Luc De Larochellière’s new album, Paroles pour cordes sensibles, captures his anniversary tour through intimate acoustic arrangements and varied instrumentation. The record strips fifteen career-spanning songs back to their core while layering in distinctive textures like 12-string picking and rock-inflected arrangements.
The Bottom Line
- The Setup: Luc De Larochellière and touring partner Sylvain Quesnel are featured in the album artwork sitting before a library with acoustic guitars.
- The Instrumentation: The acoustic foundation expands with electric guitars, a McCartney-style bass, a ukulele, and a mandolin to give each track its own identity.
- The Tracklist: The fifteen songs range from the Byrdsian Sauvez mon âme and the twangy Vélo siège banane to the rock arrangement of Amère America, concluding with Si j’te disais reviens and Si fragile.
Library Setup with Sonic Enhancements
The album artwork features Luc De Larochellière alongside his touring collaborator Sylvain Quesnel. They are seated in front of a library, holding acoustic guitars while surrounded by an arsenal of instruments. Alongside standard acoustics sit electric guitars, a bass guitar mirroring Paul McCartney’s signature style, a ukulele, and a mandolin.
This visual setup signals that the project avoids a generic campfire aesthetic. While the core instrumentation is acoustic to honor the origins of the repertoire, every track receives specific sonic enhancements. Luc De Larochellière performs the vocal tracks solo, echoing the original creation of the material.
Varied Arrangements Across Fifteen Retrospective Tracks
Each selection on the fifteen-track collection relies on a distinct musical personality. Sauvez mon âme employs a 12-string picking style reminiscent of The Byrds alongside Beatlesque strumming. Other tracks lean into different sonic territories, such as the twang defining the lesser-known Vélo siège banane and a medley of road songs.
Background keyboards shape Beauté perdue, whereas Amère America takes on a heavier rock arrangement. In contrast, Cash City maintains a stark simplicity. The project concludes with Si j’te disais reviens and Si fragile, two compositions left largely untouched due to their established structure.
| Track Title | Arrangement Style | Instrumentation Highlights |
|---|---|---|
| Sauvez mon âme | Byrdsian and Beatlesque | 12-string picking, strumming |
| Vélo siège banane | Upbeat twang | Twang-heavy guitars |
| Amère America | Rock-inflected | Electric arrangements |
| Beauté perdue | Atmospheric | Background keyboards |
Four Decades of Repertoire Preservation
The retrospective show captured on the record reflects decades of songwriting development. The closing numbers, Si j’te disais reviens and Si fragile, remain virtually unaltered because their original architecture resists modification. Forty years after their initial creation, these works form the core of the project’s sensitive lyrical focus.
