He has an easy smile, Florent Vollant. Even weakened by a stroke suffered in the spring of 2020, he displayed a calming good mood when I met him in April last year in his studio in Mani-Utenam. The songs that would end up on Tshitatau were already well advanced, but the great Innu songmaker was not yet satisfied: he found his voice a little faded.
Patiently – he is not a man in a hurry – he continued to work on his voice, with the help of a vocal coach, Mathilde Côté. Supported by a team of loved ones, including his son Mathieu Mckenzie, Kim Fontaine, André Lachance and the late Réjean Bouchard, he caught his breath… and ended up finding the light he was looking for.
Tshitatau sounds like no other record from the Innu singer-songwriter. We of course recognize his love for folk and country, as well as the characteristic choruses of his music. We find more or less the acoustic swing that is specific to it, but this album is also imbued with an unprecedented fragility. Florent Vollant’s singing is indeed imbued with a fragility which gives his songs an even more touching dimension.
What pulses behind this sometimes somewhat short phrasing is life which continues despite obstacles, it is the acceptance of what is and the desire to create something beautiful despite everything. This album is particularly moving because we know that it is the result of a collective effort. Family, we are tempted to write.
Guitarist André Lachance wrote most of the lyrics —— in the Innu language! – and the music. It’s Réjean Bouchard, who died last July, who plays bass. It’s Maten’s band, his son’s group, which surrounds him either at the console or around the microphone. Her coach of voice even puts his own on all the pieces.
These people all stand in a tight row behind Florant Vollant, carrying him as much as he carries them, concocting gripping blues (Innu Eyou, Ashuapami), some well-felt country (Tshitatau), convincing reggae (Nishi molts) and sometimes all of that at the same time (Meshkanauperhaps the most stunning piece on the disc). Tshitatau is an object of great beauty, endowed with a heart like that, to be immediately ranked among the best albums of the year.
Florent Vollant is also the “guest curator” of the list Indigenous of the Spotify platform. His selection, which notably includes titles by Maten (the excellent Nitepuatauat, with the singers of Black Bear) Elisapie, Beatrice Deer, Claude McKenzie (his accomplice within Kashtin) and Gilles C. Sioui, will be offered until mid-May.
Listen to the list Indigenous on Spotify
MeshkanauFlorent Vollant
INNU FOLK
Tshitatau
Florent Vollant
Makusham Music
reference: www.lapresse.ca