Post by davidhr on Jan 29, 2019 9:19:36 GMT -5
As the time for release of the new album approaches, Lara’s current and future promotional plans are coming into focus. As she has been doing, it’s been spearheaded on her FB and Instagram sites with pictures noting the days until the album’s release. A beautiful picture for “day – 15” that has the benefit of also advertising the first broadcast of season 7 of La Voix two days later can be found at:
www.facebook.com/larafabianofficial/photos/a.215378125170359/2538968626144619/?type=3&theater
For “day -12” Lara left an obviously relevant picture,
On “day -13” the main promotional feature was centered around the “early listening” of the new album that Lara organized for last week in Montreal. It birthed its own set of pictures and interviews, e.g.,:
ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1148839/lara-fabian-nouvel-album-sortie?fbclid=IwAR26K5eKslLaUhHzYs4JriJZ6PpQkEKof9XZQAPQZehIVZ7I9FgUQ1e0hrs
The main points of the interview (which played on radio) are translated below:
--------------------------------------------------------------
Lara Fabian presents what may be her last album, but not her goodbyes
The famous singer-songwriter was "extremely feverish" Wednesday, presenting Papillon as “early listening” to a group of journalists. This album could be her last, in this format.
Between recordings of La Voix and an international tour, Lara Fabian wrote her new album in just seven days in pajamas, cloistered in her basement on Metcalfe Street in Montreal.
The artist assured that she had no expectation of the success of the work, aware of the changing face of the music industry, transformed by streaming platforms like Spotify.
“I wrote an album that, in this format, is perhaps the last I will do, since we do not know if an album is viable, in the absolute.” – Lara Fabian
Lara Fabian said she wanted to reconnect with a certain carelessness of the consequences of the creative act, the one that marked her debut in song, almost 30 years ago.
That's where the title of the album comes from, Papillon. It was her nickname, for as a child, she who worried too much, too often.
“One day, my grandmother told me, "Starting today, your totem will be farfalle [butterfly], because you have to remember what would happen if you had just 24 hours." - Lara Fabian
Known for her high-pitched vocal performances, the singer now abandons the lyrical flights for softer sounds, purified, electro.
“You do not have to have your foot in the carpet all the time when you're singing. [...] I do not know if it's always fair, musically, to do it today “, she explained in an interview with the cultural chronicler of 15-18, Catherine Richer.
Lara Fabian says she wants to be of her time, as she herself connects to Christine and the Queens and Panic at the Disco.
Papillon, by Lara Fabian, will be on sale from February 8th.
-----------------------------------------------
The audiophile of the actual interview with Catherine Richer, which contains basically these main points, can be found at:
ici.radio-canada.ca/premiere/emissions/le-15-18/episodes/425158/audio-fil-du-mercredi-23-janvier-2019/6
The notion of abandoning the creation of albums because of current musical technological trends would be a pretty extreme reaction (perhaps hastened by the poor sales of Camouflage - which one can argue had less to do with it being an album, and more to do with the circumstances of its release and promotion). In the article in the Journal of Montreal translated below, it seems to imply that Lara will be releasing music digitally, rather than in physical form
(https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2019/01/25/maman-est-une-star?fbclid=IwAR0TcLGOVGAUINgBkmHXjYqSY2QqoBdSaYFBg3zylUxgu9pRIHniJAt9NoQ):
-------------------------------------------
Mom is a star
At 11, Lou knows very well that her mother Lara Fabian is a star. And she seems to be making a point of helping her keep both feet firmly on the ground.
"The fact that I'm going to make a duet in France with Vitaa, for her, that's hot! But the rest is funny how it does not interest her at all. For her, it's: "What are we eating tonight?" I think it's great how a child can put you back in your place! She realizes it, but with so much candor and lucidity", says the singer during the presentation of her new opus, Papillon, last Wednesday at Mels Studios.
She also took the opportunity to announce that this album, expected in stores on February 8, would be the last to benefit from physical support. The singer intends to turn more towards digital in the years to come.
"It's not the music that's disappearing, but the records. It is no longer economically viable to make an album. I do not think we should be bitter about what is changing", she says.
