Yves Lambert | Swing the romance

Mold breaker and heritage brewer, Yves Lambert returns where we least expected him. Moving away from the traditional repertoire, he found in the songs of the 1930s something to express his taste for romanticism.

The label that least sticks to Yves Lambert is that of traditionalist, which is paradoxical for an artist associated with folklore for decades. The former pillar of The Smiling Bottine is in fact a non-conformist, a perpetual “outsider”, he says, and a treasure seeker driven by the desire to bring his ancient finds into dialogue with the present.

He did his most recent tour last month: 15 concerts between the 1^er and December 30. The traditional music season here has about as many days as an Advent calendar. Yves Lambert knows this and he no longer fights against this reductive vision of things. He takes the opportunity to go on stage, earn his living and please the world.

“It was a big tour, in all kinds of conditions. These were not large official rooms, but many intermediate, independent rooms. All full,” he rejoices.

If he willingly complies with the logic of the holiday tour, he has not fallen into line. Yves Lambert even did it on purpose to publish his new album after the end-of-year holidays. He doesn’t say it like that, but we feel that it’s yet another way of breaking a mold, of thumbing one’s nose at a convention. Then, it must be said, Romance paradiseto be released Friday, is the least traditional album in his impressive discography.

City tour

The seven songs that make up this short disc are not from the region. These are tunes once worn by singers like Conrad Gauthier, Albert Marier, Hector Pellerin or Odilon Rochon, voices which resonate little today, but which we heard a lot a little less than 100 years ago and which are associated with the rise of the new media of the time: radio.

“Traditional music, since folk revival from the 1970s and even before with La famille Soucy, the repertoire was very rural. They were cooking songs, it happened a lot in the countryside, he explains. Then I, at a certain point, fell into French realist song and the movement that came to Quebec around the same time, in the 1930s.”

Yves Lambert says that he is “a romanticism freak”, that the 19th century^e century – which he considers a golden age – thrills him. He loves literature and poetry. “I have worked a lot on this in recent years, in this sort of romantic spirit,” he explains. The repertoire chosen for his most recent album allowed him to explore this facet of his sensitivity.

Romance paradise lives up to its title: it’s an album where it’s a lot about romantic feelings. The most romantic tunes are by Albert Marier from which he takes Knowing that we are loved And The song of the rain, based on a poem by Verlaine. “It’s a song about boredom and loneliness,” he notes. Are we in a time where there are people who are bored and feel alone, in your opinion? »

Hold up a mirror

The answer is self-evident, according to him. However, this question also underlines something which remains intimately linked to Yves Lambert’s quest: he chooses songs which hold up a mirror to today’s world or, at least, in which he sees a reflection of the era. contemporary. This was true in his adaptation of the song The demon comes out of hell with The smiling boot and it remains so with Stupid songsigned Hector Pellerin, which talks about two lovers who have never met.

“It’s completely internet!” It’s completely in the wind! » exclaims the heritage brewer before emphasizing the links he sees between this piece and the poetry of Prévert or surrealism. Its cultural foundations, he insists, are on the other side of the ocean.

“I am heir to French culture much more than American,” says Yves Lambert, who nevertheless says he is a big fan of Leon Russell and D^r John.

“Over time, I have changed and the literary side, the song side interests me more than before. More than music,” he explains, while adding that the accordion and the reel have always been his foundation. His “grounding” as he says. Our Mr. Lambert shouts less on his instrument, on Romance paradise.

“I am a singer, less of an instrumentalist on this record. Again, it’s a question of circumstances, he argues. An album is a photo in time. It could have been more elaborate, but I like that too, things a little rougher. With a lot of money, you can refine things, but that’s not the main thing. The main thing is the gesture. There, singing the feeling of love, with heart, for me, is a kind of consecration. »

Neo-trad

Romance paradise

Yves Lambert

The Free Hemlock
Album available Friday January 26