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If you want to understand why everyone in franco Quebec is talking about Lou-Adriane Cassidy right now, you need\u00a0to see the video of her performance Sunday night at the ADISQ Gala, the Quebec equivalent of the Grammy Awards. If this doesn\u2019t move you, then live music is just not your thing.<\/p>\n
At the music awards ceremony, Cassidy won four more F\u00e9lix trophies, for best show, songwriter of the year (shared with her romantic and musical partner Alexandre Martel), song of the year (Dis-moi dis-moi dis-moi) and last but not least the super prestigious female artist of the year. Cassidy and her collaborators had already won eight awards at ceremonies earlier in the week. It was one of the biggest trophy hauls ever in the history of the ADISQ Gala, second only to singer Kl\u00f4 Pelgag and her team who took home 13 in 2021.<\/p>\n
The ADISQ performance was a double bill, starting with her great friend Ariane Roy, also an amazing artist, followed by Cassidy singing Dis-moi dis-moi dis-moi, the lead-off track and signature song from her third and most recent album, Journal d\u2019un loup-garou. It\u2019s a great song that gives a sense of the rich musical palette on the record \u2014 it\u2019s a rich layered pop production that goes from stark drama to pop with big harmonies to disco anthem in a heartbeat.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s the emotion behind the song that hits you the hardest. Like a couple of songs on the album, it\u2019s about the pain she\u2019s still working through trying to come to grips with the fact her father abandoned their family when she was 16.<\/p>\n
At the beginning she\u2019s in her dad\u2019s arms \u201cet puis plus rien\u201d (and then nothing). By the end, to a bouncing beat, she\u2019s repeating the question: \u201cAurais-tu peur de moi?\u201d (Are you afraid of me?).<\/p>\n
But at the ADISQ ceremony Sunday, it was just electrifying. The poise, the charisma, the magnetism just oozing out of her as she swaggers right toward the camera, most definitely ready for her close-up at age 28.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s a very good singer, an excellent songwriter, but it\u2019s her on-stage presence that truly sets her apart.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe started out as a back-up singer for Hubert Lenoir and it was already apparent how great she was on stage,\u201d said Eric Parazelli, editor in chief of Paroles et Musique, the magazine published by SOCAN, the organization that represents songwriters. \u201cNormally back-up singers stay in the background, but she was giving such a performance. Already she understood that you give a total show, it\u2019s not just about interpreting your songs. And this year she came with a very personal album, with songs inspired by her father\u2019s abandonment of her family, and it really touched people. It\u2019s just so direct but also very poetic. And musically it\u2019s very accomplished.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prior to Journal d\u2019un loup-garou, Cassidy released two well-received albums, C\u2019est la fin du monde \u00e0 tous les jours in 2019 and Lou-Adriane Cassidy dit: bonsoir in 2021. But it was her latest album that propelled her to the forefront of the music scene ici. Critics and fans were gushing, and with good reason. The album also made the short list for the pan-Canadian Polaris Prize.<\/p>\n
Journal d\u2019un loup-garou (Diary of a Werewolf) is an impressive piece of work, packing an emotional punch and showing Cassidy\u2019s remarkable musical chops. She has cited Tori Amos and Kate Bush as major influences, and you can hear those femme icons here, but there\u2019s also a bit of Charlotte Gainsbourg and even nods to the kind of British prog-rock that is so much a part of franco Quebec\u2019s musical culture.<\/p>\n
The buzz around Cassidy was also upped by her presence in the indie super group Le Roy, la Rose, et le lou(p), a trio consisting of Ariane Roy, Thierry Larose and Cassidy. They toured extensively across the province and recorded a live album that came out last year.<\/p>\n
Cassidy made headlines this fall when she publicly said she\u2019d vote yes if there was another referendum<\/a>, which caused quite a commotion after a long period when most of the major pop stars in Quebec had been avoiding taking a stand on that issue. Back in the \u201970s, it was much more common to see musicians here openly espousing nationalist views.<\/p>\n She said she became even more nationalist when she visited Toronto in mid-September to attend the Polaris Prize ceremony, saying she felt like a tourist.<\/p>\n But she said her generation believes in a different kind of independence, telling a La Presse reporter: \u201cIt\u2019s a new project looking to the future, not based on wrongs from the past. \u2026 It\u2019s just about pride and self-affirmation.\u201d<\/p>\n She went on to say that young people don\u2019t identify with a closed negative nationalism.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s why inclusiveness is so important and it can be something that works with the idea of independence,\u201d said Cassidy.<\/p>\n Her open embracing of the sovereignty movement is only the latest sign that there\u2019s a new wave of support for the option among younger Quebecers, something a number of polls have indicated.<\/p>\n In short, Cassidy is very much a new kind of Quebec pop star.<\/p>\n