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Photo credit: Andy Jon
“I’ve always liked the differences from one album to another, I don’t like repetition. I know people like safety in general. For me, it’s the opposite. Discovering things reassures me. What always stays the same depresses me.”
That’s Mara Tremblay’s stance in the face of the stability of acquired tastes, and that’s exactly why we appreciate so much the right balance struck between exploration and her own unique style. This desire to shake up her own sound in no way prevents her from maintaining stable relations with Quebec guitar hero and multi-instrumentalist Olivier Langevin, the main collaborator of her recording career.
“Working with Olivier,” she says, “is the greatest musical pleasure of my life. This time, we went elsewhere. We’ve managed to go even further, to take on things we didn’t take on before. After 23 years of collaboration, Olivier remains very close to my work, he’s produced seven of my eight albums, except for Cassiopée. He’s a very good judge of my lyrics, he’s super good at directing the interpretation, he knows how to make me surpass myself in emotion. He knows me so well!”
More than two decades of collaboration can rule out repetition. Can’t longlasting couples revitalize their relationships through creativity and innovation? On the professional side, here’s a convincing demonstration:
“A few songs were recorded live, notably with François Lafontaine on keyboards, a precious ally who always understands what we do. My drummer son, having lived inside me for nine months, no one else but Victor is capable of understanding my beat that well. He knows it, as well as my emotions. No one else can understand me like that. Drummer Robbie Kuster has also done things that no one else can.”
Apart from these recordings made as a team, Uniquement pour toi is the result of a watertight bubble within which Mara and Olivier evolved for a year.
“Our goal was to surprise ourselves, also to have fun in the ‘Langevin laboratory’. We played with new software that allowed us to get higher quality sounds. This software cost little or nothing, whereas the same sounds were much more expensive to produce before. So we liked to mix the warm sounds of analog instruments and synths with slightly colder, sometimes cheaper sounds. The playing field has changed.”
To relaunch their collaboration, Mara and Olivier first found themselves in a workshop context:
“In the beginning,” she says, “we didn’t know where we were going. But… when laughter comes up, that’s where you have to go! Olivier had programmed a beatbox and brought out some keyboard sounds and I started singing. A year later, I hadn’t played much on the album, just a bit of violin and guitar… I preferred to concentrate on the singing, the emotion of the voice and the arrangements around it.”
Uniquement pour toi, a hybrid offering at the confluence of Americana, prog, space-rock and electro, was conceived at the end of a troubled period. The autobiographical diffraction of some of the songs on the programme bears witness to this.
“The last few years have been very difficult for me,” she says. “I was living in my house in Saint-Bruno with my son Édouard, then he left home – today he makes his living as an actor, he’s also a very good guitarist, singer and performer. After that… nobody comes to see you in Saint-Bruno! I’ve lived for long periods in solitude, extremely dark periods.
“It’s no secret that I suffer from a type of bipolarity which intermingles with other complex problems that are almost impossible to treat. Medications don’t always work and there are side effects – fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, chills. This generates big highs and big downs, it’s very hard to bounce back in such conditions. And then… being a woman in her fifties, without a lover… not easy! I didn’t think a man would be willing to love me anymore.”
And then the tide finally turned.
“I went to Nashville for two weeks to work there, and it was a lifesaver. It did me a tremendous amount of good, I wrote three-quarters of my new songs there. I even met my idol Gillian Welch and her boyfriend Dave Rawlings… what a joy! I came back to Quebec taller, stronger, it really helped me a lot. In a writing workshop with Gilles Vigneault, I met Stéphane [Lafleur], of whom I’m a big fan, and he offered me lyrics for two songs a year and a half later. These songs represent for me a return of light, peace, and happiness. And… I’m in love again, at last! I’ve had a new boyfriend for a year now and I’ve been living with him. My house in Saint-Bruno was sold on the eve of the pandemic, I’m in the process of moving.”
So the light at the end of the tunnel is called Uniquement pour toi.
“I wanted to talk about it and write about it because I’m really not alone in living with it. I have to share my struggle, even though many people already understand it. The more we talk about it, the less loneliness there will be, the more we can count on our friends when we go through these difficult moments. It’s all well and good to turn your suffering and heartbreak into songs, but – can you move on and experience love?” Concluding our chat on the phone, Tremblay lets an infectious laugh erupt.
In this case, the contagion is welcome!
