delivered with a wink from the artist as she craftly rhymes “iPhones” with “Indiana Jones,” and “Black Eyed Peas” with “Angelina Jolie’ – albeit indirectly, but enough to encourage deeper listening on subsequent spins.
This is an impressive outing for Laurence Nerbonne, complete with subliminal listener engagement – genius! Highly recommended.
Photo Credit: Artist Website
The British guy that crossed the ocean and crash landed in central Pennsylvania (to quote Greg Keelor, “And I wonder what am I doing here?”). As the youngest of four siblings, exposure to music from a very early age nurtured my passion and appreciation for many musical genres. Continuing to discover some amazingly diverse and talented musicians based in Canada, I gravitate to live music experiences and remain devoted to spreading the word about such a vibrant music scene.
