Laurence Hélie in French or Mirabelle in English? A hybrid creature? It doesn’t matter. This woman creates songs, atmospheres, frequencies that ultimately draw us in and take us to the right place.
Since the 2010s, this singer, songwriter, and musician has been involved in Americana and Anglo-American indie rock. She expresses herself in both languages, which is no cause for complaint in the Republic of Montreal. Since the beginning of her career, one might have concluded that her artistic direction was inconsistent, that she was an aesthetic weathervane.
However modest it may be, her new show dispels this apprehension: Laurence Hélie presents a true artistic body of work: inspired, balanced, complete.
On Wednesday, November 19, at the Lion d’Or, she was able to laugh at herself, admitting that she was tired and exasperated by long COVID, which too often and for too long has kept her bedridden with her cats, as she recounts in the song Last Chance Lake. When she manages to get out of bed, in any case, she presents herself without apparent filters, fragile and mortal as she is, sometimes dampened by the general situation for obvious reasons. Well… we believe her!
That said, Laurence Hélie still finds the energy to produce solid, well-crafted songs that are substantial enough to listen to over and over again. She finds a way to write lyrics that are solid and harmonious despite their apparent simplicity. Nevertheless, her main weapon is her voice: magnificent tone, superb inflections, circumspect whispers, natural power.
Without any apparent pretension, his band includes seasoned multi-instrumentalists, all capable of playing anything, guitars, bass, keyboards, drums: Karolane Carbonneau, Navet Confit (Jean-Philippe Fréchette), Pierre-Guy Blanchard, not to mention the talented Mat Vezio on drums on two tracks. The latter gave a touching and minimalist opening act, presenting half a dozen new songs—the guy has been through a lot, a heart attack in the spring, his mother with Alzheimer’s, his father deaf, and so on.
Laurence Hélie performed songs from her mini-album Tendresse et bienveillance, released in 2025 on Simone Records, as well as a unique cover of Nirvana’s All Apologies, which she recorded recently, not to mention a few “classics” from her French and English discography.
She may take more naps than we do, but her art is anything but sleepy.
Laurence Hélie now brings together all the elements of her inner self and displays a beautiful maturity in her songwriting. Have you realized that she deserves more attention than she receives? It’s up to you!
