With his theatrical extravagance, his taste for performance and excess and his androgynous side, it is not surprising that Lumière was inspired by one of the most exuberant periods in the history of rock – the beginning of the 1970s – to create glamhis second album, which is released on Friday.
“Lumière, c’est glam,” Etienne Côté drops as he sits down after the photo shoot, for which he brought a spectacular red cape. This is because the singer-songwriter, who is also a drummer in the group Bon Enfant, is the kind of complete artist who leaves nothing to chance. Look, atmosphere, story, there is always a staging in the universe of Lumière, its crazier, more eccentric alter ego… more glam, you know.
I’ve always been interested in the connection between theater and music. I find it difficult not to imagine a character, not to think in terms of concept.
Light
Released two years ago, but long simmered, his first album AM IESAM OUR was inspired precisely by the year 1971 and was “hippie and blue flower, more in the rainbow”, explains the musician. glamwhich was created in a hurry at the end of last summer with a core of friendly musicians, is more rock, more raw, and goes as much on the side of Elton John as of The Who.
“We are more in 1973-1974, in slightly darker colors. We feel attacked. We didn’t have time to fool around or beat around the bush. It’s raw, and that’s what we wanted. »
But if the tone has changed, Lumière still likes to tell stories. After the love quest forAM IESAM OU R., it is the lure of fame that interests him in glamwith the very high highs and very low lows of a musician’s life.
” I left the countryside/To perform in town “, he sings in rockbandwhich opens this 13-song album telling the story of a musician who strangely resembles him: Étienne Côté left his native Saint-Antoine-de-Tilly a decade ago to come and study classical percussion in Montreal, before to turn to rock.
“We talk about music, but people can recognize themselves in this story, in their ambitions. When we always want to have more, we are not taking advantage of what we have. »
Nevertheless glam is a rather descriptive foray into the life of a touring musician, with “jet lags, no rest, uprooting all the time”. ” Very band on the run, more The Wings than the Beatles,” says Lumière. And that the whole gives the impression that the conditions have not changed so much since the 1970s.
“It’s still not easy and you have to really like it,” he opines, explaining that he has learned over the years to navigate in this life made up of contrasts.
We still want to ask him how is Lumière… and how is Etienne?
“Both are doing very well. I’m happy with how the first album was received, given the pandemic context and that it was new. I felt a very good reception and it made me want to continue. And Etienne is fine. I play with Bon Enfant too, I’m quite busy, it’s very stimulating, what happens. »
For this album which relies heavily on narration and which he wanted “clear and sharp” so that there is “no ambiguity”, Lumière asked Charles-Philippe Laperrière, who is a CEGEP teacher and author , to work as an editor on his texts. Together, they combed through every sentence, every word he had written.
“We could spend a day on a song. And if there was something wrong, we didn’t sweep it under the rug. There was no negligence and everything is in its place. »
Authenticity
For Lumière, “rock is not just dead”. And while everyone is worried about the future of music with the advent of artificial intelligence, he remains convinced that nothing can replace originality. Because “machines have no conscience” and they only know how to reproduce by drawing inspiration from a “pattern”.
People will quickly get tired of everything looking the same all the time. They will look for the most different case possible, because they will have the assurance that it is authentic, that there is a human behind it.
Light
In the case of Lumière in any case, originality is not a problem. The one for whom performance is the main driving force can’t wait to get back on stage with his new songs, whether in Quebec or in France, where his career is well underway after he opened for Clara Luciani and Pierre Lapointe last year.
How will result glam on the scene ? “Of course I want to give a good show. Like in the 70s, very Queen Rock Montreal ! I want costume changes, musical interludes, leaving the stage and letting the musicians play, come back…”
Costume design is starting soon — “there will be mauve, darker colors, more structured stuff, less stuff sticking out.” And it is the director of the album, Alexandre Martel (Lou-Adriane Cassidy, Thierry Larose), who will be directing. Again, nothing is left to chance in the seemingly casual world of Lumière.
“That’s glam. »
Rock
glam
Light
Bonsound
Album on sale Friday