The message, the shareable essence, here, is light; it is the seed in the ground that becomes a plant and then a flower, blooming at...
The message, the shareable essence, here, is light; it is the seed in the ground that becomes a plant and then a flower, blooming at its peak and then inevitably wilting so that the cycle can begin again; it is the quest for beauty in chaos, from which harmony is born to transcend it. On Volume III, Mathieu David Gagnon and his Flore Laurentienne return to celebrate the magnificence of the river and its floral and sylvan surroundings.
Volume III is also a more in-depth exploration of the arrangement of acoustic and synthetic elements that characterize Flore Laurentienne. Unlike the first three albums, most of the pieces were developed with the band members during residencies and concerts before being recorded, which enriched the compositions at a stage when they were still evolving. The band fuels the project and stimulates Gagnon's writing by advancing the sound of the project, nourishing it and allowing it to go further.
This new milestone also marks the end of a trilogy that began in 2019 with Volume I – with the inherent and parallel aspiration of reaching a third volume in order to pay tribute to Volume 3, L'Infonie's (a Quebec cult collective that blended jazz, prog, art music, and poetry) first album. The latter did not influence Flore Laurentienne's music per se, but rather its conception of freedom in composition, combining classical and improvisation.
The progression of Volume III is in line with the evolution of the project: while the first track, "Fleurs," is similar to what Volume II offered, "(À travers les) Chablis," the closing track, gives us a glimpse of what the next installment might sound like. It's an album to be enjoyed alongside its two predecessors, while also looking forward to the next step. Flore Laurentienne is constantly evolving, but from the beginning, the vision has remained the same: to create music that is alive, true, human, and uncompromising.
