A year since Guelph singer-songwriter Richard Laviolette's death at the age of 41, he's being remembered with the posthumous album All Wild Things Are Shy. It's out on the anniversary of his death, on September 5, through You've Changed Records, and the single "Constant Love" is out now.
Laviolette made All Wild Things Are Shy in the last few years of his life, following his mother's death from Huntington's disease — the same condition that led him to opt for medical assistance in dying (MAID) in 2023.
Laviolette formed the band that appears on the album in late 2021. They played shows in the summer of 2022, but by that fall, his Huntington's symptoms were too severe to continue playing live. They recorded the album in January 2023 at Scott Merritt's Guelph studio the cottaGe. Bry Webb (of Constantines) and Steph Yates sing lead on title cut "All Wild Things Are Shy."
All Wild Things Are Shy was made through a slow process of tinkering, and a press release notes that Laviolette continued working on the album in the final months of his life. When he died, he reportedly left clear instructions about mixing and artwork.
Hear "Constant Love" below. This follows the previously released single "Saved by Rock and Roll." The album is available to pre-order here.
All Wild Things Are Shy:
1. Milkweed and Motherwort
2. Welcome Back
3. Don't Quit on Me
4. Florence and Delilah
5. Catacombs
6. All Wild Things Are Shy
7. Carter and Cash
8. Pack It Up
9. Captain of the Nighttime
10. Saved by Rock and Roll
11. Train of Death
12. Constant Love