Tag: Montréal QC

singer/songwriters by William Ruben Helms

Lyric Video: JOVM Mainstays L’Impératice Teams Up with Cuco on a Woozy Bop

Rising Paris-based electro pop sextet L’Impératice — founder Charles de Boisseguin (keys), Hagni Gown (keys), David Gaugué (bass), Achille Trocellier (guitar), Tom Daveau (drums) and Flore Benguigui (vocals) — formed back in 2012. And in a relatively short period of time, they quickly developed a reputation for being extremely prolific: Within their first three years together, they released 2012’s self-titled debut EP, 2014’s Sonate Pacifique EP and 2015’s Odyssée EP. 

Back in 2016, the Parsian sextet released a re-edited, remixed and slowed down version of Odyssée, L’Empreruer, inspired by a fan mistakenly playing a vinyl copy of Odyssée at the wrong speed. L’Impératice followed that up with a version of Odysseé featuring arrangements centered around violin, cello and acoustic guitar. During the summer of 2017, the Parisian electro pop act signed to microqlima records, who released that year’s Séquences EP. 

Their full-length debut, 2018’s Matahari  featured “Erreur 404,” which they performed on the French TV show Quotidien. They followed that up with an English language version of Matahari and 2021’s Renaud Letang co-produced sophomore album Taku Tsubo.

Deriving its name from the medical term for broken heart/takutsubo syndrome ((蛸 壺, from Japanese “octopus trap”). The condition usually manifests itself as deformation of the heart’s left ventricle caused by severe emotional or physical stress — i.e., the death of a loved one, an intense argument with someone you care about, a breakup, a sudden illness or the like. An untreated broken heart can actually kill you.

Cuco is a Hawthorne, CA-based electronic music producer and artist, whose early stage, earnest bedroom pop aesthetic seemed to immediately connect with audiences online. Home-recorded and then shared through Bandcamp and SoundCloud, his self-released efforts 2016’s Wannabewithu and 2018’s Chiquito EP featured relatable and catchy material in both English and Spanish that openly defied genre restraints with elements of mariachi, R&B and psychedelia helped him win over first generation Latin Americans and young fans of indie singer/songwriters.

As the play counts and stream counts increased, there was a greater demand for him to play live shows in front of increasingly larger crowds on tour and at festivals. “It’ll always be surreal to me,” he says. “I never take it for granted if I see so many people at one show, you know, I don’t know the next day that I’m gonna see that again; it’s always appreciated.”

With massive buzz surrounding him, Cuco wound up signing with Interscope, who released his full-length debut, 2019’s Para Mi. His sophomore album, last year’s Fantasy Gateway sees him pushing the envelope of his sound, presenting a new chapter of the young producer/artist’s career in which he takes risks to great results.

The Parisian JOVM mainstays recently teamed up with the rapidly rising producer and artist on “Heartquake,” a collaboration that can be traced back to when they all met during last year’s Coachella. “Heartquake” is a woozy yet breezy bop built around an expansive, mind-melting arrangement that begins with glistening and wobbling synth oscillations, twinkling keys and trap-like beats before briefly morphing into a slinky bit of disco funk before closing out with glistening and wobbling synth oscillations and trap beats . Throughout the song L’Impératice’s Flore Benguigui sings English lyrics with a bemused yet sultry sense of longing and desire.

“It’s the story of someone completely disconnected from their emotions who is on their usual peaceful bus ride one morning. And then, someone sits across from them, and suddenly, their brain freezes, and they fall to their knees, struck by a thunderbolt, a kind of Tako tsubo,” the members of L’Impératice explain. “It’s a sensation that shakes them to the core, and they’re not sure if they can survive it, but they desire it.” Cuco adds: “It’s a pleasure and honor to be working with my friends in L’Impératrice.” 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Montréal’s DVTR Shares a Breakneck Ripper

Deriving their name as an acronym for the French phrase “D’où vient ton riz?” (Where does your rice come from?), Montréal-based duo DVTR is a new collaborative project featuring two of the city’s most highly acclaimed artists:

  • Laurence G-Do, the frontwoman of Le Couleur, an act that has toured internationally several times, and has opened for Giorgio Moroder, Polo & Pan and others, while amassing over 18 million streams across digital streaming platforms.

