Montreal Fiddle Singer, Aleksi Campagne, Releases Bilingual Indie-Folk Album
Aleksi Campagne is not your typical folksinger. Or fiddle singer. Or bilingual singer. He is, in fact, all of those at once, and more. The multifaceted nature of Campagne’s music-making truly sets him apart from his contemporaries. A one-man band of sorts, his performances are impressive not just sonically but also visually as you watch him seamlessly navigate different instruments and languages at the same time.
Campagne’s highly anticipated album release, For the Giving/ Sans Rien Sonner, will surely showcase his multitasking talents. Each song on the album is set to have a French language counterpart making the record 20 tracks long. The bilingual aspect of Campagne’s work is, in his opinion, the most interesting part of the record. However, equally intriguing is his fiddle singing.
Fiddle singing is an extremely difficult technique seen most in old-time folk music. While singing and playing the guitar or the piano together is common and doable, doing so with a fiddle takes an extreme amount of skill. Not only must the player navigate the coordination of playing the chords and singing the melodies, but they must do so with the fiddle quite literally jammed into their throat. The position of the chin on the violin also distorts the face which affects the singing. Campagne’s ease with fiddle singing is easily the most impressive aspect of his performance.
Because many fail to realize that Campagne is fiddling and singing at the same time, each track from For the Giving/ Sans Rien Sonner will have its own performance video. The videos will launch with other bonus content from Campagne HERE.
Thematically, For the Giving/ Sans Rien Sonner is all about life’s firsts. According to Campagne, he seeks to highlight the feelings behind first loves, breakups, moves, and more.
The first track of the record, “Till I Get Home,” was released yesterday and perfectly captures the dreaminess of growing up juxtaposed with the jarring moments of adulthood’s realities setting in. A highlight of the track is the heart-wrenching chord progression on the bridge that feels nostalgic, groovy, and hopeful all at once.
The rest of the tracks on For the Giving/ Sans Rien Sonner will be released every two weeks following the latest one, and the rollout will coincide with Campagne’s cross-Canada summer tour.