------------------------------------------
When Lara said in the radio-Canada interview that she wanted “to reconnect with a certain carelessness of the consequences of the creative act”, she meant not worrying about sales. However, simply switching to ‘all-digital’ will not alleviate that pressure, as digital sales are now counted in with physical CDs to determine the total. Lara clarified her remarks further in the following (translated) interview with “98.5” in Montreal:
----------------------------------------------------
Lara Fabian: a new album and the project of a singing school
By 98.5 FM
January 27, 2019
Lara Fabian: a new album and the project of a singing
The singer-songwriter Lara Fabian will soon be offering a new album entitled Papillon . This album could be the last release of her career, in this traditional format at least.
Lara Fabian, who has all her life been inspired by the butterfly as a metaphor for life, wrote this recent album in the basement of her home on Metcalfe Street in Montreal. She only took seven days to write the new songs.
LF: "It's a great comfort to do that at home. This allowed me to disconnect from the challenge of renting a big studio and the pressure of the recording. It was nice. This approach diluted all the stress of working with a gang. I loved writing at home, no problem. I loved writing for what I am ... "
Aware that music is no longer selling in the same way as before, Lara Fabian said she was at a turning point in her career.
LF: "It does not change everything economically, because music does not necessarily cost less to produce. But, that will change everything in a future perspective. That's why I said that in this form, Papillon will be the last. [...] My daughter listens to a lot of songs, but I've never seen her listen to a full album. Never."
Lara Fabian believes that the days of physical or digital albums in their traditional form are numbered. In an interview with our cultural columnist Catherine Beauchamp, she suggested that she could publish one song at a time, for example.
A singing school?
In addition, she mentioned that her coaching experience on the TV show ‘La Voix’ has marked her career. In fact, she discovered a passion for passing on her knowledge.
LF: "It taught me that I'm really not bad at transmission. It could be a second part of my life as an artist. I have always dreamed of transforming myself elegantly in my fifties. I would like to produce music, but I would especially like to transmit through a school. I'm going to open my school, that's for sure. That said, I will not do it alone. And I already have a pretty precise idea ... "
The album Papillon will be released on February 8th.
Lara Fabian, 49, has sold a dozen million albums worldwide throughout her career.
"To my surprise, Papillon (electronic sounds, soft, clean and modern) is quite different from her usual work. It's a bit like the continuity of ‘Camouflage’, her English-language record (October 2017)." - Our cultural columnist Catherine Beauchamp
Lara Fabian also mentioned that she is inspired by the new wave of artists:
LF: "We must adapt musically to the reality of what we listen to. I like Christine and the Queens, Panic at the Disco, Khalid, Justin Timberlake. or some of Ariana Grande's stuff ... "
-----------------------------------------------------------------
If Lara really will no longer produce albums – hence no longer be releasing a series of songs at one time all associated with a particular topic – that will limit her impact as a creative artist, especially one who writes her own songs, for no theme can be fully developed. A new album also galvanizes publicity, is associated with massive promotional activities (as happening currently); this is hard to get with occasional singles. It would be a substantial change, both for her and her fans. It also risks giving her concerts an “oldies” flavor, even if a few new songs were included. We'll see if Lara is firm in this idea, and if Papillon is a big success, whether she changes her mind about the viability of "albums" [ask Ed Sheeran or Adele about that...].
The “early listening” was also aimed at interested fans, as advertised last week. A number of pictures are available from this event, courtesy of the Lara Fabian Greece FB site, at:
www.facebook.com/larafabiangreece/photos/a.1229232893868468/1229233047201786/?type=3&theater
An additional article in the Journal of Montreal, translated below, included that aspect (https://www.journaldemontreal.com/lara-fabian-rencontre-ses-admirateurs-avant-la-sortie-de-papillon?fbclid=IwAR29BiIqhaee_kp-94fjpMQqImCTdPHZ0gpWrZTM4GcVDy-haKThqHnS06c)
-----------------------------------------------
Lara Fabian meets her admirers before the release of "Papillon
Two weeks before the release of her new album in French, Papillon, Lara Fabian had the opportunity to share a moment with some of her admirers, whom she had invited to an exclusive listening session on Wednesday, in the late afternoon.
Available for pre-order since late November, Papillon is the 14th studio effort of the singer, who has already sold more than 20 million albums worldwide.
Directed by Moh Denebi, the album also has the pen of singer-songwriter Sharon Vaughn, who co-wrote with Lara Fabian. These two collaborators had accompanied Lara Fabian in the design of her latest English-language project, Camouflage , which then led Lara on an international tour in New York, Los Angeles, Washington, Miami, Paris, Prague, Amsterdam and Brussels.
Two extracts from this recent collection, ‘Papillon’ and ‘Je suis à toi’, have already been released.