  • JC Tellier, who has played with Gazoline, an act that has received multiple ADISQ and GAMIQ award nominations. Tellier has also played with Kandle, Xavier Caféine, Gab Bouchard and a lengthy list of others.

The duo’s debut single “DVTR” is a breakneck, blistering and incisive ripper built around scorching riffage, a relentless motorik-like groove, a shouted mantra-like chorus, mosh pit friendly hooks paired with G-Do’s feral shouts. The result is a song that kind of sounds like a wild yet seamless synthesis of Wild Planet-era The B-52s and La Femme’s “Foutre le bordel.“

Directed by Jean-Vital Joliat, the wildly kinetic accompanying video features the members of DVTR, acting as a paramilitary force in a pickup truck, driving in a suburban parking lot as they pull off a heist — of a 5LB bag of rice.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: La Sécurité Shares Defiant Feminist Anthem “Hot Topic”

Montréal-based art punk quintet La Sécurité features a collection of acclaimed local players, with the band featuring current and past members of Choses Sauvages, Laurence-Anne, Silver Dapple, DATES, Pressure Pin, and others. Since their formation last year, the Canadian quintet have quickly developed and cemented their sound and approach: Meandering around the fringes of punk, New Wave and krautrock, the quintet’s take on art punk pairs jumpy beats, off-kilter arrangements and minimalistic yet melodic hooks, run through an insomniac filter. And while their music is razor sharp and danceable, their lyrical content is rooted in the feminist community-centric ethos of the Riot Grrrl movement. “It’s not just fun and games… it also bites. It’s catchy earworms delivered with a punk attitude,” guitarist Melissa Di Menna says. 

In a relatively short period of time, La Securité has quickly made a name for themselves in both the national and international scene: They’ve been invited to play at SXSW, FME, Phoque Off, Taverne Tour and DISTORSION Psych Fest, and they’ve shared stages with Automatic, Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp, TVOD, Margaritas Podridas, CIVIC, and Duchess Says. Building upon a growing profile, the French Canadian quintet’s highly-anticipated Samuel Gemme-produced full-length debut, Stay Safe! is slated for a Friday release through Mothland. 

Recorded at Gamma Recording Studio, Stay Safe! reportedly features songs that are manic yet surprisingly laid-back, empowering and urgent, reflective yet melancholy — all while mischievously flouting stylistic form every chance they can get. 

In the lead-up to the rising Canadian outfit’s highly-anticipated fully-length debut, I’ve managed to write about two singles:

  • “Anyway,” a scorcher built around buzzing and slashing power chords, a chugging motorik groove, bombastic hooks and choruses paired with a cooler-than-you swagger. But underneath the frenetic energy is a song informed by a deeply personal yet universal and super heavy subject: “This song was written in the early stages of dealing with grief related to miscarriage and pleads a sort of surrender to the strain it can put on a couple processing it,” La Securité’s vocalist Éliane Viens-Synnott explains in press notes. 

  • “Serpent,” a track that sees the Montréal-based post punk outfit quickly locking into the sort of dance punk groove that brings Echoes-era The Rapture and early LCD Soundsystem to mind paired with insistent shaker-driven percussion, twinkling keys, the collective’s unerring knack for dance floor friendly hooks and choruses and lyrics — in French — describing friend group drama. The song is a cheeky and sarcastic ode to complicated friendships that despite the language is very familiar. As the band puts it, “The person it is directed towards loves dancing. It’s a pretty dancy song. We hope they dance to it.” 

