In her discreet way, Maude Audet has slowly carved out a place for herself in the world of Quebec song. She will launch Friday We must leave now, a deliciously orchestral, luminous and empathetic fifth album, which she co-produced for the first time.
“I am self-taught, from album to album my skills have accumulated. I have always been very involved in the artistic direction, but there, I felt ready to take on this role. »
But she tempers right away: all this is also just a matter of “the title we give ourselves” and what is important, “it’s the end”. The singer-songwriter, who loves teamwork, co-produced the album with Mathieu Charbonneau, from Avec pas d’casque.
“There is such a lonely part in our work. It feels really good to throw the ball to someone. “Especially since they know each other well: not only does he accompany her on stage, but it is he who produced You will not die, his previous album. It is necessary to leave now is also clearly in continuity, but the musician believes that the challenge is precisely to renew herself without “breaking” her style.
Still inspired by the 1960s and 1970s, Maude Audet decided to go even deeper into the orchestral arrangements. ” I love that. But it’s important that it’s not a pastiche of the past, that it remains music composed now. »
There is in fact something very classic in Maude Audet’s music, both in the language used and in her folk music, which draws on the roots of the songwriting tradition. She nods.
“Even though I really like the orchestration and the arrangements, they are still three-minute songs that are intended to tell something. »
If the album is called We must leave now, it is because the pandemic has been an opportunity for the singer, as for many of us, to take stock.
“I sorted out what is good or not good for me, in my aspirations, in what I want to be as an artist and as a human being. There’s a lot of that coming off this record. »
There is empathy too: in several songs, Maude Audet takes a benevolent look at others, shares grief and pain, offers her comfort.
If she touches on harder things, that does not prevent her from choosing the light. Eternal optimist, the singer refuses to fall into irony and sarcasm. “We know that things are bad. But what can we do to be happy? I like to believe that we can move forward, improve. »
Quiet strength: that’s how she’s often described, and she accepts it with a smile. Even though she gets mad at times – “Ask my boyfriend and my kids!” –, Maude Audet prefers gentleness to anger, action to words.
She is the first, for example, to have hired a woman, Ariane Moffatt, to produce her album Like a smell of decline released in 2017. And on this new one, she surrounded herself with many musicians, whether Marie-Pierre Arthur on bass, Anna Frances Meyer on transverse flute or Mélissa Lavergne on percussion. “I like the mix and the atmosphere it creates,” says the one who has long understood that for there to be change, she must create it.
When she looks back at the road traveled since her participation in the Francouvertes in 2013, Maude Audet is proud. The one who left a career as a theater designer for music never thought she would one day find herself with five albums to her credit.
“I started, my children were babies. We were in a very precarious situation. I tell myself that I really believed in this affair. That something was calling me, really. She can now call herself a singer “without being embarrassed” or experiencing impostor syndrome like before, and assumes that the artist she is is made up of all her past experiences. “I realize it’s a baggage and I try to exploit it. We all have our paths, and they are all valid. »
Maude Audet will soon be going on tour again and is very happy with the return to normal. Especially since his previous album, released in February 2020, suffered the repercussions of health measures. She remembers doing shows in front of rooms of 30 masked people… “I can’t believe the generosity of people. »
This time, as she always likes to try and move forward, she decided to work with choreographer Karine Ledoyen, with whom she collaborated on the video for her song Je danse.
“There will be times when I won’t be right behind my guitar. Always in this idea of trusting me and taking my place. We agree, I am not Beyoncé! But I need one more challenge. »
