Ludovic Alarie shares “Soleil et rêve”, a new song which will appear on his upcoming album.
Three years after releasing his folk-pop album “We’re A Dream Nobody Wrote Down” (which the title track was included in Stereogum’s best songs of 2019 list), under chouchou records and Blonde Redhead’s label Asa Wa Kuru in the US, Montreal’s singer-songwriter Ludovic Alarie is back with “Soleil et rêve”, an intimate and orchestral French piece. This is a first for Alarie acting as producer for his own music, drawing on his classical guitar training and the influence of 1960s Brazilian music - notably Joao Gilberto, Baden Powell and Caetano Veloso.
Composed by Ludovic Alarie and Tasia Bachir, “Soleil et rêve” is a two-part piece. The first part is all about Alarie’s voice and guitar, his signature delivery shines, gentle and nostalgic, in tandem with Tasia Bachir’s lyrics. While the song and lyric are much like a short poem, there is an enigmatic and deeply personal quality throughout, contemplating the vast possibilities of the duality of life and death, of love and mourning.
« Si le jour se lève aussi
Sans délaisser la nuit
Tu te poseras dans le ciel
Je resterai ici
Si le vent des vagues nous vient
Sans qu'on y voit la fin
Tu te poseras dans la mer
Je resterai ici »
The second part opens with percussions played by Blonde Redhead’s drummer Simone Pace, cue the string quartet, followed by flute and clarinet to complement Alarie’s guitar. The song takes us to this other world, where colour and groove are just as light and intimate as the song’s introduction. The arrangements, composed by Gabriel Ledoux, provide the rich harmonic backdrop to blend Alarie’s notes with Pace’s rhythms. As in his previous work, with “Soleil et rêve”, Ludovic Alarie hands us the complex and the personal, but with a universal and accessible touch. With three solo albums (and a fourth in sight), Ludovic Alarie continues to build a musical universe that is undoubtedly his own.
Soleil et rêve will be available on all digital platforms on May 24th. Ludovic Alarie’s upcoming album will be out in 2023.