Stay Safe‘s third and latest single “Hot Topic” is built around a lurching yet dance floor friendly, DEVO-like grove paired with slashing bursts of guitar, twinkling bursts of keys and off-kilter percussion paired with Viens-Synnott’s defiant yet wry, shouted vocals — presumably at a clueless cis-het dude, who can’t quite get the hint.

The song’s arrangement was initially written to score an extended avant-garde dance piece also titled “Hot Topic,” choreographed by the band’s Viens-Synnott and shot in a single, continuous take. “The concept was to choreograph a dance piece to be shot as a sequence to capture the ephemeral elements present in performing arts,” Viens-Synnott explains in press notes. “Drawing influences from the Riot Grrrl movement, I created a dance piece where five women take up all the space on a dancefloor, unapologetically. We can dress how we want, enjoy our night out however that looks for us and we don’t care what you think.”

After completing the piece, the band edited down the song into the version that ultimately appears on their soon-to-be released debut. And the accompanying video is also, an abridged version of the original dance piece. (For this post, the music video is above the main text of this post, the short film is below the main text. Both are a trippy experience.) The song, the short film and the video are a testament to the Montréal-based band’s unique nature as a collaborative, artistically open group with varied and differing creative ambitions and entanglements — and in a fashion seemingly similar to that of JOVM mainstays La Femme.
 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Montréal’s Diamond Day Shares Lush and Bittersweet “Noisemaker”

Montréal-based duo Diamond Day features two highly acclaimed musicians in their own right:

  • Vermont-born Béatrix Méthé was raised with the traditional music of rural Québec. Her family moved to Canada when she was baby, and she grew up acquiring Lanaudiere’s regional repertoire from her father, the founder of legendary folk-trad group Le Rêve du Diable. Her mother, a singer-songwriter and fine arts graduate versed in early digital media, inspired Méthé’s own aesthetic. After spending some time venturing deeper into visual art, Béthé moved to Montréal to study filmmaking, but wound up discovering indie and psychedelic folk music along the way. She cut her studies short in 2015 to pursue music full-time, fronting acclaimed outfit Rosier. Rosier’s unique fusion of Québécois folk and indie rock garnered multiple nominations and awards — and lead them to tour across 15 countries with stops at SXSW, NPR’s Mountain Stage and the BBC.

  • Western Canada-born Quinn Bachand grew up in a home where art was omnipresent and the family’s 40-year-old record collection was on an omnipresent loop. As the son of a luthier, Bachand began playing guitars handmade by his father and was touring internationally by the time he turned 12. After graduating from Berklee College of Music back in 2019 on a presidential scholarship, the Western Canadian-born multi-instrumentalist spent time in the Grammy-nominated band Kittel & Co. His involvement in the US folk scene prompted collaborations with a number of like-minded artists, including Chris Thile. In 2019, Bachand began collaborating with Méthé and Rosier, quickly establishing himself as an influential, genre-bending producer.

That initial successful collaboration together led to the duo’s forthcoming full-length debut as Diamond Day, Connect the Dots. Connect the Dots is slated for a Fall 2023 release and reportedly sees the Montréal-based duo crafting a sound that weaves elements of folk, indie rock, electronica, shoegaze and dream pop into a unique take on alt-pop.

Connect the Dots‘ first single, “Noisemaker” is built around tape-saturated organ echo, fluttering synths, blown out beats, a sinuous bass line and lush, painterly shoegazer textured guitars paired with Méthé’s gorgeous vocal. Sonically, the song reminds me a bit of a mix of Beach House and Souvlaki-era Slowdive with a subtle amount of glitchiness.

