Acadian artist P'tit Belliveau caught the Canadian music scene completely off guard with 2020 debut album Greatest Hits Vol. 1, a surrealist collection of humorous songs wrapped in a strange country-electro hybrid. Pushing his candour one step further, follow-up Un homme et son piano showcases a wider range of influences, while confirming that that first record wasn't a fluke.
The task at hand was significant for Jonah Richard Guimond, a former construction worker-turned-quirky music star. Greatest Hits Vol. 1 was so unconventional in its approach to songwriting — both cheesy and sensitive, and marked by an irresistible exuberance — that it could easily have been perceived as an oddity from a self-taught musician just fooling around. In a sense, Guimond had to prove that that success was legitimate and that there was more to it than funny lines about blowing your income tax return at Taco Bell.
Of course, P'tit Belliveau could have stuck with the same recipe and released a Greatest Hits Vol. 2. Instead, he takes the best elements of his debut — the naiveté, his knack for crafting instantly memorable melodies, the richness of production — and pushes into a more expansive musical universe, one that draws on 1980s power ballads, hip-hop, country, funk, traditional folk, video game music, and more.
These various influences cohabit with each other in something of an organized chaos, often within the same song. The eclectic "Demain" is a great example: starting off with a syncopated beat paired with hip-hop flow, the song transitions into a pastoral bridge that echoes the progressive folk textures of 1970s acts like Harmonium.
It would be a bit of an overstatement to say that P'tit Belliveau explores different musical territory on this new album. However, what has changed since Greatest Hits Vol. 1 is the confidence shown in pairing his surreal humour with more "serious" music. Instrumental "Lupines" is a heartfelt homage to traditional Acadian folk, while the conclusion of "RRSP/Grosse pièce" is brilliantly orchestrated.
The biggest achievement of Un homme et son piano is the seamless blend between live instrument sonorities and the digital world of the keyboard. Tracks like "Des affaires vont jamais changer" and "Meteghan River" bring to mind an old Casio piano with their mechanical drum beats and cheesy synth sounds. Still, both are filled with instrumental details that reveal a complex approach to production, whether it's a fuzzy electric guitar or a surprise fiddle fill.
Elsewhere, the Nova Scotian showcases his ability to transform the most down-to-earth topics into hymns. Opener "J'aimerais d'avoir un John Deere" is a jubilant power ballad that channels the arena rock of Foreigner, but with lyrics about owning a tractor and using it to plant seeds and feed everyone. Built on a powerful crescendo, the song features an airy choir in the chorus, an unexpected twist that gives it a "We Are the World" feel, but with rural poetry.
Compared to P'tit Belliveau's past work, there's a little less room on Un homme et son piano for the kind of nonchalance that prompted comparisons to Mac DeMarco. But there's still plenty of infectious hooks, as evidenced by the playful "Retourner chu nous" with silly keyboards that serve as a reminder of how Guimond is incapable of taking himself too seriously.
Just like his hybrid French and English lyrics, P'tit Belliveau's music exists in the margins of two worlds: not totally absurd, but never really serious either, and this is what makes it so refreshing.
(Bonsound)The task at hand was significant for Jonah Richard Guimond, a former construction worker-turned-quirky music star. Greatest Hits Vol. 1 was so unconventional in its approach to songwriting — both cheesy and sensitive, and marked by an irresistible exuberance — that it could easily have been perceived as an oddity from a self-taught musician just fooling around. In a sense, Guimond had to prove that that success was legitimate and that there was more to it than funny lines about blowing your income tax return at Taco Bell.
Of course, P'tit Belliveau could have stuck with the same recipe and released a Greatest Hits Vol. 2. Instead, he takes the best elements of his debut — the naiveté, his knack for crafting instantly memorable melodies, the richness of production — and pushes into a more expansive musical universe, one that draws on 1980s power ballads, hip-hop, country, funk, traditional folk, video game music, and more.
These various influences cohabit with each other in something of an organized chaos, often within the same song. The eclectic "Demain" is a great example: starting off with a syncopated beat paired with hip-hop flow, the song transitions into a pastoral bridge that echoes the progressive folk textures of 1970s acts like Harmonium.
It would be a bit of an overstatement to say that P'tit Belliveau explores different musical territory on this new album. However, what has changed since Greatest Hits Vol. 1 is the confidence shown in pairing his surreal humour with more "serious" music. Instrumental "Lupines" is a heartfelt homage to traditional Acadian folk, while the conclusion of "RRSP/Grosse pièce" is brilliantly orchestrated.
The biggest achievement of Un homme et son piano is the seamless blend between live instrument sonorities and the digital world of the keyboard. Tracks like "Des affaires vont jamais changer" and "Meteghan River" bring to mind an old Casio piano with their mechanical drum beats and cheesy synth sounds. Still, both are filled with instrumental details that reveal a complex approach to production, whether it's a fuzzy electric guitar or a surprise fiddle fill.
Elsewhere, the Nova Scotian showcases his ability to transform the most down-to-earth topics into hymns. Opener "J'aimerais d'avoir un John Deere" is a jubilant power ballad that channels the arena rock of Foreigner, but with lyrics about owning a tractor and using it to plant seeds and feed everyone. Built on a powerful crescendo, the song features an airy choir in the chorus, an unexpected twist that gives it a "We Are the World" feel, but with rural poetry.
Compared to P'tit Belliveau's past work, there's a little less room on Un homme et son piano for the kind of nonchalance that prompted comparisons to Mac DeMarco. But there's still plenty of infectious hooks, as evidenced by the playful "Retourner chu nous" with silly keyboards that serve as a reminder of how Guimond is incapable of taking himself too seriously.
Just like his hybrid French and English lyrics, P'tit Belliveau's music exists in the margins of two worlds: not totally absurd, but never really serious either, and this is what makes it so refreshing.