Tag: Les Francouvertes

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Marie Céleste Shares Surreal and Dream-like Visual for Ethereal and Yearning “2 goélands”

Rising Montréal-based quintet Marie Céleste — Simon Duchesne (vocals, guitar), Philippe Plourde (keys), Olivier Tremblay (bass, vocals), Zachary Tremblay (guitar) and Guillaume Sliger (drums) — can trace their origins back to when the band’s members where high schoolers in Alma, QC during the 2010s. The French Canadian quintet’s sound draws from the diverse influences of its members blending elements of folk, indie pop, art rock, electronic music and world music.

For years, the quintet was content with playing just one show a year. Their songs — shaped by progressive rock roots — often stretched to ten minutes or more. But when they relocated to Montréal back in 2023, the band decided it was time to level up. Initially, the goal was simple: earn enough to cover their rehearsal space. Montréal proved to be much more than a backdrop — it became a catalyst for the quintet.

Canada’s second largest city has one of world’s more eclectic and vibrant music scenes. Immersed in their adopted hometown’s scene, they met a collection of musicians and set their sights on playing Les Francouvertes, a pivotal showcase festival that would end up changing everything for the band: Local tastemaker label Bravo Musique discovered their radiant, joy-tinged tape on prog pop, which at this point was much more refined and focused.

Last year was a breakthrough year for the French Canadian quintet: Bravo Musique released their debut, Feux de joie, which amassed over 800,000 Spotify streams, was supposed with a EP release show at La Sala Rossa and a few months later, a sold-out show at Fairmount Theatre.

Feux de joie‘s highly-anticipated follow up, the Amaury Pluvinage-produced Tout ce qui brille is slated for a March 13, 2026 release through Bravo Musique. The French Canadian quintet’s forthcoming sophomore effort will reportedly feature material that sees the band pushing their sound in new directions while anchored around a seamless fusion of acoustic and electronic textures. Thematically, Tout ce qui brille will celebrate human connection, the relationships that shape and sustain us, and the joy and vulnerability that come from being seen and held by others. The result is an album that radiates with warmth, friendship, community — and much more importantly, healing.

Tout ce qui brille‘s second and latest single, “2 goélands” is a broodingly meditative track featuring gentle layers of twinkling keys and atmospheric synths, stuttering drum patterns serving as a lush and dreamy bed for Simon Duchesne’s yearning delivery. Evoking the sight of soaring seagulls by the shore, “2 goélands” seemingly channels Cloud Castle Lake‘s gorgeous and cinematic 2018 effort Malingerer and Amnesiac-era Radiohead.

Lyrically, the song explores a relationship that has been damaged somehow but not irrevocably so; it’s a relationship that can be repaired, if both sides truly want that relationship to work and can see past their disagreement — or their current impasse.

Directed by Félix Simard-Tanguay, and set in suburban Quebec, the accompanying video for “2 goélands” features the members of Marie Céleste in surreal, dream-like scenarios that evoke and emphasize the song’s thematic concern of relationships on the brink — but eventually the disputes are settled with a handshake.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Montreal’s Thierry Larose Releases an Adorable Visual for Grunge Rock Meets Power Pop-like “Cantalou”

Thierry Larose is a young and rising Marieville, Quebec-born, Montreal-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who spent his teen years with a soundtrack of 2000s lo-fi American pop and Quebec indie singer/songwriter records. During the summer of 2018, while in his early 20s, Larose moved to Montreal with the intention of taking a sabbatical from his studies in English literature to focus on music.

Within a few months of his arrival in Montreal, Larose assembled a backing band and went into the studio to record four songs. And with those first four recorded songs, Larose and his backing band were selected to play in Les Francouvertes, an annual music festival that showcases emerging Francophone artists from across Quebec. After an attention grabbing festival appearance, Larose’s profile exploded across the province: he was invited to open for Safia Nolin and Les sœurs Boulay on a handful of dates. He also landed sets at Pop Montreal, Santa Teresa Festival and St Roch XP without having much music released online — and Grosse Boîte Records approached him with a recording contract.

During that period, Larose recorded a two-song EP and then returned to the studio in October 2019 to record his highly anticipated Alexandre Martel co-produced, full-length debut, an album that finds the Marieville-born, Montreal-based crafting material that bounces back and forth between glittering glam-inspired rock, youthful and ebullient indie pop featuring heartfelt yet somewhat ironic lyricism with poignant messages.

“Cantalou,” the latest single off Larose’s forthcoming album is a decidedly 120 Minutes-like alt rock track centered around alternating shimmering verses and rousingly anthemic choruses. Sonically, the song is a slick synthesis of grunge and power pop that reveals a songwriting with both a deliberate attention to craft and an uncanny knack for writing an infectious, mosh pit friendly hook.

Directed by Charles-Antoine Olivier, the recently released video for “Cantalou” follows a young boy — an adorable little moppet if I must say so — who learns about the sturm und orang of human emotion from a TV show puppet by the name of Cantalou. Cantalou’s human friends, Larose and his backing band, teach the puppet about music, which helps Cantalou get in touch with — and control — his emotions. But when the little boy enters the TV world, Cantalou and the boy learn about friendship with the purity, innocence and joy of childhood.