mélisse Lafrance appears a refreshing moon beam of musical, lyrical light. Indisputably a powerhouse of talent, Lafrance may well make a unique contribution to the ever growing constellation of women’s music.
Undeclared, Lafrance’s recent CD release is certain to receive deserved notice as well as acclaim. The full length CD is an attention-grabbing combination of songs addressing a spectrum ranging from love, loss, heartbreak as well as some very strong and often disturbing social commentary.
The power of this musical collection sits at the heart of the sheer strength, purity, and passion of Lafrance’s voice, which is her major instrument. The scarcity of instrumental accompaniment was intentional; Lafrance plays acoustic guitar and on a few tracks is accompanied by Eric Vani and Meredith Westlake, both playing bass. While Lafrance can pull this off through the sheer power of her voice, for those of us who enjoy the augmentation musical backup can give to a voice, this may come across as the only missing element on the CD.
"I describe my music as folk/grunge/alternative and I take my inspiration from all three of these traditions," explains Lafrance. "I insisted that my voice be out front, I wanted the clarity of my lyrics to come through, without distraction."
Lafrance journeys on this CD from the poignantly sad Disappointment - "you tell me things, I don’t believe you at all, I ask you again and again to catch me, and again and again, you watch me fall" - to the damning political commentary on Indonesia - "Oh Canada, you lied to me, And now I see, My past has been erased, they lied to my face, another time and place, will store my nuclear waste."
Lafrance never had voice training but has an extensive background in classical piano, which she dove into with abandon at the age of five. "I have been singing since I was nine years old, but only started to get serious about professional music two or three years ago."
She has three independently released albums under her belt, About This Again, After the Past, and Waiting For The Last Time. "But these were low, low budget projects," laments Lafrance, who admits the sound quality on her former albums was less that the kind of perfection she has reached on Undeclared.
"I wanted to reach out to find something to do justice to what I am capable of musically," says Lafrance, as she launched on a path of working several jobs, while attending university in order to finally record Undeclared on her independent label, Railway. The CD is a full digital recording and was post-produced at Studio Morin Heights, engineered by Simon Pressey.
Lafrance still struggles with her choice in her careers. "The last four years, it has become clear to me that I want a career as a university professor, I have such a love of learning and teaching." As to her musical life, she shrugs and quips: "I will let it take me where it takes me, music holds the same passion for me as learning."
Whichever path she treads, Lafrance’s voice will certainly continue to resound with beauty, power and reflection.
