It has been a while since an artist has (consciously or unconsciously) channelled the ideas Tom Verlaine presented as part of Television (or solo), apart from his take on the Velvet Underground (or with it), as Montreal’s Hélène Barbier does on her latest album Panorama. It is all in those angular song structures that have a somewhat haunting effect and equally angular guitar lines, mostly courtesy here of Meg Duffy (Hand Habits).
Barbier, though, at the same time tops that with some Stereolab-like vocals that add that often needed deep personal touch, which she amply delivers. The music sounds both quite casual and structured at the same time something that might have to do with a crew Barbier selected here, that along with Duffy and producer Emmanuel Éthier includes Ben Lalonde and Joe Chamandy (Retail Simps), with whom she has been making music for many years, as well as Claire Paquet, Thomas Molander, Samuel Gougoux (Corridor, Trafic des Airs, Victime), Wes MacNeil (Night Lunch), Mélanie Venditti, and Alexandra Levy (Ada Léa).
The effect is some imaginative and utterly fresh music, with Barbier coming up with one of the better musical surprises this year. Hopefully, she’ll continue to develop and explore further.