Directed by Natan B. Foisy, the accompanying video captures the angst, frustration and boredom of rural Québéc with an uncanny, lived-in specificity. “Our friend Natan B. Foisy directed the music video. He grew up in Joliette, Québec, close to me,” Diamond Day’s Béatrix Méthé says. “When we were teenagers, the ‘cool’ thing to do in the winter was ‘drifting’ – ‘faire de la drift’ we call it in French. Natan heard those floating synths and imagined cars drifting in a high school parking lot, at least the slightly trashy Québec version. . . ” Diamond Day’s Quinn Bachand adds “It’s actually illegal, so they had to be pretty low profile when filming it all.” “The video is based around that type of rural angst. And so is the song, in some ways,” Méthé adds. “It’s about detecting parts and patterns in yourself that are ‘not fine.'”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Jonathan Robert Shares Jangling Rocker “Deux yeux au found d’une pièce noire”

Montréal-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, animator and visual artist Jonathan Robert may be best known for being a co-founder and co-lead vocalist of internationally acclaimed JOVM mainstay act Corridor. But over the past years, Robert has also become an acclaimed solo artist, writing and performing with the moniker Jonathan Personne.

Robert’s Jonathan Personne debut, 2019’s Histoire Naturelle sonically drew from desert dream pop, Western Spaghetti rock and jangle pop. Thematically, the album’s material thematically focused on the potential end of the world. But with the album’s oddly prescient timing, it might have hit the nail a bit too hard on the head . . .

His Jonathan Personne sophomore album, 2020’s  Guillaume Chiasson-produced Disparitions was primarily written while the Montréal-based artist was touring with Corridor, and came about in a quick and fluid fashion. The album saw Robert continuing upon the hook-driven yet intimate and sensitive songwriting that has won him acclaim as a solo artist, but was largely inspired by a moment when music became a source of profound disgust for him. “I spent a lot of time touring away from home. Towards the end I felt like I was reluctantly going to do something that I had longed wished for,” Robert explained in press notes. 

The Montréal-based singer/songwriter and musician’s third Jonathan Personne album, last year’s Emmanuel Èthier-produced Jonathan Personne was released by Bonsound. Written alone on an acoustic guitar in a cottage, the album took an unexpected turn, when the Montreal-based artist went to Québec City-based Le Pantoum with his friends and frequent collaborators Samuel Gougoux (drums), Julian Perreault (guitar), Mathieu Cloutier (bass) and the aforementioned Éthier (violin, synths, mellotron, vocals and production). The album’s material features arrangements centered around electric guitar, 12-string acoustic guitar, Rhodes, timpani, mellotron, synths, violin and even samples, the eight-song album continues Robert’s reputation for crafting material inspired by 60s pop and Spaghetti Westerns but with samples from obscure TV shows and movies, blistering rock grooves and extravagant guitar licks, the album features a more polished production than previous releases. 

Packaged with a Jonathan Robert illustration in which two children discover the remains of a dead body, the album thematically is rooted in duality: While continuing his reputation for breezy guitar pop, the album’s material is simultaneously brutal and sinister, yet candid. The album’s material evokes a mysterious world where ghosts, the supernatural, fate and broken characters with broken lives all intertwine and interact. 

In the lead-up to the album’s release, I wrote about three of the album’s singles:

  • “Un homme sans visage” a deceptively breezy song centered around an arrangement of gorgeous Mellotron-driven melody, jangling guitar, simple yet propulsive rhythms, bursts of lap steep, big hooky choruses and Robert’s plaintive falsetto. While continuing to be lovingly inspired by the sounds of the late 60s, the song is a bittersweet, modern fable of sorts that tells a story about a man, whose face is badly burned in a fire. 

  • “Rock & roll sur ton chemin,” a deceptively straightforward rocker centered around a loose and breezy surf rock-like riff and a churning groove paired with dreamily delivered falsetto harmonies and Robert’s penchant for big, catchy hooks paired with subtle amounts of bongo, Mellotron and whistles. But despite it’s breezy air, the song is bittersweet and drenched with irony with the song being a tribute to dying art forms and those, who still practice them. “Devoting oneself to a genre destined to failure, there’s something pathetic about it, but also something very beautiful,” Robert says.

