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Singing in her native French and in English, she brings us Still, there is the sea , an 8-song debut album featuring influences from Daughter, Agnes Obel and Olafur Arnalds, and a fragile, mysterious voice sometimes reminiscent of Klô Pelgag’s more melancholy inclinations. She has so far unveiled two extracts, The sun, the sky and Eau miroir, in anticipation of the June 6 release date.
Montreal-born Ambre Ciel is a singer-songwriter offering neo-classical and ambient pop with experimental touches. Growing up in a musical family, she first became interested in the violin, before returning to the piano, effects pedals and loops to get where she is today.
We caught up with her for a few moments to ask her a few questions, just before she took to the stage at this summer’s Festival International de Jazz.
PAN M 360: Who produced the album? Why this choice?
Ambre Ciel : Pietro Amato and I co-produced the album together. He’s someone who’s been involved in the project from the start, to whom I often send fragments of songs or ideas. He’s a mentor, a valuable consultant, with whom I first worked on the EP in 2021. The project has really evolved, I’ve started writing in English and we’re really closer to instrumental music. It’s important to have an outside view, even if I already had a clear vision of what I wanted, because he understands my vision and we have common influences. This has given me more experience and autonomy. It’s also good to confront your vision with someone else’s and enrich it. Sometimes he leads me to rework the composition of a chance or let the musicians improvise, whereas I tend to write all the arrangements in advance (laughs).
PAN M 360: It’s an expansive album, full of sweetness. How did you come up with the musical direction?
Ambre Ciel : When I started composing the album, it was really the motif of the first four chords on the album that triggered everything else. I’d just moved into a quieter apartment, where I could have access to silence, and that quiet energy was a refuge for me that allowed me to dive into creating. The vision I had was that I wanted a lot of acoustic instruments, and the initial motif was very inspiring, so I wasn’t sure at what point it was going to go in an instrumental direction or not, because I was hearing a lot of possibilities, and the moment you add voice, it takes the focus away from the audition. That’s what motivated the choice of acoustic instruments and strings.
PAN M 360: What did you want to share with the world through this first offering?
Ambre Ciel: For me, the creation of this album gave me a certain anchorage. I felt that this music, compared to what had gone before in my career, was more down-to-earth, with more traditional forms. There’s one song that’s a bit more experimental, but the others all have verses. These songs have been a refuge for me, and I hope they will be for others.
PAN M 360: What inspired you to compose the pieces?
Ambre Ciel : The possibilities of exploring different avenues from the same material. There are a lot of albums that have influenced me, like those by Sufjan Stevens, where there’s a real synergy between the music and the lyrics, or Agnes Obel.
PAN M 360: The songs are linked by water. Is it an element with which you have a strong connection?Ambre Ciel : Nature really inspires me, the peace and quiet you find there. When it comes to writing lyrics for me, it’s always the music that comes first, and I always feel that I’ve said what I needed to say (laughs). I’ve always been someone who wasn’t so good at putting into words the things I experience, but when I start composing at the piano, there’s a song that emerges and eventually, I hear a melodic vocal line. I’ve been reading a lot of poetry recently and I compose intuitively, so I realize afterwards that there’s a recurring theme that emerges, like that of water. I have a strong connection with nature in general.
PAN M 360: Was it important for you to leave a lot of room for arrangements and music?
Ambre Ciel: What was important for me was that the important elements of the album – the voice, the piano and the strings – had enough space. Let the music breathe. As I studied violin, I’m very inclined towards melodies, whether for strings or voice.
PAN M 360: You’ve chosen to team up with British label Gondwana Records. How did this come about?
Ambre Ciel : I’ve been following Hania Rani’s project for several years now, and what I find interesting is the space between the avant-pop song and the space for instrumental music. What I’ve always found interesting about Gondwana Records is that its artists always defy genre categorization, whether it’s Portico Quartet or Matthew Halsall. I sent the mixed album to Gondwana and Matthew replied. I went to visit them in the UK, we filmed a music video and it was a really great experience to join that family. There were a lot of influences with my artistic identity at Gondwana and I felt I could be part of something bigger.
PAN M 360: Is there a Montreal launch planned for the album’s release?
Ambre Ciel: Yes, there’s a launch on June 5 at the Oblique vinyl store. I’ll be playing at 6pm and will be accompanied by a harpist for the occasion. There’s no harp on the album, but we had to adapt it for the live formula, as there’s no orchestra.
PAN M 360: What’s next for 2025 after the Jazz Festival?
Ambre Ciel: I’m off to London for a 6-month residency, from July to December. There will be shows in Germany too. After that, I’ll be working on my second album.
