Cœur de pirate: Perséides

One of my absolute favourite singer/songwriters is Montréal-based Cœur de pirate, whose songs, if you live in Canada, you've probably heard several thousand times. Her voice is incredible, her lyrics (in French or English) are brilliant, and every time she releases a single or album, my mind is twisted in exciting new ways.

(How much do I love her music? No less than 5 of my projects are inspired by her songs. I can't even think about Recovery without listening to Drapeau Blanc)

But then, earlier this year, she had vocal cord surgery and lost her voice. I don't know where I read that first, but I remember a terrible dread washing over me, since Julie Andrews had similar surgery and lost her singing voice. That's gotta be a terrifying prospect for any singer, and doubly so for ones as gifted as those two.

Thankfully, it seems as though Cœur de pirate's lost-voice situation is temporary — and in the meantime, she has just released a new instrumental album called Perséides, which... well, it's hard to explain, but I'm starting to realize the thing I love about her music isn't necessarily her voice or her lyrics, but the personality that envelops all her individual gifts and makes them uniquely her.

This is a fantastic album — 25 minutes across 10 tracks — that are light and moody all at once, and have been relentlessly filling the back of my brain with ideas for the last few days. Every piece feels like Cœur de pirate, even if her voice isn't there. It's not that I don't miss it, but I don't... feel its absence the way I thought I would.

There are very few musical acts that I follow religiously, but there's a reason Cœur de pirate is at the top of that list, with no signs of slowing down.