Four years after his last album, Ryan Kennedy is back in the record stores with a completely different sound.
For the first time in his career, the Quebec singer-songwriter, who we saw in particular at “La Voix” in 2015 and “The Voice in France” in 2018, built the pieces of his album on the keys of a piano – an instrument he learned during confinement.
For this new project, produced by UniForce Pro, he moved away from his folk universe to get closer to the pop sounds heard in the 1970s and 1980s, with influences from Bruce Springteen and Elton John.
“I realized that when I played the piano for ‘fun’, it was always old hits from when I was young. I said to myself for this album that I was going to make the music that I love, that I listened to before and that I play when I do “cover” at home”, mentioned the artist in an interview with the QMI Agency.
Besides, his new opus, “Libertine”, should be much more joyful and reflective compared to the two previous ones, among other things in the themes addressed. “It’s a more mature album, which talks about taking time for yourself, cleaning up your life a bit,” he said.
Between the chords of the saxophone and those of the strings of the Orpheus quartet, the singer discusses the questioning he had about his profession and his environment in the piece “A Lifetime”, while in “Burning Cult” , written a few years ago, he says goodbye to his religious past. A song in tune with the title of the album which recalls the past current of the 11th and 12th centuries wanting the liberation of religious and philosophical constraints.
“It was supposed to be on my first album, but which I didn’t want to release in 2015 or in 2017 on ‘Love is gold’, but then I thought it was time to close this chapter, since my first two albums approached this subject precisely , specified Ryan Kennedy.
To create “Libertine”, which unlike his first two discs is not a self-production, the singer-songwriter from Morin-Heights, in the Laurentians, notably collaborated with François Lafontaine (keyboards), Dimitri Lebel Alexandre (guitar, arrangements, production), Luc Lemire (saxophone), Antoine Gratton (string arrangements) and Pierre Girard (sound recording, mixing).
The launch of “Libertine” will take place in virtual mode on February 4 starting at 7:30 p.m. The concert, produced with WhiteBox Play and the creative studio Harrison Fun, was recorded on January 24 at the National, in Montreal, with about fifteen of musicians. Tickets go on sale at ryankennedymusic.ca starting Monday.
The music video for “Say Hello”, the first title of this new project, is available in its original version and in a French version.
His tour, which was to begin in February, has been postponed due to the current health situation, and should resume this summer.