The Rediscovered Fire by Catherine Durand

After a slump of several years, the sweet and stubborn Catherine Durand is back with The orphan houserich and ambitious orchestral album.

Josee Lapointe
The Press

Catherine Durand has been distilling her evanescent folk for nearly 25 years already. But in 2016, after the release of his sixth album, The rain between us, the singer-songwriter felt the inspiration leave her. “That’s why two years later I made Twenty, an album of proofreading. To restore my taste, after years of practically not writing a single song. »

On the phone, we immediately understand in his cheerful voice that this episode is a thing of the past. She says the pandemic, which has forced her to remain walled in at home, has “opened doors” for her rather than closing them.

The musician found her way back to going to a creation residency in Banff and the “taste of music for pleasure only” by accompanying on stage Mara Tremblay, then Marie-Annick Lépine of the Cowboys Fringants, who released a solo album. last year. “We went to Europe twice, we did big scenes opening for the Cowboys. Since 2022, things have been going well, everything has become lighter, has become more serene. Maybe it’s because of the fifties! »

It is nevertheless in the spirit of “this album may be the last” that Catherine Durand concocted The orphan house. “With all the young people who are good and who want their place, I say to myself: am I still relevant? So I decided to put the package and go through with all the ideas that I had for a long time. I talked about it to my record company, with whom I get on really well! »

Catherine Durand bursts out laughing: she founded her own label, KatMusic, several years ago. The singer-producer therefore “paid for herself” with an orchestra of nine musicians, with strings, brass and sumptuous arrangements by Vincent Legault of the Dear Criminals, with whom she co-produced the album. “The result is even better than what I had in mind,” she rejoices. He is a genius, this guy, I am pampered and privileged to have worked with him. »

Vibration

Catherine Durand has always made atmospheric music, and her songs fit well into this “orchestral, open and rich” sound. His interpretation, all in delicacy, also comes to curl up perfectly there – the softness of his voice, one of his main characteristics, is even magnified.

“We change as we mature, and so does our voice. I find that I sing better and better… When I listen to my first albums again, I get on my nerves! she says. There is a place for the vibration that comes to anchor itself more deeply, in a more interior way. »

Of course, emotion is on edge here. The orphan house, which is aptly titled, is an album of mourning and loss, an intimate and serious diary which traces its path towards the light. “It talks a lot about absence, about loves that are leaving, about friendships and the people we love, when we find ourselves alone…”

But lots of people can now enter his house. She hopes they will take the time to sit there for 45 minutes to listen to all the songs and feed on its enveloping atmosphere before leaving. “I would like him to accompany, to soothe. »

Catherine Durand should soon announce the creation of a “side project”, and she continues to run her small hot chocolate company, SÜK, on ​​her own. “It helped me so much during the pandemic. People drank a lot of it, hot chocolate! »

At 51, she has learned not to project herself too much into the future and to take advantage of the present. And she feels very grateful to still have a place, despite the tide of new releases that come out each week. “I’m very humbled by it all. I know it’s hard to last. Difficult on morale, on the heart, financially. “You have to be a bit stubborn to do this job,” she says. But there’s nothing more satisfying for me than finishing a song that I’m proud of. Rediscovering the fire of creation is the most beautiful thing in the world. »

folklore

The orphan house

Catherine Durand

KatMusic