Papillon will be available throughout the Francophone world on Friday, February 8th.
Pride and excitement
Lara Fabian said she was "divided between two feelings" on this important evening of meeting with the public on Wednesday.
"First of all, a great joy lives in me, because I am proud of the result of this album that I designed here in Quebec, in my house," she said. “Part of me still has fears, even at the 14th album, that it does not find the desired echo from the people for whom I created these songs. So there is nervousness, of course. But the excitement of seeing my audience wins hands down! "
The singer-songwriter said that she wrote her new pieces during the filming of La Voix last winter.
"In a burst of inspiration fueled by the beautiful young people around me at La Voix, I felt spontaneously in full swing, to the point where I wrote and recorded all the songs in one week! I designed this record under the same conditions as at the beginning of my career, in my basement, at home, in Quebec. This method had brought me so much luck at the time ... "
Lara Fabian will spend the month of February in Europe to promote her new work, but viewers will find her with Marc Dupré, Eric Lapointe and Alex Nevsky, in her coach chair at La Voix , whose seventh edition will take off on February 10, at TVA.
------------------------------------------
So while the pre-recorded shows are being broadcast in February (the “blind auditions”), Lara will be promoting her album, probably primarily in France and Belgium. This seems like an excellent strategy, and helps further explain the timing of the release; earlier, she had to record those shows for La Voix, and later she’ll be involved in the live shows.
The same day Lara also provided an interview to “ARP” media (https://arp.media/entrevue/lara-senvole-tel-papillon%e2%80%89/?fbclid=IwAR3DBtyy2OIIuHr-kocwhLdNPjSNOVw9SyCraVECS-__UuYTo4J76UCHn1Q), translated below:
---------------------------------------------------
Lara is flying like a butterfly!
Since receiving a call from La Voix in August 2017, Lara Fabian has been immersed in happiness. This joy of life invades her new album which will take off on Friday, February 8th. During Papillon's exclusive listening session, which took place at the MELS on January 23rd, we conducted an interview with the Belgian singer turned Quebec.
ARP: Papillon is an important album for you, what does it mean to you?
LF: It originates from a place where there is a mixture of my return to Quebec, my arrival on the seat of La Voix, my meeting with all the young people, the benevolence, the warmth that I experienced when I came here and the international tour that I did. Papillon is born from the alignment of all stages of my life that has created a lot of joy and happiness. I wrote it in the basement of my house with my team, I stayed in pajamas - honestly - and wrote 1 to 3 songs a day.
It was really a place of my life that I was good, serene and calm where Papillon could take shape in a very natural way thanks to all that I just told you.
ARP: Butterfly was composed in just 7 days, was this writing process a challenge for you?
LF: It's not what we thought or planned, it happened like that. I did not think I had a week to write an album, I knew I had that time in front of me. If it was necessary to return to it, there wouldn’t have been problems with that. It just means we were able to do that, it's been magical.
ARP: Over the years, you have been adored by a generation of fans, for example my mother. When you became a coach at La Voix , we quickly noticed that this new generation had the taste to share their musical passion with you. How do you feel to be appreciated as much by your first-time fans as by the young people who have been rocked by the rhythm of your melodies?
LF: I find it wonderful to be able to evolve with the times and to be able to address - precisely - the generation that follows the one we touched at the beginning. It's a nice gift to be able to work with a team that made me this artistic proposal. I wanted to go towards that, that's what I was looking for and that's what I found.
Finding this team that made me happy to create something current and well of my time, I'm addressing myself exactly to the people who are not just like your mom. However, I am very happy to have moms in my audience as well as their children. It is a very nice gift that Papillon can resonate not just for the time I came out of, but also for the time I live today.
ARP: To see that a candidate desired to take part on your team at La Voix must have touched you tremendously?
LF: I do not know if you remember the first time, but it touched my heart greatly. It was Felix Lemelin, he touched me deeply. It touched me that a 20 year old can trust me.
ARP: Among the topics on Papillon, love has a considerable place. With the years, does it start to become difficult to compose on the subject?
LF: I'm sure it's inexhaustible as a theme. Why? Because of the endless number of facets it takes and the need and urgency we all have to live it one way or another.
ARP: In the video clips of ‘Papillon’ and ‘Je suis a toi’, we see that you radiate happiness. Would you like to tell us about this sensation?
LF: How to speak of a happiness? It may seem old-fashioned when you start talking about it, it's not always so simple to say it with really profound terms.
