Album review: Smoke by Alexandra Lost
The Quebec duo found new ways to tell wholesome stories about nature, life, and language
Alexandra Lost's Simon Paradis and Jane Ehrhardt with the art for their album Smoke. (Submitted)
As a first-time listener, Canadian duo Alexandra Lost provides a nice introduction to the artists coming out of Quebec’s local music scene. Their third album Smoke, which came out last month, has relaxing synth-pop beats balanced with weird yet original style choices.
The duo consists of singer-songwriter Jane Ehrhardt and composer Simon Paradis, who have been collaborating since 2017. Their avant-garde music fuses multiple genres, such as folk, R&B, psychedelic, and electronic music. With the release of their single “Going Down” last year, Alexandra Lost’s third album is set for success.
Ehrhardt’s soft and mystical folk vocals give a serene atmosphere to the album’s English and French music. With Paradis’ own vocals, the band beautifully expresses itself through language to create calming harmonies that feel so other-worldly.
The French songs are especially huge takeaways, as this is the first time I’ve listened to a soundtrack featuring a fair amount of work from this language. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know what the words mean because they’re simply enchanting.
The album has an incredible array of instrument combos and synthesizer flourishes. Depending on the song, Erhardt’s mystical folk vocals are paired with hypnotic guitar strums, subtle drum set beats, moody baselines, and muted electronic hums and beeps. If you listen carefully, you might hear jingle bells or shakers in the background that enrich the band’s style.
What will stump newcomers the most about Smoke is the duo’s weird and experimental arrangements. Ehrhardt and Paradis create songs that switch tones so abruptly among a diverse array of genres and instruments. It sometimes takes a while to wrap your head around what you just heard.
The track “Feu follet” is a bizarre nature song with Ehrhardt’s French vocals giving way to sudden animal sounds, as if the piece sprang from the deepest roots of Canada’s forests. The music is mixed with an R&B jam by using funky guitar-drum combos and more swingy vocals, only to descend into moody bass twangs and piano pop chords. The song has a refreshing take on nature and language, but it may not make sense for those used to more conventional music.
Thematically, the album explores simple messages from our inherent ability to love others to how thankful we should be for our long-lasting friendships, grounding the music’s complex style choices.
The song “Orange” begins with the sound of a wolf howling, then a throbbing guitar hook builds up the band’s psychedelic chants. An eccentric violin solo comes in, followed by electronic echoes with drum dribbles throughout. This weird overlap of rhythms conveys our human nature to think about our life choices as we move forward with new ones each day.
If genre-blended synth pop isn’t what you’re interested in, then the experimental sounds and tones of Alexandra Lost evidently won’t resonate with you. However, if you’re curious about what Quebec artists have to offer, this duo is a start to that exploration.
Smoke can be accessed on YouTube, Bandcamp, and other streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music.
Final Score: 9/10
Favourite Tracks: “Orange,” “Le monde en feu,” “Feu follet,” and “Get Lost (Again).”