  • “À présent,” a song that sounds indebted Scott Walker‘s orchestral pop and Phil Spector‘s famous Wall of Sound production but with a big emphasis on the jangling rhythm section, which subtly pushes the whole affair into more contemporary realm. Thematically, the song depicts a world where excess, speed and love coexist in a setting that’s kind of a synthesis of Romeo and Juliet and James Dean’s life with the song’s central couple dying in a horrific accident. 

Jonathan Personne‘s latest single “Deux yeux au found d’une pièce noire” is a fairly straightforward, jangle pop rocker that showcases Robert’s unerring knack for crafting catchy hooks paired with a deceptively anachronistic, psych pop-like sound. Initially conceived as one of the album’s mellower tracks, it eventually evolved into one of its more intense. Thematically, the song is about premonition and spirits, and is inspired by odd incidents taht took place at Robert’s cottage.

Directed by Liam Hamilton, the album features a unique animation style that combines hand-drawn illustrations with collages from cut-outs of Robert/Personne singing and playing guitar. Visually, the video brings Monty Python to mind.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstays TEKE: TEKE Shares Playful Ripper “Hoppe”

https://youtu.be/pxrNJSuNZ8w

Montréal-based collective and JOVM mainstays TEKE: TEKE – Yuki Isami (flute, shinobue and keys), Hidetaka Yoneyama (guitar), Sergio Nakauchi Pelletier (guitar), Mishka Stein (bass), Etienne Lebel (trombone), Ian Lettree (drums, percussion) and Maya Kuroki (vocals, keys and percussion) — initially began as loving homage and tribute band of legendary Japanese guitarist Takeshi “Terry” Terauchi, featuring a collection of accomplished local musicians, who have played with Pawa Up First, Patrick Wilson, Boogat, Gypsy Kumbia Orchestra and others. 

2018’s debut, Jikaku EP saw the Canadian outfit come into their own highly unique and difficult to pigeonhole sound that features elements of Japanese Eleki surf rock, shoegaze, post-punk, psych rock, ska, Latin music and Balkan music.

They then signed to Kill Rock Stars, who released their critically applauded full-length debut, 2021’s Shirushi.

The Canadian JOVM mainstays’ highly-anticipated sophomore album, the Daniel Schlettt-produced Hagata is slated for a Friday release through Kill Rock Stars. “Hagata,” as the band’s Maya Kuroki explains “is a very deep word, something present but also something leftover from someone or something no longer there. It’s like waking up from a dream, or being connected to the other side of something.” As a band, the Canadian psych pop outfit are intimately familiar with the duality of splitting reality between past and present, complex melodies and hushed interludes, intense action and lingering response. After building their genre-defying sound on Shirushi, the septet indulged in and learned from stretching out in free-floating experimentation both on the road and with Schlett during recording sessions in Mountain Dale, NY.

Last month, I wrote about “Doppelgänger,” a track that saw the JOVM mainstays pairing a cinematic arrangement that prominently features strummed guitar, and a brooding horn line with Kuroki’s achingly wistful delivery. Part bittersweet ballad, part brooding meditation, “Doppelgänger” speaks of the duality of identity: “Being of mixed Japanese and French-Canadian culture, I always feel like in some way I’m living two parallel lives…a big part of me is here in Canada, obviously, but another part of me is on the other side of the planet…this could be said about most of us in this band” the band’s Sergio Nakauchi Pelletier says. 

Hagata‘s latest single “Hoppe” may arguably be among the most mosh pit friendly punk-inspired rippers in the band’s growing catalog with the song built around slashing guitars, dreamily fluttering flute and a brooding horn arrangement while Kuroki spins a Kafkaesque fable featuring men emerging from mysterious foods. But under the seemingly playfulness of the song is a sobering admission of nothing lasting forever.

