Sylvie Paquette had not released an album since 2016, the very beautiful original land, in which she had set poems by Anne Hébert to music. Here it is again with I will stay closewhich speaks of mourning and absence, but above all, of light and life despite the pain of loss.
Posted at 1:00 p.m.
Two years ago, Sylvie Paquette lost her lover, Lyne, taken away at the age of 56 by dazzling cancer. For a year, from the diagnosis received in the fall of 2018, the singer accompanied her, from the hope of treatment to palliative care and her last breath. “It was very confrontational, but it was beautiful until the end. Attending that is not showing off: it’s life. »
I will stay close is a delicate and sophisticated tribute to this woman who loved beauty and jazz. But it is above all the testimony of an intense experience, which Sylvie Paquette has succeeded in transcending to make it something universal – no question of “splashing others” with her “I”, but rather of sharing a true emotion.
It really is a tribute to life album. To resilience, to trials, to absence, and to presence despite absence. I would like us to remember that from this record: what we can lose, what remains all the same.
Sylvie Paquette
The result is soft and enveloping, imbued with light. “With everything that is happening, the pandemic, the war, we need that, gentleness. “And depth too: this is what she was looking for after having lived through such a serious and unique experience. This is what she transmits in this mini album of six songs, dense and concentrated.
“It really is a bubble. Rather than do ten songs, I put it all in six. »
To the four original songs, completely related to the subject, are thus grafted an unpublished by Anne Hébert, It must be sunny somewherewhich would be his last poem written before his death, and an interpretation of Your face by Jean-Pierre Ferland.
This album is the seventh album of the discreet singer-songwriter, whose first, soul aboutwas released in 1993. Her pace has always been rather slow, so, but she admits that six years between two albums is a lot.
“I’m not too quick on the trigger!” Like Peter Flynn. We think a lot before committing ourselves. »
It must be said that this time, life got involved, with the disease, then the pandemic… But the music started to “rise” again little by little, and each text arrived like a gift. That of Daniel Bélanger, Claire Gaucher, Stéphane Blanchette, even his own, The projectorwhich rose “in one go”.
“The text, the chords, the music… I wrote it in two days. I said to myself: Lyne is giving me a present, she gave me words to talk to her. »
The collaborators joined in little by little. New ones, like François Richard on piano and production, José Major on drums, Beyries for music. Others returned, such as Guillaume Bourque on clarinet and Philippe Brault on bass. A loyalty of which she is proud.
“That’s the beauty of existing, and lasting, and continuing. And try to do nice things. »
Truth
After original land in 2016, the singer said to herself that if it was her last album, at least she found it magnificent, she says with a laugh. But despite the new realities of the industry and the growing succession, “there is no retirement for a creator”.
“I also have projects for 2023, for the 30th anniversary of my first album, a best of and a show. I see a bit of a future. »
Being an artist, she adds, is a far cry from what stardom suggests: it’s writing songs, digging into meaning, finding your uniqueness, working on your voice. His own, with such a particular timbre, is moreover overwhelming with the emotion contained on this album.
The voice continues to evolve, life passes through us, and you can hear it. There is a richness, a resonance that is greater. Words…everything weighs more.
Sylvie Paquette
She says that in the studio, her voice broke a little with emotion as she sang the last word of the Projector. But her tears mostly flowed while writing.
“When I sing Your face, I think of those who will listen to it. I plug into bigger than me. I want to reach you somewhere where you don’t want to go, where there is emotion, truth. “And for that, no choice to open his heart. “I’ve always been like that, really, an open-hearted performer. »
Today, Sylvie Paquette is doing well. She left Magog, where she lived with her lover, to settle near Quebec and the river. “I clung to that a lot, it calms me down a lot. »
With the release of this album, she also speaks, for the first time since the beginning of her career, of her sexual orientation. When she looks at the young artists of today who openly display themselves, she is moved.
” I find this beautiful. Mindsets are changing. I never talked about it too much because I didn’t want to be associated with a flag. It took me a shock to say those words, my girlfriend. But the best thing is to be yourself, to say what you want to say. »
Throughout the spring, Sylvie Paquette will be opening for Daniel Lavoie’s tour. That’s exactly what she wanted: to bring her songs to life on stage, and to reach as many people as possible.
“I would like them to do good to those who hear them. I made this album because I needed it, but now that it exists, if it doesn’t resonate, it doesn’t make sense. »
Song
I will stay close
Sylvie Paquette
Audiogram