10 Quebec albums that marked 2024

It was gripping, dancing, introspective, gentle, exciting or singular. Quebec Music has transported us everywhere in 2024. Before moving on to 2025, here are 10 albums to listen to if you haven’t already done so.

Shaina Hayes

With Kindergarten Heart (New window)Gaspésie Shaina Hayes taught us to reconcile the lightness of childhood and the deep reflections of adulthood. Inspired by her native village of Shigawake and the timeless harmonies of Feist and Joni Mitchell, the singer-songwriter offered luminous and sophisticated vocals.

The guitar fingerstyle sparkled, the pedal steel soared, and his angelic voice allowed listeners to reconnect with the magic of the little things that we find as much in our relationships as in nature.

The nostalgia of the game and the balanced arrangements pushed us into a modern and comforting folk country that we will need for a long time to come.

Rau_Ze

Félix Paul and Rose Perron changed our lives this year, exposing the richness of the neo-soul universe and R&B contemporary. Textures and grooves originals allowed their first album, Turn our lives around (New window)to corroborate what many had announced: the style of Les Louanges or Corneille, among others, is in the process of being renewed, multiplying and igniting youth.

Engaged, the duo explored many intimate themes: mental health, romantic relationships and the weight of daily silences. Awareness was raised during the irresistible call for movement.

The winning group of Francouvertes 2022, and Révélation - 2024-2025, has transcended genres to create a space where the rhythm heals and the lyrics touch. The result is thoughtful: a perfect alloy between head and heart.

Myriam Gendron

Intoxicating is Myriam Gendron on Mayday (New window)the continuation of her singular journey which began with an album of song settings of the poems of Dorothy Parker (Not So Deep as a Well2014). Opening up to new sound avenues, the adopted Montrealer draws inspiration from the greatest folk icons who know how to place words ahead of the rest. If his voice disconcerted us from the first moments, the sentences gave the impression of getting under our skin, of impregnating themselves in us from one listening to the next.

In full mastery of Quebec and North American folk traditions, Myriam Gendron offered us a place to settle down to let the sad and vivid emotions expand, take up all the space, then leave us.

Open in full screen mode

With Maydaythe artist has merged his roots with contemporary daring, alternating original compositions and traditional inspirations, French and English languages, and instrumental. Accompanied by artists like Jim White, Marisa Anderson and Zoh Amba, she has woven a unique world in which we will rock for a long time.

Bibi Club

With Guard light (New window)the duo formed by Adèle Trottier-Rivard and Nicolas Basque was able to capture the essence of the city, its frantic rhythm and its rough edges, to tinge it with melodies that are both airy and vibrant.

Open in full screen mode

The delicate arrangements were revealed with fluidity, while Adèle’s voice, soft and nuanced, built bridges between the complex metaphors and personal stories.

The duo was not content to stay in the traced furrows: the two accomplices juggled with light dissonances and free structures to offer a result which resembles nothing. They made us want to swim with them until Blueberry Island and quickly made us understand that it is not safe Rue du Repos that we can sleep. And yes, by listening Shloshlowe want to dance until you die.

Marie-Pierre Arthur

Marie-Pierre Arthur blew hard with the completely refreshing wind of renewal of her fifth opus: Blue album (New window).

Fifteen years after her debut, she was able to deliver a meticulous, accurate and luminous album, proving its renewed relevance.

Open in full screen mode

In collaboration with François Lafontaine and Sébastien Blais-Montpetit, she merged the rock instinct that has always inhabited her with hip-hop and R&Bto create a work without labels, rich and assertive.

His collaborations with Mantisse and Rose Perron showed his openness towards youth and what they wear, while the choruses, often epic, plunged us into an urgency to dance and feel free. And this freedom continues.

With no helmet

The return of the group With no helmet was awaited like Christmas is awaited by children this week. The sixth album from the group of Stéphane Lafleur, Joël Vaudreuil, Nicolas Moussette and Mathieu Charbonneau arrived in September, eight years after the critical and popular success ofSpecial effects.

Open in full screen mode

On Cardinal (New window)the group wanted to celebrate the present moment, to remember that the people around us won’t be there forever and that it’s better to appreciate what’s beautiful while it lasts.

The melancholy of the texts beckoned the bright moments to unfold as quickly as the sadness. We hear strong phrases on the album like I blame myself for believing that you will always be there or something sees someone who no longer sees anything. Or again, the day finishes its watch and the wind calls us names. And the sun is looking for parking in the horizon.

Poetry which needs no artifice continues its way to the ears of music lovers who greatly needed this autumn balm which touches us like a gentle journey through familiar territory.

Claw Pelgag

Klô Pelgag released a masterful fourth album this year, Abracadabra, (New window) which stands out as a major work. Driven by a quest for sonic experimentation, the artist has been able to elevate her musical language to new heights, while remaining faithful to her distinctive essence.

Open in full screen mode

By producing an album herself for the first time, she was able to reveal a rare introspection where each song is shaped like an intimate space, bathed in fragility and emancipation.

The album oscillates between orchestral audacity, electronic textures and striking melodies. Through titles like Libre, The taste of mangoes or SkylightsKlô Pelgag questions the world, while building links of solidarity and resilience. In 2024, Abracadabra was a luminous incantation against impotence, an invitation to share peace and humanity.

Good Child

Bon Enfant offered a third luminous album this fall, Special request, (New window) that celebrates rock while embracing conscious wisdom. The quintet, made up of Daphné Brissette, Guillaume Chiasson, Étienne Côté, Alex Burger and Mélissa Fortin, wanted to explore a more airy sound where bass and percussion take root, leaving behind the psychedelic impulses of yesterday.

Open in full screen mode

This assumed choice revealed musical maturity and lucid reflection on both personal and artistic limits.

Between galvanizing moments and subtle introspections, the 12 songs have shaped a framework where humanity prevails over appearance. In an era saturated with demands for perfection, Special request is intended as a humbling reminder: accept who you are and celebrate what you have. Carried by a thoughtful simplicity, this album reaffirmed Bon Enfant’s place as a pillar of current Quebec rock.

Safia Nolin

With UFO RELIGION, (New window) Safia Nolin marked the year by returning to the sources of her method. Poignant, marked by an affirmed artistic maturity and exposing a sincere simplicity, the artist’s new songs were produced in eight days, in the countryside, with Marc-André Labelle.

Open in full screen mode

UFO RELIGION was deposited near our ears in October, as a delicate response to the tumult of our times. With her voice, her guitar, and silence as raw material, Safia Nolin managed to surprise, both by singing in English and by reminding us of the purity of her first compositions.

On this new album, announced two weeks before its release, his lucid gaze traverses the collapse of the world while celebrating a disarming tenderness for humanity. Free and free from expectations, the artist was able to highlight that slowness can be subversive. UFO RELIGION is an invitation to savor the warmth of a fragile and powerful ray of sunshine.

zouz

The powerful trio Zouz has left a burning mark on the Montreal noise rock scene with Days of ashes (New window). After Dizziness in 2021, the group submitted a second album where the tension roars and the guitars scream in rare musical erudition.

As part of the Coup de coeur francophone festival, David Marchand (vocals, guitar), Étienne Dupré (bass and synthesizers) and Francis Ledoux (drums and percussion) managed to fill Club Soda with a crowd who were asking for more and were left wanting more. carried by the relentless rhythms.

Open in full screen mode

The walls shook with Days of ashes, both on stage and in our homes. This sound exploration succeeded in setting things on fire. And it will continue.