Directed, shot and edited by the band, the accompanying video for “Hoppe” pairs the band’s signature visual blend of live action and animation while capturing the band’s frenetic live energy. “I always thought of ‘Hoppe’ as having a bit of a 90’s vibe, maybe the Fugazi in me (but with Maya’s delirious tale about an old man who’s cheeks fall off after eating a rice cake… ha, ha) so we tried to simply capture the raw and punk energy of the song and keep the camera moving, with a fish-eye type lens,” Teke: Teke’s Sergio Nakauchi Pelletier explains.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Montréal’s Population II Shares Mind-Bending New Single

Montréal-based psych rock trio Population II — Pierre-Luc Gratton (vocals, drums), Tristan Lacombe (guitar, keys) and Sébastien Provençal (bass) — can trace their origin back a long way and are inextricably linked to their teenage memories. After years of jamming to the point of developing a unique sense of telepathy, the trio began recording independently released material that caught the attention of Castle Face Records head and The Oh Sees‘ frontman John Dwyer, who released the band’s full-length debut, 2020’s À la Ô Terre, an album that saw the band displaying their mastery of improvised madness and sophisticated composition. Their heavy take on psych rock is rooted in their restless and relentless work on refining their imposing and unpretentious and sound and approach which frequently infuses feverish funk rhythms, jazz philosophy, punk rock energy and a love of minor scales that recalls the roots of heavy metal.

The Montréal-based psych outfit then spent the better pat of the next two years touring to support their full-length debut, which included stops at SXSW, Pop Montréal, Toronto, NYC, and Quebec City.

This past winter, Population II signed with Bonsound‘s label, booking and publishing arms. The tastemaking Montréal-based label recently released “Beau baptême,” the first bit of new material from the rising French Canadian outfit since 2020’s  À la Ô Terre. Built around a fairly traditional song structure — verse, chorus, verse, bridge — “Beau baptême” is roomy enough for buzzing power chord-driven riffs, mind-melting grooves paired with Gratton’s ethereal crooning. The end result is a song that sees the trio deftly balancing a jazz-like improvisational like sensibility with the tight restraint of a deliberately crafted composition.

“Beau baptême” explores the psychological journey around inspiration and focuses on the very genesis of ideas — namely how ideas are actually born and the opinions they generate. Throughout the song, the band’s Pierre-Luc Gratton sings about how writing can sometimes happen with ease and spontaneity and sometimes requires deep, long reflection. Fittingly, the song is rooted in a lived-in specificity.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Rising Paris-born, Montréal-based singer/songwriter and JOVM mainstay Thaïs specializes in an atmospheric and delicate take on pop centered around the French Canadian artist’s ethereal vocals. Thematically her work focuses on melancholy, loneliness and dysfunctional, confusing, heartbreaking love. 

Last year was an enormous year for the rising Paris-born, Montréal-based artist. She signed with Bravo Musique, who released her highly anticipated full-length debut, Tout est parfait, which featured three singles I wrote about on this site:

  • “Arrête de danser,” a slickly produced bop centered around glistening and atmospheric synth arpeggios and trap beats that saw the rising French Canadian artist alternating between a syncopated trap-like flow for the song’s verses and ethereal cooing for the song’s hook and choruses. And while arguably being one of her most club friendly songs, “Arrête de danser” is a bitter tell-off to an unhealthy, dysfunctional lover that the song’s narrator knows deep down is wrong for her — and yet can’t quite quit.  
  • The Cœur de Pirate co-written, Renaud Bastien-produced “Vieux Port,” a danceable and deceptively upbeat bop featuring wobbling bass synth, glistening and arpeggiated synth melodies, twinkling keys, some brief bursts of industrial clang and clatter and soaring strings paired with Thaïs ethereal cooing. But just underneath the surface is a song that details a relationship that’s seemingly on the ropes while contemplating the passing of time and the desire to turn the clock back — with the knowledge you have now. 
  • “Le vent,” a breezy pop song but around twinkling and atmospheric synth arpeggios and skittering trap-like beats paired with Thaïs ethereal cooing. The song structurally was written to evoke a gust of wind for its verses and a brewing storm for it choruses. But at its core, “Le vent,” continued a remarkable run of material imbued with a bittersweet ache over a long lost love that deep down she knows she’ll never get back.

