Yann Falquet’s debut album, Les secrets du ciel (”The Secrets of the Sky”), produced by Quinn Bachand, revisits obscure traditional songs to create a cohesive narrative of yearning, love, and loss. As a founding member of the Quebecois folk trio Genticorum, Falquet brings 20 years of artistry as well as an all-star cast of musicians to this project.
Falquet’s acoustic guitar and layered instrumentation meld with the old balladry of French Canada in a genre that he describes playfully as romantico pastoral. By assembling excerpts from archival documents as well as playing with the structures of the songs, Falquet has created an elegant and original opus. The album’s ten tableaux of dreamy musical textures form a unique sonic world that transcends the boundaries of language.
The tracks on Les secrets du ciel portray variations on a fundamental human experience. The main characters search for their beloveds across fields, seas, mountains, and dreams, on journeys sometimes melancholic (“Les mers et les montagnes”, “La Rose”), sometimes stoic (“Les îles”, “Courage”), and sometimes magical. On “La belle est en prison d’amour”, for example, a confused lover searching for his love stumbles across a bird who has apparently spent some time with her... Instead of helping him locate her, the winged wretch offers enigmatic advice.Long inspired by folk music from around the world and especially the folk music of his native Québec, Falquet works in the tradition, renewing and diversifying these songs.
He convincingly embraces indie folk and trad. The sophisticated drums (Robbie Kuster), clarinet (Eric Vanderlbilt-Mathews), lush strings (Trent Freeman, Quinn Bachand) and horns (Nadje Noordhuis) brighten the songs with a breath of modernity. Also contributing to the album’s rich sound are luminaries Allison de Groot (banjo), Robert Alan Mackie (bass), Keith Murphy (voice and pump organ), Julia Friend (voice) and Thorleifur Gaukur Davidsson (pedal steel).
"The people in Les Secrets du ciel are trying to peer between worlds, looking for patterns in the fight of swallows, wishing they could know someone else’s mind, contemplating landscapes so vast they’re unimaginable. These are old Québécois and Acadian songs, learned from friends sitting on balconies or discovered in archives. In Yann Falquet’s hands, each one becomes luminous: something rich and strange and moving. This music makes you listen anew, giving you a glimpse of something far-off that you can’t quite grasp but want to keep returning to" - Eric Boodman
Yann Falquet is a dynamic Québécois guitarist in the world of traditional music. He is a versatile artist who has already explored several styles and, although well-established, continues to deepen his knowledge of both creation and interpretation. In 2000, Yann co-founded Genticorum, a Québec-based traditional music trio with Pascal Gemme and Nicholas Williams. Since then, he has traveled the world sharing the group's songs. Over the years, he has collaborated with Seamus Egan Project, Hanneke Cassel, The McDades, Olov Johanson (Väsen), Liz Carroll, Bruce Molsky, Cillian Vallely & Kevin Crawford (Lunasa) and Montréal composer Jean-François Bélanger's ensemble.
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