Whitehorse are the husband and wife duo of Luke Doucet and Melissa McClelland who’ve created quite a stir in Canada with their dynamic brand of folk-rock (their 2012 album “The Fate of the World Depends On This Kiss” was shortlisted for the Polaris Music Prize). Their latest album, Éphémère sans repère”, however sees the duo team up with renowned Montréal-based songwriter and producer Pierre Marchand, to translate five of their best known songs into the language of Molière.
Two of the songs, the album’s opener “Éphémère sans repère (Devil’s got a gun)” (official video below complete with sing-along lyrics) and “Le cadeau” are both thumping rock numbers – full of chugging guitars, perfect harmonies and chorus hookss that are guaranteed to embed themselves in your skull.
But the duo are equally at home when tackling different musical genres; there’s a nice change of pace provided by the gentle ebb and flow of “Les oiseaux de nuit (Night owls)“, a heartfelt ballad that just revolves around the pair’s vocal harmonies. Meanwhile “Brisée (Broken)” is about as good an upbeat country-folk song as I’ve heard this year, while “Je suis devenue lionne (Out like a lion)” is just a perfect pop-song – all spot-on harmonies, up-tempo rhythm… but then the middle-eight just hits you – all crashing, reverbed guitar – as the song builds to a crescendo of angelic vocals and wailing guitars…
Finally, and as a bonus, the pair tackle a Franco-Canadian standard, “Un Canadien errant”, written in 1842 by Antoine Gérin-Lajoie. The faithful acoustic rendition of this incredibly heartfelt and humble song, truly manages to convey the hardship and homesickness caused by being forced into exile…
“Éphémère sans repère” is a mini-album chock full of expertly and exquisitely crafted songs that linger in the head long after they album has finished. I expect this will be appearing in at least one “Best of 2014” list come year-end…