Just Us Folk

At this year’s Canadian Folk Music Awards, Sirène et Matelot were nominated for French Songwriters of the Year. The duo, made up of Lennie Gallant and his partner Patricia Richard, were recognized for their work on their album Un monde de dissonances. It is their second album together, and while they didn’t win, they’re still proud of the material they produced on the joint project.

In English, the album title translates to A World Of Dissonances, which for Patricia and Lennie sums up the state of the world. The thought behind making the album was to write songs that embrace love, beauty and everything that’s good in the world.

The songs reflect life on the east coast of Canada in general, and in a couple of songs, their rich Acadian culture.

“I’ve always been in projects where my Acadian roots show because that’s where I really feel it,” said Patricia. “I have to be authentic when I’m performing.”

Patricia has a lengthy career as an Acadian artist with a variety of groups, most notably, Panou. She was also a featured performer of the award-winning musical “Ode à l’Acadie” which toured around the world and recorded an album.

Lennie is one of Canada’s finest singer-songwriters who has released thirteen solo albums in a career spanning back to the 1980s.

Despite growing up in the French community of Rustico, PEI, it wasn’t until 2002 that he released his first French-language album, Le vent bohème. He followed that up with Le Couer Hantè in 2009.

Patricia encouraged Lennie to write more songs in French, since Francophone audiences seemed to respond well to his music. Lennie suggested they write together, which was how the idea for Sirène et Matelot was formed.

“We tried to write a few songs together and it just clicked,” said Patricia. “It was magical. I mean, who doesn’t want to write with Lennie Gallant?”

“Oh I could give you a list!” Lennie responded with a chuckle.

From there, they released their self-titled album in 2019, followed by Un monde de dissonances in 2023.

Amongst the songs on the second album is ‘Les chevaux de l’Île de Sable’, which is about the wild horses of Sable Island. A good friend of Lennie’s is the main guide on the island and the two of them have talked for years about how today’s horses are direct descendants of the horses that were taken from Acadians in 1755.

There’s also a French version of the song Lennie wrote with Jimmy Buffett and Mac McAnally in tribute to French singer Johnny Hallyday. The legendary singer was credited with bringing rock and roll to France in the early 1960s.

The connection between Lennie and Jimmy Buffett goes back to the early 2000s when Jimmy recorded Lennie’s song, ‘Mademoiselle (Voulez-Vous Danser)’.

Besides the tribute song, Lennie and Jimmy also collaborated on a song called ‘Portugal or PEI’.  Both songs were included on Jimmy’s final album, Equal Strain On All Parts. Jimmy was supposed to visit PEI in the summer of 2023 but plans kept getting delayed.

“Eight days before he passed, Jimmy texted me to say he was going in for treatments and wondered if October would be good for a visit.”

Since Jimmy was never able to visit the island, Lennie and Patricia honoured him by doing a series of six videos from locations that are mentioned in “Portugal or PEI.” You can find them on YouTube.

Lennie’s newest English-language album, Shelter From The Storms, is due for an early June release. While a Lennie Gallant concert differs from one by Sirène et Matelot, there’s always the opportunity to do one or two French songs, since Patricia is part of Lennie’s band.

“As artists it really reflects who we are,” said Patricia. “We’re able to express ourselves through our songs in both languages.”

For more on Sirène et Matelot and Un monde de dissonances, go to https://sireneetmatelot.com/