The lyrics, “because you’re intellectualizing the music of the soul,” can be quite jarring for a music journalist reviewing a new album. And on my first listen through Dominique Fils-Aimé’s My World Is The Sun, those words hit me like a ton of bricks. Ultimately, the thought helped me let go of my list of instruments, key changes, and cerebral notes about the music. And instead, to simply receive it–I lay down, closed my eyes, and let it wash over me.
My World is the Sun is a musical bubble bath. Dominique’s voice soothes like warm water, and the rhythms and instruments enliven the soul like rich salts. The album opens with a gentle acoustic guitar with an old French vocalist, followed by a sound healing of ocean waves, chanting, and gongs; Dominque’s voice shining above all.
The messaging of the album centers around love and peace:
“May our thoughts gather as one.” “May freedom become you.” “All the love on this earth was made for you.”
Her music sits at the intersection of jazz, soul, and blues with an entanglement of the French and English languages, and a nod to mother Africa. Dominique was born and raised in Montreal, Canada, to parents who had migrated from Haiti. She got her first taste of the spotlight in 2015 on the Canadian version of “The Voice (La Voix)”, where she competed as a semi-finalist. Her debut album Nameless came out three years later. The awards soon followed, along with invitations to share her gifts across the world.
My World is the Sun is a cohesive vision of soul music. But don’t mistake it for monotonous. There is a great variety in the tempo and energy of each track. The song “Echappée Belle” shows off Dominique’s bilingual talents, while “Phoenix Rising” expresses a deep acknowledgement of surrender with the words, “Fire rain down on me.” Songs like “River” and “Catch Release” quicken the pace. Others like “Rhythm of Nature” provide over eight minutes of stillness, deepness, and contemplation. There are moments of trumpet, piano, and bass, all interspersed thoughtfully for your listening pleasure.
My personal favorite track is “Life Remains”, which touches down on allowing the music to simply affect your being, and not allowing your judgments of an artist (or any person) to affect this bliss of the moment that could be. If you’re lucky enough to find yourself with a brown liquor or red wine in hand, dark mahogany walls and velvet cushions, with Fils-Aimé singing in the background, be sure to soak it all in, and don’t try to “intellectualize it”.
Fils-Aimé will have a tour for this new album beginning in her hometown of Montreal on the date of the album release, February 20th. See the dates linked here. Listen to her latest single here.
The Indy Review 