Music has always been an integral part of Lou-Adriane Cassidy’s life. By the time the Quebec City singer-songwriter had entered adulthood, she’d already won acclaim for her appearance on La Voix in 2016, participated in the Petite-Vallée and Granby song festivals, and earned herself a spot in the finals of the 2018 Francouvertes competition. The next year, she released her first album, C’est la fin du monde à tous les jours. “This second album is very different from the previous one, where my writing and execution were more muted and restrained. Here, I’ve allowed myself to explore more, to let myself go,” Cassidy tells Apple Music. The subjects she addresses have changed, and so has the form of the songs. “I felt like writing short, concise songs,” she says. "My lyrics are also more blunt and straightforward. I talk about the complex and sometimes confrontational relationship I have with sexuality.” Here, she goes deeper into those themes, track by track.
“J’espère encore que quelque part l’attente s’arrête”
“Musically, it’s the simplest song here and the one that best represents the direction I wanted to take. On the first album, I often got lost in complex structures. Here, I felt like doing the complete opposite and going back to the very essence of what we define as a song. It’s this tune that triggered the whole idea of letting myself go, both in terms of writing and performing. And I associate that type of letting go with an orgasm; the refrain rises in intensity, leading to the ultimate explosion.”
“Je suis arrivée”
“I allowed myself to try new things, to play with sounds, like little musical pleasantries. They’re like friendly nods which pop up throughout the album to add depth, and also so it doesn’t end up turning into something that’s too serious. This lightness helps offset the topic, which can be a bit heavy. It talks about how we relate to the other person, about the pressure we can sometimes put on ourselves when we’re in a relationship.”
“Oui le serpent nous guette”
“This tune is, perhaps, the most existential. It digresses a bit from the general theme because it’s more wide-ranging. With its vibe and midtempo beat, it’s our equivalent of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Dreams.’ It talks about the sometimes too great emphasis we place on emotions. It’s got its merits, but I think there’s also a risk of indulging in our own suffering. Anyway, I know it’s something I myself have done a lot in the past. This track is like a little reminder not to feel sorry for myself.”
“Entre mes jambes”
“While the other tunes address issues in broader terms, this one tells a story. One about a one-night stand that didn’t really work out. It’s the morning after, and you can sense the disappointment, if not to say frustration, that things went wrong. There’s a crescendo that reminds me of Keane’s ‘Somewhere Only We Know,’ which is a great emotional song I used to love as a teen. Basically, this is my one majestic song, but one that doesn’t take itself too seriously, and shouldn’t be taken at face value.”
“Le corps en mouvement”
“It was written and composed by Stéphane Lafleur. When I began making music, at around the age of 18, I didn’t dare to write my own material and I wanted to do an album of original songs but composed by other artists. I’d met him at the time to suggest he come on board the project, but he told me to get back to him later, when I had a better idea of what I wanted. After my first album came out, he sent me this beautiful song, and it’s great because it creates some space and allows the album to breathe.”
“Bonjour”
“It’s a 30-second interlude, a sudden flash I had. I don’t know why, but I’ve been trying more and more to follow my instinct without asking questions. I made it my Starmania-style track, a show I loved to watch in my teens. It’s super cheesy and sentimental. It also creates a short break before moving on to the second part of the album.”
“Alors”
“It’s the most classic song, in both its form and the writing, and that’s what I was aiming for: quite simply, a nice song. A kind of ballad à la Lennon. I wrote the string arrangements myself and I’m really proud, because it was the first time I’d tried my hand at something like that.”
“Réponds”
“It’s probably the track that best sums up the theme of the album. It’s steeped in both realism and absurd fantasy. It plays it both ways. For me, this notion of slipping deeper and deeper into a dreamlike state conjures up the reclaiming of my body, the reappropriation of my own personal power, through a sort of reversal of dominance, but in a very gentle way.”
“Écoute”
“It’s the one that rocks the most! I sing with intensity, there’s an interlude—it’s a track that goes off in all kinds of directions. It’s a sort of cry from the heart with super-simple lyrics. It’s like a song for teens, one you’d feel like listening to when you’re riding your bike and really mad at your parents!”
“Bonsoir”
“It’s a sort of deconstruction, with Randy Newman-style jazz accents. A song that once again doesn’t take itself seriously, and that talks about the album we’ve just listened to. It revisits fragments of the other songs, as a way of wrapping things up.”