All I can tell you is that it's one of the blessings I have in my life - to be loved by a wonderful man like my husband and to have a healthy little girl like the one who is my little girl.
In the happiness that you felt, it's fun to see how you felt it when you were listening to Papillon. You see it because it's real and it's the translation of what I live. I am extremely lucky to live here, to have the family I have and to feel every day that it is this blessing on me right now. All I wish for, is that it continues.
A Robert Lalonde proverb :
Happiness is like a butterfly : it flies without ever looking back
---------------------------------------------------
Happiness is contagious; one of the reasons why Lara has gotten the reception she has is because it’s apparent to all that she’s very happy to be in Quebec, so the feedback is all positive. As she says, may it continue!
In other promotional news, Lara gave an interview for “Absolument Stars”, mixed in with many videos, available at (thanks to the Lara Fabian, Bien Plus Qu'une Passion. "Corse - Réunion" site for the link):
www.facebook.com/LaraFabianBienPlusQuunePassionCorseReunion/videos/281215842571686/
Lara was also on “L’ambiance podcast” from Montreal, available at
audioboom.com/posts/7155760-lara-fabian-et-le-10-years-challenge?fbclid=IwAR1G3SbXBQUJu2dmcTADxLkR9lSGmEwWxqXYWn_GvJPhCUWWIswgLM1JiYg
(it’s also available on iTunes – for free – and Google podcasts, etc.)
She discussed her coming back to Quebec and the new album. There will likely be more such opportunities, repeating mostly the same material.
Lara has been the “co-host” with Marie-Claude Barrette on ‘Deux filles le matin’. A picture of the two of them can be found at:
and a brief promotional video at
www.facebook.com/2filleslematin/videos/305410506783464/
A description of Monday’s program reads, “Today at 10h and 23h35: Questions for an ENT, with Dr. Owen Woods, ENT pediatric doctor and otologist.
Do you have regular otitis or sinusitis? Do you know that about 10 to 15% of the population is affected by tinnitus? Marie-Claude Barrette and co-driver Lara Fabian surround themselves with Cathy Gauthier, Colette Provencher and Kathleen Fortin, who live or have had problems with their ears and vocal chords. Tinnitus, labyrinthitis, nodules on the vocal cords, otitis in children; we tackle all these issues with them. It's a date!”
A number of interesting photos this past week: Lara with supporters at the exclusive ‘early listening’ of the album last Wednesday
storage.tvanouvelles.ca/v1/dynamic_resize/sws_path/tvanouvelles_prod/135b64c0_1f67_11e9_895c_95d89758fcce227f79b3-1937-4b8e-a412-a7411a108977_16x9_WEB.jpg?quality=80&size=940x&version=0
and also, from the Instagram account of Distribution Select,
An extremely beautiful photo of Lara by herself, from the Lara Fabian – PHQ site,
www.facebook.com/larafabianphq/photos/a.353954938084519/1645045732308760/?type=3&theater
Then Lara with Moh Denebi when working on the album, from the Lara Fabian, Bien Plus Qu’une Passion: “Corse-Reunion”
www.facebook.com/LaraFabianBienPlusQuunePassionCorseReunion/photos/a.501228263404688/1033203510207158/?type=3&theater
Finally, a little promotional video from Lara,
www.facebook.com/ARPMediaOfficiel/videos/224092425206397/
The focus on the new album will certainly continue in this coming week; exactly when Lara will leave for Europe to promote it is uncertain, although the indication from the Journal of Montreal article is that the month of February would be devoted to that activity. If so, one wonders how well that sits with the producers of La Voix; while the shows during that month will have been pre-recorded, it does mean she won’t be available for any extra promotional activities. When she does leave, we can look forward (ideally) to numerous articles and TV/radio appearances in Belgium and France – the kind of ‘blitzkrieg’ Lara used to do in Montreal, when she was living in Belgium.
On a longer-term, more momentous scale: Lara’s has now been acting as co-host for the program ‘Deux filles le matin’, a show whose topics are broader than music (though Monday's program discussed ear problems, which she herself experienced). This might be a watershed moment in her career. If indeed ‘Papillon’ is really the last full ‘album’ that Lara will be doing, even if she still provides occasional ‘singles’ for digital release, then sliding into being a more general TV personality would seem to be a possibility for her– she obviously has all the qualities one would want in such a person. That, combined with any teaching school that she indicates she "will definitely start", might constitute full-time activity; musical tours and even concerts might then become specialty items. It would be symbolic if her upcoming “50” tour is the last of its kind, signifying a change that Lara has stated is something she envisions happening eventually. As she said in the “98” interview, it would allow her to “transform herself elegantly in her 50s”.
