Yann Falquet Shares Debut Solo Album, Les secrets du ciel
Yann Falquet’s debut album, Les secrets du ciel (”The Secrets of the Sky”), produced by Quinn Bachand, revisits obscure traditional songs to create a cohesive narrative of yearning, love, and loss. As a founding member of the Quebecois folk trio Genticorum, Falquet brings 20 years of artistry as well as an all-star cast of musicians to this project.
Falquet’s acoustic guitar and layered instrumentation meld with the old balladry of French Canada in a genre that he describes playfully as romantico pastoral. By assembling excerpts from archival documents as well as playing with the structures of the songs, Falquet has created an elegant and original opus. The album’s ten tableaux of dreamy musical textures form a unique sonic world that transcends the boundaries of language.
The tracks on Les secrets du ciel portray variations on a fundamental human experience. The main characters search for their beloveds across fields, seas, mountains, and dreams, on journeys sometimes melancholic (“Les mers et les montagnes”, “La Rose”), sometimes stoic (“Les îles”, “Courage”), and sometimes magical. In “La belle est en prison d’amour”, for example, a confused lover searching for his love stumbles across a bird who has apparently spent some time with her… Instead of helping him locate her, the winged wretch offers enigmatic advice.
First off care to introduce yourself to our readers?
Hi, I’m Yann Falquet. I lived most of my life in Montreal but moved to the US a couple of years ago and I’m now based in Vermont. Growing up, I played rock with my friends in my parent’s basement, dabbled a bit in jazz, and then discovered French Canadian traditional music in my early twenties. I fell in love with the rich repertoire and the endless ways to play with the material and be creative with it. Early on, with some friends, we started a trio called Genticorum, which celebrates its 25th anniversary next year! Playing in a band has always been my comfort zone, and this is my first solo project, which was daunting and exciting at the same time.
Tell us a bit about your recent release.
“Les secrets du ciel” is comprised of traditional songs I’ve been collecting and working on for about 10 years now. I started to arrange them for just guitar and voice, making the most of these two elements so I could perform them on my own—the most ubiquitous format in the folk music world, but a big step for me as a band guy. That was a really fun and rewarding process, but when it came to recording the songs, I knew I wanted to expand on the arrangements. For that, I worked together with a fantastic producer, Quinn Bachand from Victoria, BC, now living in Montreal. Between his and my musical connections, we were able to gather an amazing group of musicians who added so much to the sound of each song. To name a few: Trent Freeman (The Fretless, Speaker Face) on strings, Allison de Groot (Allison de Groot & Tatiana Hargreaves, Bruce Molsky), Robbie Kuster (Flore Laurentienne, Patrick Watson), and Nadje Noordhuis (Arooj Aftab, Maria Schneider) on horns. It was a dream to work with these ridiculously talented musicians!
How do you typically go about the songwriting process? Do you have a specific method or creative routine that you follow?
It is a slow process for me. I work with traditional songs, so the first step is one of research. I looked for old books of traditional songs, and field recordings, and made a few trips to the Quebec National Archives in Quebec City. I read or listen through the material until something unique about a song grabs me. I take note of them and often forget about them for a while. Later, I’ll go through my folders and start playing them. Often a small element in a song will lead me somewhere else; for example, a melodic passage can inspire a new instrumental section, or a couple of words could guide me to a new melody. Sometimes the song stays pretty close to my source, but often the end result is quite different.
Looking ahead, what are your plans for supporting this new release? Are there any upcoming tours, music videos, or additional content that fans can look forward to in connection with this project?
This was meant to be a recording project more than anything else; an excuse to really work on these songs and share them with the world. It was also nice to record them without thinking of how these arrangements could be played live, which is something that is always on our minds when working with my trio. So except for a couple of small shows to celebrate the release, there is no touring for now. Genticorum keeps me busy on that front; we have two UK tours coming up this spring and summer, and more European dates to come in the fall!
Looking back on your musical career, is there a particular moment or accomplishment that you consider a turning point or a highlight?
Moving to New England a couple of years ago was daunting professionally; I was leaving a music scene I was very comfortable with for something more or less unknown. I kept on playing with my trio but left all my other side projects. I ended up making so many fantastic musical connections here, and I found a lot of inspiration to keep going on; I’d say that was an important turning point.
Last but not least, it’s time to pay it forward, what upcoming band or artist would you recommend your fans check out?
There is a new album coming out soon from Rosier, they are young musicians who grew up in the traditional music scene and are making really beautiful and original music. One of their members, Beatrix, along with Quinn Bachand (who produced my album), just released a fantastic dream pop-inspired project called Diamond Day. One last one; Paruline is the project of Charles Labrèche, also from the Quebec folk world but bringing cool new sounds.