Hubert Lenoir, our artist of the year
Hubert Lenoir's second album, the experimental and extraordinary “Pictura de ipse: Direct Music”, was praised in 2022.
Singer-songwriter Hubert Lenoir is the artist of the year, according to Métro. Because his second album, the experimental and extraordinary Pictura de ipse: Direct music, won him a host of awards. Because he moved his furiously exciting show all summer long to the stages of Quebec's flagship festivals. And, above all, because it asserts itself without concession.
Abounding with ideas  ;
” I feel that there is a before and an after-Pictura “, begins Hubert Chiasson, his real name, in an interview with Subway. “I am extremely proud to have executed my idea, the rendering of the album and the doors it opened for me with many artists in France, but also doors in my head, possibilities. The success of this album proved to me that I could do what I wanted, that I could trust my ideas and keep going in that direction. »
And ideas, the 28-year-old artist has his head full: music, shows, collaborations. His “obsession” is to let them spring up and accomplish them, without formalizing predefined plans. He knows it: his two albums are just “the tip of the iceberg” of all that may happen.
If he cannot reveal more for the moment, Hubert Lenoir slips that he is currently working on film music, in addition to collaborating with other artists.
“That's another obsession right now: trying to get others on board with my projects. I don't always need to execute my ideas myself, to hold the main role, because they are not necessarily adapted to my person,” says the resident of Saint-Roch, in Quebec, where he lives with his partner, Noémie D.Leclerc.
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Although writing songs for others turns him on, he still wants to compose and perform his own music, assures the one who considers himself at first sight as “someone who writes music and albums”.
“Writing an album remains for me the most interesting way of telling a musical idea. I still believe that it is the most relevant, or at least, what artistically attracts me the most”, explains the author of Secret. ;
From the United States to France
Among his most significant moments of the year, Hubert Lenoir underlines his tours in the United States and France — including two sold-out concerts in Paris —, evoking by the tape his concert at the Francos de Montréal, his ” more big show for life”.
I think my audience grows because my vision music evolves, my way of working evolves. My new ideas will maybe find people who didn't know what I was doing, but who the album will speak to.
Hubert Lenoir, singer-songwriter
After devoting himself to the creation of Pictura de ipseduring the pandemic, it was in the land of Uncle Sam that Hubert reconnected with his audience.
“That our first show was in Virginia and people who don't speak French sang the lyrics, it was a feeling extremely weird. After so long not doing shows, it was sick,” he recalls.
In France, the reception towards him has increased, he noted, admitting to having felt an effect of consecration. In Paris, people recognized him, and some of his French idols even told him they liked his music.
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“Wherever I went, something was happening around my music and the album, marvels Hubert Lenoir. It was also really cool humanly.” Because beyond the art of the performance, he truly cherishes the contact with the public.
Praises of an idol and the public
Hubert Lenoir had a great moment in September, when Robert Charlebois paid him a vibrant tribute at the SPACQ Foundation gala. The one he deeply admires described him as a descendant of Trenet, Aznavour and Ferré, three artists who, in the eyes of the author of I will return to Montreal, were revolutionaries before to become classics. “ I was on cloud nine for six days after ,” said the Baron bandit.
“ Robert Charlebois represents so much for me the symbol of being who we are as an artist, he explains. I admire him for his music, but also for the ideology behind what he does. And when you meet someone whose ideology you admire, it seems like you want to make them proud, so they don't see you as a fake ass. We connect on the fact of being of our time, of trying things, of doing things that make us trip and that make others trip. »
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In this vein, the most important victory at the ADISQ galas for Hubert is not to have left with Félix's overflowing arms, but although an atypical album like his has obtained so much recognition and that he has been able to offer a performance as he saw fit, even if it meant disturbing.
He also won the prize he most wanted, that of performer of the year, awarded by the public. A way for him to refute people who claim that no one likes his music. “I can't just be listened to in a microcosm of Montreal if I win the audience award. It proves that people support me,” he says, hoping that this recognition will open doors for them, for him and for all those who free themselves from the norms.
< p>Faced with the profusion of artists from various horizons, Hubert Lenoir would be delighted to perceive more curiosity and openness towards what is being done in music. We hope that his wish comes true.