David
www.facebook.com/larafabianofficial/photos/a.215378125170359/2538968626144619/?type=3&theater
For “day -12” Lara left an obviously relevant picture,
On “day -13” the main promotional feature was centered around the “early listening” of the new album that Lara organized for last week in Montreal. It birthed its own set of pictures and interviews, e.g.,:
ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1148839/lara-fabian-nouvel-album-sortie?fbclid=IwAR26K5eKslLaUhHzYs4JriJZ6PpQkEKof9XZQAPQZehIVZ7I9FgUQ1e0hrs
The main points of the interview (which played on radio) are translated below:
--------------------------------------------------------------
Lara Fabian presents what may be her last album, but not her goodbyes
The famous singer-songwriter was "extremely feverish" Wednesday, presenting Papillon as “early listening” to a group of journalists. This album could be her last, in this format.
Between recordings of La Voix and an international tour, Lara Fabian wrote her new album in just seven days in pajamas, cloistered in her basement on Metcalfe Street in Montreal.
The artist assured that she had no expectation of the success of the work, aware of the changing face of the music industry, transformed by streaming platforms like Spotify.
“I wrote an album that, in this format, is perhaps the last I will do, since we do not know if an album is viable, in the absolute.” – Lara Fabian
Create, without worries
That's where the title of the album comes from, Papillon. It was her nickname, for as a child, she who worried too much, too often.
“One day, my grandmother told me, "Starting today, your totem will be farfalle [butterfly], because you have to remember what would happen if you had just 24 hours." - Lara Fabian
Being of her time
“You do not have to have your foot in the carpet all the time when you're singing. [...] I do not know if it's always fair, musically, to do it today “, she explained in an interview with the cultural chronicler of 15-18, Catherine Richer.
Lara Fabian says she wants to be of her time, as she herself connects to Christine and the Queens and Panic at the Disco.
Papillon, by Lara Fabian, will be on sale from February 8th.
-----------------------------------------------
The audiophile of the actual interview with Catherine Richer, which contains basically these main points, can be found at:
ici.radio-canada.ca/premiere/emissions/le-15-18/episodes/425158/audio-fil-du-mercredi-23-janvier-2019/6
The notion of abandoning the creation of albums because of current musical technological trends would be a pretty extreme reaction (perhaps hastened by the poor sales of Camouflage - which one can argue had less to do with it being an album, and more to do with the circumstances of its release and promotion). In the article in the Journal of Montreal translated below, it seems to imply that Lara will be releasing music digitally, rather than in physical form
(https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2019/01/25/maman-est-une-star?fbclid=IwAR0TcLGOVGAUINgBkmHXjYqSY2QqoBdSaYFBg3zylUxgu9pRIHniJAt9NoQ):
-------------------------------------------
Mom is a star
At 11, Lou knows very well that her mother Lara Fabian is a star. And she seems to be making a point of helping her keep both feet firmly on the ground.
"The fact that I'm going to make a duet in France with Vitaa, for her, that's hot! But the rest is funny how it does not interest her at all. For her, it's: "What are we eating tonight?" I think it's great how a child can put you back in your place! She realizes it, but with so much candor and lucidity", says the singer during the presentation of her new opus, Papillon, last Wednesday at Mels Studios.
She also took the opportunity to announce that this album, expected in stores on February 8, would be the last to benefit from physical support. The singer intends to turn more towards digital in the years to come.
"It's not the music that's disappearing, but the records. It is no longer economically viable to make an album. I do not think we should be bitter about what is changing", she says.
------------------------------------------
When Lara said in the radio-Canada interview that she wanted “to reconnect with a certain carelessness of the consequences of the creative act”, she meant not worrying about sales. However, simply switching to ‘all-digital’ will not alleviate that pressure, as digital sales are now counted in with physical CDs to determine the total. Lara clarified her remarks further in the following (translated) interview with “98.5” in Montreal:
----------------------------------------------------
Lara Fabian: a new album and the project of a singing school
By 98.5 FM
January 27, 2019
Lara Fabian: a new album and the project of a singing
The singer-songwriter Lara Fabian will soon be offering a new album entitled Papillon . This album could be the last release of her career, in this traditional format at least.
