Crash - Les Louanges (2021)

In 2018, Montreal-born Les Louanges (real name Vincent Roberge) released his first studio album La nuit est une panthère, receiving three Félix Awards and critical acclaim across the board. Although the bar was set high, 2021’s Crash serves as all the proof Louanges needs that he is here to stay.

We begin our journey with “Prologue”, a particularly jazzy introduction packed with metallic drum beats and crooning horns. “Chausée” is bouncy and light, although its instrumentation provides a stark contrast to its lyrical content — a one-sided relationship into which Louanges puts an unreciprocated amount of effort. “Qu’est-ce que tu m’fais” features playful drum beats before jumping into an upbeat party anthem. “Oh, what a night,” Louanges sings, as this especially enjoyable highlight of the album takes listeners through a wild evening in Montreal. “Chérie” seems to jump straight out of the 90s, a seductive R&B ballad including a romantic mix of guitar riffs and synthesizers. “Crash,” the poppy title track, allows Louanges (and feature Corneille) to immerse listeners in his tumultuous relationship, which made him feel like a “crash test dummy.” We conclude our journey with “Dernière,” a solemn piano ballad in which Louanges’ relationship finally comes to an end.

Although Louanges seems to be unlucky in love, this experience clearly provided him with ample resources to translate to his music — and if “Crash,” with its many genre-bending complexities, is all he has to show for it, this relationship was certainly worth it in the end.