Gabrielle Papillon: “Keep The Fire” (2017) CD Review

Gabrielle Papillon is singer, guitarist and songwriter based in Halifax (there is a whole lot of great music coming out of Halifax these days). I first heard her beautiful voice on Norma MacDonald’s 2015 album Burn The Tapes, and soon was enjoying her own work. I’ve been listening to her 2017 release, Keep The Fire, quite a bit lately. This album features some excellent songwriting and vocal work, as well as a wonderful string section. Joining her on this release are Dan Ledwell on horns, piano, keyboard and acoustic guitar (Dan also produced the album); Nicholas Maclean on electric guitar and lap steel; Jordi Comstock on drums and percussion; Sean MacGillivray on bass and backing vocals; Kinley Dowling on violin and viola; and John Spearns on cello. There are also some guests providing backing vocals on a few tracks.

The album opens with an instrumental piece titled “Overture For The Fire Keepers,” featuring some absolutely beautiful work on strings. After a few moments, it feels like the music to some fantastic film, and I expect to be introduced to some intriguing characters and landscapes, to be told a tale. That is followed by “Three Years,” which has a somewhat desolate feel as it begins. Soon some prominent work on drums feels like a strong pulse, and we are no longer alone. And when the strings come in, I am ready to be swept up in whatever direction this music may take me.  This track also includes some really good lyrics. Here is a taste: “Three years and what do I have to show/Where do I have to go/To be heard/Three years, we haven’t got a lot to show.” The line that really stands out for me is “I’m an ocean of compromise.” The music builds wonderfully to become a glorious pop song, and then suddenly, just before the end, drops us back into a more melancholy frame of mind.

“The Damage” eases in, then takes on a good rhythm. And check out these lines: “I don’t know what lies you’ve told/But the sorrow that you bought and sold/Fell across the starting line and into this kiss/Take this damage off my chest/I will not toil where I might rest/Show me where to begin and take me there.” This track also features horns. It seems that each of these tracks holds surprises; there is nothing routine about these songs. Rather, there seems to be a natural and exciting progression that is decided by the music itself. This is one of the tracks to feature some great guests on backing vocals, including Jenn Grant, Jessie Brown and Kim Harris (Kim Harris also sings on that Norma MacDonald album, and her own 2014 release, Only The Mighty, shows how talented a vocalist she is). Then odd electronic sounds begin “Deep In The Earth,” like a computer trying to communicate with us. Gabrielle Papillon’s vocals work in contrast to that sense as those electronic sounds fade in the background. Her voice is soothing and beautiful, and then on certain lines it feels she is speaking to us plainly, such as “I got into it once, more than once/Deep in the dirt, deep in the earth” and “I’ve come to claim this wasted spark/To hold it up with its aching heart.” Jenn Grant, Jessie Brown and Kim Harris provide backing vocals on this track too.

This entire album is excellent, but if I were forced to choose a favorite track, it would be “Hold On, I Will,” a stunningly beautiful song, Gabrielle’s vocals supported mainly by piano. “Hold on, I’ve got tools for mending/Oh god, I will.” There is something so true about this song, her voice speaking for all of us in a way, as she sings “And I will break before the ending” and “All of us pretending.” And we are all going to need mending before this is done. This track also features some gorgeous work on strings. I love that cello. It is a surprise when those backing vocals come in, like a small choir, “We can make it/I won’t break/I can take it.” Oh yes, oh yes, oh yes. Alana Yorke and Ian Bent provide backing vocals on this track, and Ian is also on piano. That’s followed by “When The Heart Attacks,” another intriguing song, in part because of its use of percussion, which plays a strong part in the song’s sound. Corey LeRue is on synth, and provides drum samples on this track. “Give me a song about human devotion/With words that color the soul with emotion/And blistering love.” This one ends with some pretty work on strings.

“Keep The Fire,” the album’s title track, eases in gently, then suddenly kicks in with a tremendous force. “This is bad/I know it’s bad/There’s no way to keep the fire on/I know it’s bad/They don’t make things like they used to.” I love the drums on this powerful track, as well as the use of backing vocals.  Jenn Grant, Jessie Brown and Kim Harris provide the backing vocals. That’s followed by “Heart Beat,” another beautiful song. That work on piano has a magical, innocent feel, like a return to some memory of childhood, or what we think childhood might have been. That element remains in the song, but fades somewhat into the background as the track goes on. Then at the end, that piano part continues after everything else has gone. In “Some Rise Up,” Gabrielle Papillon sings, “Some ride off when trouble rounds the corner/And some rise up,” lines that stand out in these troubling and uncertain times. “I can lead us, but I can’t carry all the weight.”

“What To Keep” is yet another beautiful song, a highlight of the album in part because of its excellent lyrics, in part because of that moving vocal performance, and in part because of the strings. Check out these lines, which open the song: “We hold every breath/Feed the ghost of what’s left/Rock the beast back to sleep/Heed the fire at our feet/So we’ll know what to keep.” The album concludes with another striking song, “No Paradise,” which begins with a haunting instrumental section. “We know that we can’t stay here/That if we bend, we break.” As it kicks in, Gabrielle repeats, “This is no paradise.” It seems a dangerous landscape that is created – or illuminated – here. The track ends with strings, at first seeming a natural sound, until you realize you’re also hearing some crackling, as if from an old record. And then it is like the whole thing is just shut down suddenly. It is an interesting way to end the song and the album.

CD Track List

1. Overture For The Fire Keeper
2. Three Years
3. The Damage
4. Deep In The Earth
5. Hold On, I Will
6. When The Heart Attacks
7. Keep The Fire
8. Heart Beat
9. Some Rise Up
10. What To Keep
11. No Paradise

Keep The Fire was released on October 13, 2017.