Lara Fabian, who has all her life been inspired by the butterfly as a metaphor for life, wrote this recent album in the basement of her home on Metcalfe Street in Montreal. She only took seven days to write the new songs.
LF: "It's a great comfort to do that at home. This allowed me to disconnect from the challenge of renting a big studio and the pressure of the recording. It was nice. This approach diluted all the stress of working with a gang. I loved writing at home, no problem. I loved writing for what I am ... "
Aware that music is no longer selling in the same way as before, Lara Fabian said she was at a turning point in her career.
LF: "It does not change everything economically, because music does not necessarily cost less to produce. But, that will change everything in a future perspective. That's why I said that in this form, Papillon will be the last. [...] My daughter listens to a lot of songs, but I've never seen her listen to a full album. Never."
Lara Fabian believes that the days of physical or digital albums in their traditional form are numbered. In an interview with our cultural columnist Catherine Beauchamp, she suggested that she could publish one song at a time, for example.
A singing school?
In addition, she mentioned that her coaching experience on the TV show ‘La Voix’ has marked her career. In fact, she discovered a passion for passing on her knowledge.
LF: "It taught me that I'm really not bad at transmission. It could be a second part of my life as an artist. I have always dreamed of transforming myself elegantly in my fifties. I would like to produce music, but I would especially like to transmit through a school. I'm going to open my school, that's for sure. That said, I will not do it alone. And I already have a pretty precise idea ... "
The album Papillon will be released on February 8th.
Lara Fabian, 49, has sold a dozen million albums worldwide throughout her career.
"To my surprise, Papillon (electronic sounds, soft, clean and modern) is quite different from her usual work. It's a bit like the continuity of ‘Camouflage’, her English-language record (October 2017)." - Our cultural columnist Catherine Beauchamp
Lara Fabian also mentioned that she is inspired by the new wave of artists:
LF: "We must adapt musically to the reality of what we listen to. I like Christine and the Queens, Panic at the Disco, Khalid, Justin Timberlake. or some of Ariana Grande's stuff ... "
-----------------------------------------------------------------
If Lara really will no longer produce albums – hence no longer be releasing a series of songs at one time all associated with a particular topic – that will limit her impact as a creative artist, especially one who writes her own songs, for no theme can be fully developed. A new album also galvanizes publicity, is associated with massive promotional activities (as happening currently); this is hard to get with occasional singles. It would be a substantial change, both for her and her fans. It also risks giving her concerts an “oldies” flavor, even if a few new songs were included. We'll see if Lara is firm in this idea, and if Papillon is a big success, whether she changes her mind about the viability of "albums" [ask Ed Sheeran or Adele about that...].
The “early listening” was also aimed at interested fans, as advertised last week. A number of pictures are available from this event, courtesy of the Lara Fabian Greece FB site, at:
www.facebook.com/larafabiangreece/photos/a.1229232893868468/1229233047201786/?type=3&theater
An additional article in the Journal of Montreal, translated below, included that aspect (https://www.journaldemontreal.com/lara-fabian-rencontre-ses-admirateurs-avant-la-sortie-de-papillon?fbclid=IwAR29BiIqhaee_kp-94fjpMQqImCTdPHZ0gpWrZTM4GcVDy-haKThqHnS06c)
-----------------------------------------------
Lara Fabian meets her admirers before the release of "Papillon
Two weeks before the release of her new album in French, Papillon, Lara Fabian had the opportunity to share a moment with some of her admirers, whom she had invited to an exclusive listening session on Wednesday, in the late afternoon.
Available for pre-order since late November, Papillon is the 14th studio effort of the singer, who has already sold more than 20 million albums worldwide.
Directed by Moh Denebi, the album also has the pen of singer-songwriter Sharon Vaughn, who co-wrote with Lara Fabian. These two collaborators had accompanied Lara Fabian in the design of her latest English-language project, Camouflage , which then led Lara on an international tour in New York, Los Angeles, Washington, Miami, Paris, Prague, Amsterdam and Brussels.
Two extracts from this recent collection, ‘Papillon’ and ‘Je suis à toi’, have already been released.
Papillon will be available throughout the Francophone world on Friday, February 8th.
Pride and excitement
Lara Fabian said she was "divided between two feelings" on this important evening of meeting with the public on Wednesday.
