Singer-songwriter Dominique Fils-Aimé centres herself through dreamlike song
Coastal Jazz presents the Montreal star whose new Our Roots Run Deep dives ever further into her mesmerizing search for self
Photo by Jetro Emilcar
Coastal Jazz and Blues Society presents Dominique Fils-Aimé at the Fortune Sound Club on February 22 at 8 pm
JUNO AWARD–WINNING SINGER-SONGWRITER Dominique Fils-Aimé’s stage presence guides audiences on a musical journey through the soul on February 22 at Fortune Sound Club.
Drawing upon the history of African-American music and jazz and soul influences, the Montreal-based, Haitian-Québécois singer interweaves the cultural, personal, and political aspects of her experiences, creating powerful contemporary music for our times. Fils-Aimé’s album Stay Tuned!, which she describes as “a call for revolution”, won Vocal Jazz Album of the Year at the 2020 JUNO awards, and she has recently been nominated for the award again with her newest album, Our Roots Run Deep, which begins a new trilogy of albums that dive ever further into her search for self.
“I knew that I wanted to start a new trilogy, and the first part was definitely meant for me to be more open and vulnerable and centred around my emotions,” Fils-Aimé says of her new album in a phone interview with Stir. “It’s about welcoming people into my world, and stepping into a more modern aspect, in the sense that the first trilogy was definitely looking back at different musical styles.”
Roots Run Deep is Fils-Aimé’s fourth studio album. Each track flows seamlessly together, creating an ongoing experience that invites the listener into a dreamlike state, illustrating a journey of personal and spiritual growth that began when Fils-Aimé began experiencing health struggles.
“I had a back issue that forced me into bed for quite a while, and being there and living with physical pain was something new to me,” Fils-Aimé says. “Being in this uncomfortable space inspired the album. I felt like there were so many parallels, as if I was forced to stop and look around, meditate, and reconnect with gratitude to find ways to actually make space for pain and joy. Pain and gratitude can coexist.”
Fils-Aimé’s realizations during this time guided her to foster deeper connections with the natural world and her ancestors, inspiring the imagery for the album—whether that’s plants, trees, or fire.
“It was definitely a process that I wanted to share and bring to life through music, as well as the gratitude I had for all the ancestors who allowed me to be where I am, and to live this life of freedom,” Fils-Aimé continues. “It was a mix of all these things—the ancestors, the parallel between humans and plants, and roots. What does it mean to be connected to your roots? To be grounded?”
Fils-Aimé is able to re-create the experiential journey the album takes live, forgoing applause between songs in favour of creating an atmospheric voyage through her setlist.
“Everything is made of frequency, and I really believe that we can put intentions in those frequencies,” Fils-Aimé says. “Everything that we put in as a band is full of human emotions, empathy, and love.
“My dream is for people to just sit there and take it in, because I’ve always felt uncomfortable with the classical format of I talk a little, I sing a song, you clap,” she continues. “It snaps me out of the bubble, and I just want that continuous moment of frequencies constantly taking us on a journey, where people can close their eyes and the performance can become a form of meditation.”
For Fils-Aimé, music is a quest into her inner landscape that has created powerful moments of spiritual revelation, which she hopes to share with others. She first began pursuing music professionally while working within the mental-health sector, realizing the impact that singing had on her own spiritual and psychological wellbeing.
“I realized that music was definitely the best form of therapy I could provide for myself, and I decided to see if it could be something I could also provide for others,” Fils-Aimé says. “As I started dabbling in creation and harmonies, I found myself in a place that made way more sense and made me feel at home.
“A funny thing that's been happening with my songwriting is that sometimes it just comes out,” she continues. “So I can't even know exactly why these lyrics came, but it's as if later on in life or after singing it over and over on stage, they’ll have a new meaning that applies to me. It's as if I tell myself what I need to hear for later.”
And so, in the meditative title track, against stripped-down instrumentation and chirping birds and frogs, she becomes one with a tree that stands still in the forest (“I’m not asleep/I’m just resting my soul”), and reminds herself that “Our roots run deep underground”. In the layered singing of “Quiet Down the Voices”, she centres herself mesmerizingly with the rhythmic mantra “Quiet down the voices in your head/hush, hush.” In the hypnotic “My Mind at Ease”, she calmly sends her bad thoughts away by repeating “What I gotta do, What I gotta do/get some peace and quiet/What I gotta do, What I gotta do/get rid o’ you”.
“There is something connecting us that is bigger, and there are frequencies that we don't see, but are definitely real and impacting one another,” Fils-Aimé concludes. “Knowing that my music is able to reach other people and perhaps bring some kind of soothing moment in their lives has always been the thing that touches my heart the most.”
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