It’s somewhat unusual. I’m sitting at home listening to ‘Little wars’, and I think that MATHIEU LAVIGNE has really created a work of sad beauty that doesn’t so much pull the heartstrings, but yank them right out.
Even stranger, this is an album of folk balladry, not something harsh and abrasive. However, the Vancouver based singer songwriter seems to know exactly what buttons to press. Mathieu himself states, “I wasn’t scared of doing some sad songs”, and here we have a range of songs that suit his laid back slightly smoky vocals extremely well. In fact, the only gripe I would have about this CD is that there is only one of the ten songs sung entirely in French, and Mathieu is a native French speaker raised in Montreal, so he is more than capable of doing any chanson justice.
The opening title track of the album, ‘Little Wars’, is a laid back folky guitar strum, with some incisive lyrics detailing the daily little wars we wage to hide a deeper pain: - “There's a seed that's in a field, a minefield in your heart/ and crows are always mining, and tearing things apart/ over the stars is a shroud, of rain laden clouds/ and when thunder pounds it frightens, the feathered beaks of death/ and the rain that falls a friend, to whatever strength was left/ like a flame is to a coal, it feeds your petrified soul.” Heavy stuff indeed. The album kicks off as it means to go on, hitting the listener with a range of classic tunes.
My personal favourite is the third track on the album ‘Au milieu d’un ete’, which translates as ‘In the middle of summer’. This is brilliant and comes across as an easygoing French jazz styled track relying on the rhythm and melody of the double bass and organ. Mathieu states that this is all about “my nineteen years old self is alone, far from home, aimless and longs for what he feels destined to find; the love of his life, sure that when he does find it, everything will feel all right.” “J'ai mis mon corps dans un train, et mon coeur dans un coffre
Et toujours arrive demain."
I really liked this one, as I will admit to being a fan of a lot of music that is sung in French!
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‘Behind the Prayer’ is another great song. This is based upon a true story where Mathieu’s mother was involved in a serious car accident and was badly injured. A lady came, and prayed for her, which gave her comfort and strength and helped to take away the pain. Eventually she recovered, but has never since seen the woman. This is a slow builder, based around guitar and an organ riff that is almost verging upon gospel music. A wonderful track, again, the lyrics really hit the listener where it matters, in the heart: - “After the car collision, got out and laid by the road/ Thought that your time had come, laying on your broken bones/ Then from somewhere a lady came, who thought she knew what to say/She said “tell me what’s your name, I’ll hold your hand and pray”.”
Following this is possibly one of the most heart-rending songs I have ever heard. ‘Sixteen Months’ details the death of a sixteen-month child, who would have grown to be Mathieu’s uncle, but choked to death in infancy while eating. The song deals with the emotions that the family who witnessed the incident but were unable to save him must have felt. A slow guitar strum with a slightly country edge, this is one of the great moments on this album: - “Yeah she was just, a young girl, still cries for her little brother...Who swallowed wrong, while laughing. Looking at them not knowing, what to do...Mother, father, brother, sister. At loss...”
Overall, I really liked this album. Mathieu’s laid-back guitar style married to intensely personal lyrics show an artist who is not afraid to bare his soul to an audience. For that alone he deserves more than just a listen.
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