"First of all, a great joy lives in me, because I am proud of the result of this album that I designed here in Quebec, in my house," she said. “Part of me still has fears, even at the 14th album, that it does not find the desired echo from the people for whom I created these songs. So there is nervousness, of course. But the excitement of seeing my audience wins hands down! "
The singer-songwriter said that she wrote her new pieces during the filming of La Voix last winter.
"In a burst of inspiration fueled by the beautiful young people around me at La Voix, I felt spontaneously in full swing, to the point where I wrote and recorded all the songs in one week! I designed this record under the same conditions as at the beginning of my career, in my basement, at home, in Quebec. This method had brought me so much luck at the time ... "
Lara Fabian will spend the month of February in Europe to promote her new work, but viewers will find her with Marc Dupré, Eric Lapointe and Alex Nevsky, in her coach chair at La Voix , whose seventh edition will take off on February 10, at TVA.
------------------------------------------
So while the pre-recorded shows are being broadcast in February (the “blind auditions”), Lara will be promoting her album, probably primarily in France and Belgium. This seems like an excellent strategy, and helps further explain the timing of the release; earlier, she had to record those shows for La Voix, and later she’ll be involved in the live shows.
The same day Lara also provided an interview to “ARP” media (https://arp.media/entrevue/lara-senvole-tel-papillon%e2%80%89/?fbclid=IwAR3DBtyy2OIIuHr-kocwhLdNPjSNOVw9SyCraVECS-__UuYTo4J76UCHn1Q), translated below:
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Lara is flying like a butterfly!
Since receiving a call from La Voix in August 2017, Lara Fabian has been immersed in happiness. This joy of life invades her new album which will take off on Friday, February 8th. During Papillon's exclusive listening session, which took place at the MELS on January 23rd, we conducted an interview with the Belgian singer turned Quebec.
ARP: Papillon is an important album for you, what does it mean to you?
LF: It originates from a place where there is a mixture of my return to Quebec, my arrival on the seat of La Voix, my meeting with all the young people, the benevolence, the warmth that I experienced when I came here and the international tour that I did. Papillon is born from the alignment of all stages of my life that has created a lot of joy and happiness. I wrote it in the basement of my house with my team, I stayed in pajamas - honestly - and wrote 1 to 3 songs a day.
It was really a place of my life that I was good, serene and calm where Papillon could take shape in a very natural way thanks to all that I just told you.
ARP: Butterfly was composed in just 7 days, was this writing process a challenge for you?
LF: It's not what we thought or planned, it happened like that. I did not think I had a week to write an album, I knew I had that time in front of me. If it was necessary to return to it, there wouldn’t have been problems with that. It just means we were able to do that, it's been magical.
ARP: Over the years, you have been adored by a generation of fans, for example my mother. When you became a coach at La Voix , we quickly noticed that this new generation had the taste to share their musical passion with you. How do you feel to be appreciated as much by your first-time fans as by the young people who have been rocked by the rhythm of your melodies?
LF: I find it wonderful to be able to evolve with the times and to be able to address - precisely - the generation that follows the one we touched at the beginning. It's a nice gift to be able to work with a team that made me this artistic proposal. I wanted to go towards that, that's what I was looking for and that's what I found.
Finding this team that made me happy to create something current and well of my time, I'm addressing myself exactly to the people who are not just like your mom. However, I am very happy to have moms in my audience as well as their children. It is a very nice gift that Papillon can resonate not just for the time I came out of, but also for the time I live today.
ARP: To see that a candidate desired to take part on your team at La Voix must have touched you tremendously?
LF: I do not know if you remember the first time, but it touched my heart greatly. It was Felix Lemelin, he touched me deeply. It touched me that a 20 year old can trust me.
ARP: Among the topics on Papillon, love has a considerable place. With the years, does it start to become difficult to compose on the subject?
LF: I'm sure it's inexhaustible as a theme. Why? Because of the endless number of facets it takes and the need and urgency we all have to live it one way or another.
ARP: In the video clips of ‘Papillon’ and ‘Je suis a toi’, we see that you radiate happiness. Would you like to tell us about this sensation?
LF: How to speak of a happiness? It may seem old-fashioned when you start talking about it, it's not always so simple to say it with really profound terms.
All I can tell you is that it's one of the blessings I have in my life - to be loved by a wonderful man like my husband and to have a healthy little girl like the one who is my little girl.
In the happiness that you felt, it's fun to see how you felt it when you were listening to Papillon. You see it because it's real and it's the translation of what I live. I am extremely lucky to live here, to have the family I have and to feel every day that it is this blessing on me right now. All I wish for, is that it continues.
