Posted yesterday at 5:00 p.m.
As in his first album, it is life in “Malio”, the Maliotenam reserve on the North Shore, near Sept-Îles, that is discussed in Tipatshimushtunan.
“It’s as if I opened the door to our house a little,” says Matthew Vachon.
Tipatshimushtunan means “tell us” in Innu. It is also the title of the first song on the album, which talks about the legacy of residential schools and whose clip in the form of a mini-documentary gives voice to survivors. A hard and necessary subject, which he would not have dared to broach four years ago.
“The first album is the story of your whole life. I had had 30 years to think about it. The second, it takes two or three years to think about it, so you have to go further. I thought it was an important subject to talk about. »
Life in Malio
It is Matiu, and his observant gaze on the world, which is the common thread of this album. He tells the story of a man who searches everywhere for his missing sister (the moving 4 flashers), recounts the feeling of confinement experienced during the pandemic (the effervescent Seems like a long time), pays a sweet tribute to his daughter and mother (Helicopter, Mom), and evokes the ups and downs of life on the reservation (the excellent our beautiful songs).
“We love our community, we are proud to be Innu! Sometimes it’s harder, but sometimes life is full beautiful in Malio. »
He also pays him a joyful tribute in the song Maliotenam, in duet with rapper Shauit. In fact, a good part of the album is driven briskly, and the songs move along at a hectic pace.
Yes, we want to weigh on the gas! There are tunes that make you go to 140, others that bring you back to 80 maybe…
Matiu
Channel
Matiu knows it: his first album, recorded without a director and which took him a lot of time to make, was more scattered. Working with Louis-Jean Cormier allowed him to channel his various influences.
“With my friend Louis-Jean, we found beautiful colors. And he was there to bring me back when I got too far off the track. »
Matiu arrived in the studio with his guitar-vocal songs which, in ten days, were dressed one by one with the musicians. But there was never any question of transforming him or softening his gravelly grain of voice, for example. “I am someone who is difficult to misrepresent! he said with a burst of laughter.
And then, the base was there: very strong melodies, simple and true texts. “Before writing it, I always see the tune in my head like a movie. I like people to see images when I sing. »
Message
About a third of the songs on the album are written in Innu and the rest in French. How does he decide which language to use?
“It depends on who the message is for. If the person you want to talk to doesn’t understand, the message won’t get through! »
The singer, who has been participating in the collective show for a few years Gathering songs – Nikamu Mamuitunwhich brings together indigenous and non-indigenous artists, has been pleased to see mentalities change since the release of its previous album in 2018. Openings are being created and bridges are being built, he notes.
We talk all the time about building bridges. But you also have to cross them, these bridges.
Matiu
A radio quota for aboriginal music — there’s a petition circulating right now — could help uncover all the diversity. The same kind of impact as the trophy awarded by ADISQ to the Indigenous artist of the year since 2019.
“We love him a lot, but there is not just Florent [Vollant] ! A trophy like that allows you to discover many other artists. From the electro-pop of Anachnid to the folk of Laura Niquay, there is indeed a world, and a real bubbling of talent.
“I am proud to be in this movement, to participate in all this pride. »
Matiu hopes that his new album will allow him to create new bonds and he can’t wait to present it in concert. “I hope he will do good. And that the message will get through?
“We all want to change the world for the better in life. If it does good and opens people’s minds to realities they know less about, my job will be made. »
folk-rock
Tipatshimushtunan
Matiu
117 Records