Béatrice Martin, a.k.a. Coeur de pirate, plays the Bronson Centre February 5th. We spoke to her in both official languages about Ottawa, her new record, and bilingualism.
Coeur de pirate on Ottawa
“I have a nice relationship with Ottawa. I was 15 years old and I used to take the bus from Montreal to visit friends who lived in Ottawa. When I was an emo, we’d stand in front of the Shoppers at the Rideau mall. Like a lot of people did. Yeah, I was one of those.”
“I have a favorite store in Ottawa, I go everytime. It’s Victoire. ”
Coeur de pirate, the solo project of singer Béatrice Martin, took off in 2008 with her debut album, Coeur de pirate, en français. She is thrilled to be singing live at the Bronson Centre – for the first time in English and en français – in Ottawa, to present her third solo album, Roses. The album captures her bilingual identity with compositions in both English and the language of love. Disclosure: Our interview went the same way.
In her first two albums, Coeur de pirate’s poetry had nothing to do with the rosiness of love. But this third one has everything to do with understanding it, coming to terms with it and with herself.
Roses
The cover of Roses
“Why Roses as its title?” I inquire. She matter-of-factly admits to it being a bilingual word that worked well. But then, in true Coeur de pirate fashion, naturally but ever so eloquently, she shares how she is fascinated with the image of flowers that wither and die. “It’s kind of like music in that you have to take care of it. Otherwise you get forgotten. A rose is like a letter. And, every song on the album is like a letter to someone or to myself.” In English, as in French, her poetry is soft but poignant.
Elle me décrit son nouvel album en trois mots : introspection – un regard sur soi-même, cinématographique – l’album permet d’imaginer les chansons, gris – c’est la couleur thème de l’album. “It’s kinda what it was like when I was recording. I was recording in Sweden. It was pretty much the mindset.” Bien que la poésie soit mûre, la musique invite à la danse, au mouvement. Je lui demande si elle avait le goût de danser en produisant cette œuvre. En effet, mais un peu par hasard. Elle explique qu’elle voulait bouger plus facilement sur scène. “Can I pull it off?” se demandait-elle au tout début. « J’ai demandé au chorégraphe Nico Archambault de m’aider et il a dit oui. And it stuck with me. Now, dancing is part of the on-stage. I’m really glad I did it. People don’t even notice that I am dancing and it is choreographed. So it’s nice, ” she laughs.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgkDTVwq14g[/youtube]
Crier tout bas. Lettre à sa fille. La promesse d’une complicité inconditionnelle qu’elle offre à sa petite Romy, qui aujourd’hui est devenue sa muse, après anything Courtney Love, du temps de son adolescence. Drapeau blanc. Lettre à sa maman. Des mots qu’on vient à bout de partager quand on est maman nous-mêmes et on se rend compte qu’on se doit de vivre une paix inébranlable avec celle qui nous a donné la vie.
Roses. Notre cœur a le soupçon d’une larme et nos orteils dansent. Comment réussit-elle à créer un tout parfait avec ces textes qui font naître des émotions paradoxales?
Les autres compositions de l’album traitent de reconnaître sa vulnérabilité et sa force dans l’amour.
« Avant, dans mes deux premiers albums, j’avais une vision très négative de l’amour, je trouvais ça pathétique. Jamais je n’allais être capable de trouver quelqu’un de beau et de stable pour moi. Par exemple, une chanson comme Carry on, which is perfect to describe the energy of the album. C’est le moment que tu réalises que t’as assez d’amour autour de toi pour te défaire de cette relation-là, to go ahead in life. That was a turning point for me for this album. Then, you realize what went wrong. And, then you are able to find something that is very stable. ”
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFDDJaUF0YE[/youtube]
Dans ses paroles, je ressens une tendresse, une nostalgie, un espoir, une reconnaissance. Le fait qu’elle s’avoue fragile : “Undone – which is the only true love song on the album – says : Oh, well, here’s me. You have to deal with me not complete right now. But hopefully you love me. ” exsude une grande confiance en elle, mais en l’amour aussi.
Roses is the result of international collaborations. A first for Coeur de pirate, who in the past, has worked with her Montreal-based network. “It was intimidating to work with great producers. I felt unworthy. But it was a good experience.” She got to record in the legendary Paul Epworth’s studio in London, England, with producers Ash Workman and Rob Ellis. “I could sill see all the little tapemarks of when U2 was there. Pretty cool.” She also travelled to Sweden to work with renowned producer, Björn Yttling. Working outside her comfort zone and writing about herself are accomplishments she is proud of.
On going English aussi
Photo by Etienne St-Denis
À la source, Béatrice Martin a grandi dans un environnement bilingue. En 2011, elle avait composé la toune Oceans Brawl, qui se trouve sur Roses. Elle l’aimait beaucoup et voulait l’enregistrer, mais ça ne fonctionnait pas puisque c’était la seule toune en anglais qu’elle avait pour un album. Elle a donc laissé son génie tenter la poésie in English. Elle confirme qu’elle pense in English quand elle écrit en anglais. « Ce n’est pas pareil dans les deux langues. » C’est un exercice qu’elle est fière d’avoir fait et qui la rassure pour l’avenir. She does however admit a tendency to translate directly from French when she speaks in English. “So, I don’t know how to say this … For example, I will ask : «Are you ok? » which is really a direct translation of « Ça va? » from French. The person will be like : “What do you mean am I ok? Do I look not ok? ” “No, I wanted to ask : How’s it going? ” A charming accent you can often hear in the Nation’s Capital. Comme elle a un public assidu en France, je lui demande donc aussi, si en France, on sait la distinguer comme Canadienne par l’une de ses expressions parlées : « Je dis souvent c’est plate! ».
“Do you feel ever more Canadian for recording a bilingual record?” I ask her. “I do. I guess. It’s nice because with this album I actually feel like I can play shows outside Québec. All the shows are like sold out! Its crazy! I never thought I would play a sold out show in Calgary. Even though people liked how it sounded before, they can actually understand what I am saying now. And with the shows, I like giving them something more direct. ” She admits, after a bit of a break from giving live shows (or not as many), she missed the energy of being on stage. “Je pleure tout le temps sur scène. C’est tellement fou de voir les gens chanter ensemble. Je ne me suis pas rendu compte de ça jusqu’à ce que je le fasse (taking the break) ».
What’s next
A bunch of singles that will be released, like now. And, an EP perhaps this summer or fall. We’ll see.
If she had a garden, she tells me it would be filled with fresh herbs and probably plants that don’t need a lot of maintenance. Eh bien, Coeur de pirate, avec Roses, je crains que tu te sois semé un jardin qui te fera travailler davantage. Nous te le souhaitons.
Enter to win two tickets to see Coeur de pirate at the Bronson Centre. To enter, just send an email with the subject header “Roses” to apartment613@gmail.com. A winner will be selected by random draw at noon on February 2, 2016.
Coeur de pirate plays the Bronson Centre Theatre at 7pm on Friday, February 5th. Advance tickets are $30 + service fees, and are available at Vertigo Records or online. You can find Coeur de pirate online, on iTunes, on Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, and on Facebook.
