Like nature, Klô Pelgag has its cycle and it welcomes each of its seasons with joy. After the tour of Our Lady of Seven Sorrows (2020), the artist was impatient to reconnect with creation. And as the release of his sound approachesAbracadabra this Friday, she is excited to get back on stage to present the fruits of her labor.
“I like to let time pass between my albums to have time to develop my practice so that the next album is a step above,” mentions the singer-songwriter from Bas-Saint-Laurent.
Each new project comes with new challenges for this artist who constantly wants to surpass herself.
Thus, after having teamed up with Sylvain Deschamps, she took on the production ofAbracadabra.
“It’s a good challenge, but I think I was there,” says Klô Pelgag, even if this decision was somewhat imposed following a combination of circumstances.
Describing herself as a loyal person, she explains that her accomplice Sylvain Deschamps was not able to support her in the production of her new album. Encouraged by those around her, she decided to take the plunge.
“It’s something that happens to me often in life: to find myself faced with obstacles, to be very afraid, to bawl a lot and, then, to kick my ass and go for it,” says Chloé Pelletier Gagnon, her real name.
“I learned a lot, I worked a lot, I also worshiped and I arrived at a moment where I had greater freedom than before.”
— Klô Pelgag, singer-songwriter
Freedom has always been something important to Klô Pelgag. This is what she admires in artists like Björk.
“And freedom isn’t just about doing what I want when I want: it’s about detaching oneself from the gaze of others too,” she argues, echoing the words of Libre.
To a certain extent, success can become a prison for those who hope to see it last or be repeated, observes the artist who won 13 Félix awards in 2021.
For her part, she does not feel “chained” to this success. Chance has a lot to do with the popularity and recognition that a project enjoys, she believes.
Of freedom and contrasts
In addition to being alone at the helm of her album, Klô Pelgag felt her freedom expand as she developed her mastery of synthesizers. They dominate the musical landscape ofAbracadabra.
“It was a big revelation when I was doing Our Lady of Seven Sorrows : it changed the way I write,” says the self-taught musician.
Synthesizers allow him greater autonomy and to reach the limits of his creativity without being held back by his limits as a performer.
All the same, she does not shy away from acoustic instruments and once again surrounds herself with an army of strings.
“In all my other albums, the strings and the piano were the main players. This time, they are there sporadically to punctuate the songs, but that’s not the main thing. There are just enough acoustic instruments to make the contrast interesting,” she explains.
Klô Pelgag believes that these new experiences have made her a better musician. She also thinks she has produced the most luminous album of her career.
“People tell me that the album is luminous and that makes me so happy, because I aspire to that. We need softness and light,” she declares.
Thriving in adversity
The light that shines through her songs seems to come from the love that we feel around her in her lyrics. The artist confirms that she feels well supported these days, both in friendship and love, as well as in her professional and family life.
Embracing the artistic gesture of life and the poetry inherent in it, Klô Pelgag addresses her role as a mother in Letter to a young poet and subtly makes us hear the voice of his child on Faceless.
Despite this, some shadows arise on this elegant and soaring album. Particularly in the latest compositions where there is talk of the end of the world and suicide.
“Suicide is one of the things that exist in life and it’s something I thought about when I was younger so I talk about it. We can’t just talk about beautiful things in music, otherwise there is nothing true and no one recognizes themselves,” argues the artist who likes to “dance in front of the precipice”.
Moreover, the portrait she paints of her personal happiness contrasts with that of the world she observed during the creation of her album.
“I feel like everything is fucking violent around,” she laments, evoking wars, genocides, the housing crisis, the lack of empathy…
“I feel so helpless,” confides the artist who feels that, in this context, she can only “let go Abracadabra disillusioned,” just in case it worked.
“That’s all we have left: the hope that something magical will happen and solve all this,” concludes Klô Pelgag.
Klô Pelgag is going on tour again in 2025. She will start by visiting Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Varenne, Saint-Eustache and Saint-Casimir in February. Then, after an incursion into Europe, it will pass through Saguenay and Quebec on April 25 and 26 respectively. Montreal, Sherbrooke, Gatineau will follow. Shows are announced until 2026. All dates here.
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