Long a studio musician for others, then an essential actor of song in France, the veteran Albin de la Simone does not sit on his laurels, whether in his music or in the roles he plays in within the industry. One proof among others: for his two concerts given at the Francos de Montréal, at the Cinquième Salle at Place des Arts, the soft-spoken pianist swapped his touring allies to surround himself with local musicians.
It must be said that Albin de la Simone is one of the French artists with the deepest Quebec roots. He has been coming here for around twenty years and is “very friends” with many artists, from Pierre Lapointe to Ariane Moffatt via Philippe Brault and Beyries, whose latest album he produced.
“We could make a joke and say that, since we don’t bring our food to the restaurant, we don’t bring our musicians to Quebec! » launches this deadpan who released his seventh album in winter 2023, The next hundred years. In fact, his official tour of around sixty shows ended in April in Paris, and “when I found out that my group was not available to extend the tour to Quebec, I said to myself: “But great, for once, I can legitimately start a group in Quebec.”
On June 14 and 15, therefore, the musician with his pen as touching as it is economical will be accompanied by Joseph Marchand (Safia Nolin, Forêt, Beyries), Virginie Reid (Klô Pelgag, le spectacle The Fox) and Robbie Kuster (Patrick Watson, Elisapie). “It’s mostly work for them, huh. My songs won’t change much, but I love the idea of coming a little more like a jazz musician, analyzes Albin. That is to say, we will focus less on the details repeated for two weeks than on the feeling and mutual listening. And that’s great. We’re still going to rehearse for two days, but two days just allows us to put in place the conventions which mean that afterwards, it works when listening. And I dream of that. I love that. »
Albin de la Simone knows Virginie Reid less, but he has often played with the other two. “We know that music works between us. »And what makes it work? “It’s mostly a question of aesthetics,” he says. I like musicians who have a signature, but who also know how to be very sober. This is what I have been trying to develop for a long time, when I accompany other singers. Trying to have a characteristic sound, but, at the same time, being able to serve the project, to really be at its service. »
And drummer Robbie Kuster, who also played on The next hundred years, clearly meets its criteria. If the producer of the record, Sage, energized the songs with his bass lines, Kuster also instilled “a different pulse, which I never had in my records,” notes Albin. The latter admits that he had to exercise his letting go at times during the recordings of the drummer, who brilliantly but certainly challenged the ideas that were suggested to him.
“It was not me who dictated everything to everyone, as may have been the case before,” admits Albin de la Simone. I was that musician who conducted masterfully, because I like it, because I’m an arranger, it’s my job too. But in fact, I was really surprised to be able to add other people’s soul. »
This is an example of the evolution of the designer native of Picardy, who at 53 refuses to scale. “There’s an expression that we make fun of all the time, but I find that it’s valid every time I make an album, it’s ‘the album of maturity,’ he says with a laugh over the phone. I always have the impression of making the album of maturity because I spend my time trying to move forward, to progress, to refine my point. »
The musician is also broadening the spectrum of his cultural gestures, he who will go on tour again in the spring as part of a solo show, where he will also draw on stage – he regularly offers sketches on his social networks. The former visual arts student will also publish a book of childhood memories, recounted and sketched, and will also travel to Lebanon for a collaboration with a local author.
Albin de la Simone also varies his know-how in the industry. “In the years 2000-2010, I must have made 100, 150 albums, as a studio musician. There, I went out of fashion, people don’t want a 50-year-old musician on their record, he analyzes. So this job is no longer my job. On the other hand, I am called more to produce, to direct. It’s a kind of recognition, of maturity, which makes me happy. »
And this diversification is not unrelated to the sharp drop in income experienced by musicians over recent years. “I think my success is growing, but my income is halved,” he notes, admitting his “great frustration” with the new paradigm of album releases — which generate plays, but no sales — while cherishing the power of algorithms.
“Afterwards, music has always been indexed to the major movements in the industry. THE single, the album format, all those were great revolutions too. We moved on from the album [vinyle] to the CD, so 40 to 75 minutes possible. All this generated artistic changes. Well there we are, here we are in the middle of an artistic change. » And Albin, with small steps, continues to change.