Six years after La Grande Nuit vidéo (2017), Philippe B released Nouvelle administration in May 2023.
A frequent nominee and recipient of prestigious awards from both the mainstream and alternative scenes, Philippe B’s career has been respectable, but less impressive than that of artists who have called on his skills as a producer (Isabelle Boulay), lyricist (Safia Nolin, Vincent Vallières, Pierre Lapointe) or guitarist (Pierre Lapointe, encore).
After thematic works, including an exceptional album inspired by classical music themes(Variations fantômes) in 2011, the former night owl (Ornithologie, la nuit in 2014) is now offering an album built around his new fatherhood.
The result is a beautiful opus recounting the various chapters of contemporary urban life, where the discussion is sometimes done in threes rather than twos, as in the song “Les Filles”, in which the voices of the two backing singers are echoed in a few pieces, including the tasty “Les orages là-bas”.
If you’re looking for a killer melody, like ” California Girl ” from Variations fantômes, you risk missing out on an album that should be savoured over and over again.
Slow melodies, atmospheres that are sometimes ecclesiastical, sometimes folk, sometimes nursery rhyme and often song-like, it’s through the well-crafted lyrics of the artist, one of the most gifted of his generation, that the light seeps in. Like a ray of sunshine on a lazy Sunday.
The body of work by the Abitibi-born, now Montreal-based, artist is well-assumed: Here and there, we glimpse nods to Félix’s “L’Alouette en colère”, which waits for its homeland, ways of doing things that would not have displeased Sylvain Lelièvre (“Marianne s’ennuie”), Ducharme-like turns of phrase sung by Charlebois (“Nos maisons”) and, of course, the master Richard Desjardins (“Souterrain”), who, delving into the life of a miner, could also be that of a convict.
But beware: far from borrowing or unassuming pastiche, Philippe B ploughs his own unique furrow. The only drawback for the author of these lines is the haunting guitar with its sometimes repetitive chords, as in the eponymous track or in “Last Call”, which closes the album and can sometimes distract from the whole. All wrapped up in refined arrangements of strings (violin and cello, bass), percussion, piano, flute and oboe.
Enthusiastic, we’ll soon be going to see what this ultra-talented musician is made of on stage, as he’s currently on tour.