A Robert Lalonde proverb :
Happiness is like a butterfly : it flies without ever looking back
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Happiness is contagious; one of the reasons why Lara has gotten the reception she has is because it’s apparent to all that she’s very happy to be in Quebec, so the feedback is all positive. As she says, may it continue!
In other promotional news, Lara gave an interview for “Absolument Stars”, mixed in with many videos, available at (thanks to the Lara Fabian, Bien Plus Qu'une Passion. "Corse - Réunion" site for the link):
www.facebook.com/LaraFabianBienPlusQuunePassionCorseReunion/videos/281215842571686/
Lara was also on “L’ambiance podcast” from Montreal, available at
audioboom.com/posts/7155760-lara-fabian-et-le-10-years-challenge?fbclid=IwAR1G3SbXBQUJu2dmcTADxLkR9lSGmEwWxqXYWn_GvJPhCUWWIswgLM1JiYg
(it’s also available on iTunes – for free – and Google podcasts, etc.)
She discussed her coming back to Quebec and the new album. There will likely be more such opportunities, repeating mostly the same material.
Lara has been the “co-host” with Marie-Claude Barrette on ‘Deux filles le matin’. A picture of the two of them can be found at:
and a brief promotional video at
www.facebook.com/2filleslematin/videos/305410506783464/
A description of Monday’s program reads, “Today at 10h and 23h35: Questions for an ENT, with Dr. Owen Woods, ENT pediatric doctor and otologist.
Do you have regular otitis or sinusitis? Do you know that about 10 to 15% of the population is affected by tinnitus? Marie-Claude Barrette and co-driver Lara Fabian surround themselves with Cathy Gauthier, Colette Provencher and Kathleen Fortin, who live or have had problems with their ears and vocal chords. Tinnitus, labyrinthitis, nodules on the vocal cords, otitis in children; we tackle all these issues with them. It's a date!”
A number of interesting photos this past week: Lara with supporters at the exclusive ‘early listening’ of the album last Wednesday
storage.tvanouvelles.ca/v1/dynamic_resize/sws_path/tvanouvelles_prod/135b64c0_1f67_11e9_895c_95d89758fcce227f79b3-1937-4b8e-a412-a7411a108977_16x9_WEB.jpg?quality=80&size=940x&version=0
and also, from the Instagram account of Distribution Select,
http://instagram.com/p/Bs_Uxaigm6Z
An extremely beautiful photo of Lara by herself, from the Lara Fabian – PHQ site,
www.facebook.com/larafabianphq/photos/a.353954938084519/1645045732308760/?type=3&theater
Then Lara with Moh Denebi when working on the album, from the Lara Fabian, Bien Plus Qu’une Passion: “Corse-Reunion”
www.facebook.com/LaraFabianBienPlusQuunePassionCorseReunion/photos/a.501228263404688/1033203510207158/?type=3&theater
Finally, a little promotional video from Lara,
www.facebook.com/ARPMediaOfficiel/videos/224092425206397/
The focus on the new album will certainly continue in this coming week; exactly when Lara will leave for Europe to promote it is uncertain, although the indication from the Journal of Montreal article is that the month of February would be devoted to that activity. If so, one wonders how well that sits with the producers of La Voix; while the shows during that month will have been pre-recorded, it does mean she won’t be available for any extra promotional activities. When she does leave, we can look forward (ideally) to numerous articles and TV/radio appearances in Belgium and France – the kind of ‘blitzkrieg’ Lara used to do in Montreal, when she was living in Belgium.
On a longer-term, more momentous scale: Lara’s has now been acting as co-host for the program ‘Deux filles le matin’, a show whose topics are broader than music (though Monday's program discussed ear problems, which she herself experienced). This might be a watershed moment in her career. If indeed ‘Papillon’ is really the last full ‘album’ that Lara will be doing, even if she still provides occasional ‘singles’ for digital release, then sliding into being a more general TV personality would seem to be a possibility for her– she obviously has all the qualities one would want in such a person. That, combined with any teaching school that she indicates she "will definitely start", might constitute full-time activity; musical tours and even concerts might then become specialty items. It would be symbolic if her upcoming “50” tour is the last of its kind, signifying a change that Lara has stated is something she envisions happening eventually. As she said in the “98” interview, it would allow her to “transform herself elegantly in her 50s”.
David