Entre l’Érable et le Cocotier

Although born in Montréal, singer and multi-instrumentalist Pascale LeBlanc grew up in Haiti, her mother’s homeland. Her songs reflect much more than a dual background, seeming to traverse the entire French-to-Caribbean distance. LeBlanc’s style and delivery is such that she might end up as a Eurovision contestant, if transferred across the Atlantic. She crafts a frothily commercialised tropical pop, but often with a quirkily individual stance.

LeBlanc arranges and produces this album, employing a highly diverse musical palette. Each song seems to winkle out a fresh soloist, giving spotlit passages to flute, fiddle, steel pan, piano, acoustic guitar or occasional horns. LeBlanc encourages playful backing vocals, reflecting her own style, which spans the seriousness of Lhasa de Sela and the eccentricity of Carmen Souza. Musically, there are hints of Kid Creole, part-kitsch and part-serious substance. The listener could well have mixed responses to these songs. One highlight is the retro-styled ‘Bonheurs Passés’, with its whistling and its samba rhythms, but the lowest point is ‘Des Mangues’, the blandest number. LeBlanc cultivates an anthemic laid-backness, and many of her songs are slow-growers, initially seeming slight, but then revealing a great subtlety of musical colouration. Her mix and arrangements regularly throw out surprises, her music ever-changing, as different combinations sustain our interest.