Paule-Andrée Cassidy is the type of independent artist who leads her career discreetly, with a sure taste that earns her the respect of her peers, here and on the other side of the Atlantic. The one who won the Grand Prix du Disque of the Académie Charles-Cros in 2002 alone embodies all the nobility of the art of interpretation, but for this eighth album in 30 years, entitled Au bal des Océans, here you go that the singer is now becoming an author… and we wonder why she waited so long.
Maybe she was waiting for an opportunity – you should ask her. And that the pretext was this young singer-songwriter who gravitated around her, who gave life, in music, to these nine poetic texts with clean lines.
The list of collaborations is indeed impressive. There is of course his daughter Lou-Adriane Cassidy and her entourage, including Alexandre Martel (who produced the album), Jeanne Côté, Alex Burger, Antoine Aspirine and Ariane Roy, but also people like Philippe B or Marianne Trudel, who have all composed music that fits perfectly with Paule-Andrée Cassidy’s natural elegance, her restraint and her deep and rich voice. The musicians who accompany him are part of the same core, pianist Vincent Gagnon and drummer Pierre-Emmanuel Beaudoin, in addition to double bassist Étienne Lafrance.
The result is an album of songs with a very classic, or rather timeless, feel. In a refined coating with light jazz accents, where we find elements of contemporary music as well as echoes of Barbara, the melodies unfold slowly but surely. At the Ocean Ball is not an album that can be consumed quickly: it must be enjoyed in small doses, a matter of absorbing each song, savoring the subtleties that are revealed after several listens.
There is in fact in this album a joyous refusal of ease and a classicism which does not lack modernity. Between sensuality and lucidity, Paule-Andrée Cassidy summons us into the intimacy of her voice and her true words which evoke nature, desire or the passage of time. It’s beautiful and brilliant like a diamond, and it’s the new milestone in the career of an artist whose independence clearly inspires new generations.
