Acadian singer-songwriter, Lisa LeBlanc returns with her sixth album, Patchwork, a personal yet relatable record blending rock and folk music with a sprinkling of traditional influences. The new record co-prouced by Lisa and her longtime studio and live collaborator Benoit Morier, as well as Eric Heigle (Lost Bayou Ramblers), offers an observation of everyday life set to music with sensitivity and humour.
The roots of Patchwork stretch from Moncton, New Brunswick, to Lafayette, Louisiana, two cities separated by more than 3,500 kilometres, a distance that Lisa LeBlanc travelled in her van during a two-month road trip. In the years leading up to the recording of her sixth album, the Acadian musician also spent time in Corsica, which inspired the ballad “Tolla”, where the rugged landscapes struck her, and in Ireland, where the cliffs and traditional music festivals brought her a new creative spark.
Though nature plays a significant role on this new album, Lisa channels her love for 60s and 70s folk and rock to create a rich tapestry of melodies, harmonies, and grooves, as one can hear on the opening track “A Fleeting Thought Becomes Another Fleeting Thought” nodding to Fleetwood Mac’s golden era or on “Landscapes” which is infused with a melancholic baroque-pop feel.
Lisa also draws inspiration from Cajun and Acadian music, thus crafting an original, timeless sound that only she could have come up with. While she plays the violin on the old-timey album closer “Bring Out the Fiddle” and on “St-Vincent de Paul”, the album’s only French song, she also uses her banjo as a rock instrument on “Satisfied”, a powerful yet contemplative number. She even leans into heavier territory with “Pleasure Way”, an ecstatic uptempo tribute to her camper van.
Though “Patchwork” explores themes such as the pursuit of contentment and self-doubt, Lisa LeBlanc also infuses it with her trademark sense of humour, as evidenced by songs such as the surf rock-tinged “Whole Lotta Talkin’” or the country-meets-funk “Too Many Cooks”.
Among the musicians who contributed to the album are Ben Tanner (Alabama Shakes), Ben Alleman (Dr. John, Social Distortion), Mico Roy and Léandre Bourgeois from the legendary Acadian rock band Les Hôtesses d’Hilaire, Cédric Dind-Lavoie, Andrew Creeggan (Barenaked Ladies), Chad Viator and many others.