Thaïs also played a high-energy opening set at last year’s M for Montréal‘s Believe Presents Meet and Bowl at Darling Bowling Showcase that proved to me that she’s a superstar in the marking.

The rising Montréal-based JOVM mainstay’s latest single is a collaboration with Chibogamau, Quebec-born, Montréal-based singer/songwriter and musical Raphaël Bussièrs, best known as Lucill. Bussièrs can trace the origins of his musical career to his childhood: The young Chibogamau-born artist assiduously taught himself bass. After spending a period of several years as a touring and session musician with a number of acts around the world, Bussièrs decided it was time to step out into the spotlight as a solo artist. With Lucill, the French-Canadian artist specializes in a sound that features elements of indie rock, indie pop and folk paired with a straightforward approach.

Bussièr’s 2018 self-titled debut EP won the Indie Rock EP of the Year Award at 2019’s GAMIQ Gala. Building upon a growing profile across the province, the French-Canadian artist followed up with his full-length debut, 2020’s Bunny, which was released to rapturous critical praise and his sophomore effort, last year’s Snake Eyes.

“Si j’étais toi,” the Montréal-based artists’ collaboration together is an ethereal pop confection and a remarkably seamless meeting of musical minds built around shimmering and atmospheric synths, twinkling keys, the duo’s ethereal and yearning cooing, a relentless motorik groove and their unerring knack for a catchy hook. The song’s narrators express a desire for each other but they don’t quite know how to proceed with that knowledge — or if it’ll be successful. And as a result, the song is rooted in a coquettish yet frustrating push and pull.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Montréal’s Naomi Shares Another Sultry, Summertime Banger

Naomi is a Montréal-based multi-disciplinary artist, who first after studying theater made a name for herself when she started landing roles on both the small and big screen when she was 14. Because she has long seen art as a continuous means of expression, she went on to study dance at the École de danse contemporaine de Montréal.

As a dancer, Naomi has appeared in and/or choreographed music videos for Rihanna, Marie-Mai, Coeur de Pirate and others, as well as for local dance performances. While she was establishing herself as an actor and dancer, the Montreal-based artist quietly developed a passion for singing — without fully giving herself permission to explore it fully. Interestingly, Coeur de Pirate’s Beátrice Martin saw star potential in the Montreal based multi-disciplinary artist and took her under her wing.

Encouraged by Couer de Pirate’s mentorship and encouragement, Naomi began to realize that she was never far off from making her own music. All that she needed was a little push.

Signed to Bravo Musique, the Montreal-based artist began to write her own material and has taken a bold leap into a career as a pop singer. Naomi’s first two singles “Tout à nous” and “Zéro stress” have received airplay on WKND, Rouge FM, Arsenal, POP, CVKM and several other regional radio stations across Quebec.

The rising Canadian artist also released the club friendly, Rowan Mercille and Naomi co-written “Semblant,” which I wrote about earlier this year. Centered around glistening synth arpeggios, skittering trap-meets-Carribbean beats paired with her sultry delivery and an infectious hook, “Semblant” is a remarkably self-assured summertime banger, that also reveals a bonafide superstar in the making.

“Pas le temps de jouer,” Naomi’s latest single continues a remarkable run of slickly produced and self-assured bangers centered around shuffling reggaeton-meets-trap beats, glistening synth bursts paired with the rising Canadian artist’s sultry delivery and her seemingly unerring knack for crafting a big, razor sharp hook. Much like its immediate predecessor, “Pas le temps de jouer” is an accessible, radio friendly and club friendly track that’s simultaneously a summertime bop and a platform to launch a bonafide superstar into the stratosphere.

Directed by Clare L’heureux-Garcia, the accompanying video follows Naomi and a diverse collection of dancers through a series of brightly colored set ups — including one, where the collection of dancers, are like paintings in a museum.