Lucas Fournier is a singer-songwriter based in Toronto, currently living in Montreal and studying music at McGill University. I stumbled across his EP, Who Are We, quite by accident, finding myself pleasantly surprised. It’s a real testament to his songwriting skills that the EP sounds so good for someone so young – if you like your folk music, this is for you!
By Jane Howkins
Title track Who Are We opens things up nicely with a pretty electric guitar melody, adding a distinctive vibe to the normally acoustic folk genre. Lucas’ vocals appear soon afterwards, having a deep clarity that adds wonders to the music. You can really feel the emotion in his vocals, especially when they hit the higher notes later on. It’s quite a slow song, but it sounds epically beautiful throughout, particularly when the percussion kicks in, before a simple electric guitar solo appears.
Friday In The Basement starts with a huge drum beat, full of cymbals and heart. It sounds really unique, particularly when tied with the slow, fingerpicked electric guitar melody that accompanies it. The guitars tail out somewhat when Lucas’ vocals appear, allowing the drums and bass to provide a nice backbone. The guitars appear once again, flowing over each other in a lovely fashion, continuing on until the breakdown towards the end, adding more variety to the track.
Brothers is more of a typical folk-rock song, introducing a strummed acoustic guitar line as the main instrumentation for the piece. The electric guitars are still present, but they’re placed further in the background, allowing the vocals to truly shine through. Lucas manages to evoke a lot of feelings on this track, especially with the way he uses his backing vocals later on in the track.
Lakeside is another more acoustic song, also featuring a pretty piano melody in the background as part of the rhythm. The thing that really stood out to me about this song is the gorgeous violin that appears at certain points in the track, adding a traditional folk vibe to the music. It breaks down in the middle, with just the strings and piano performing, before the track picks back up again. adding further diversity to the music.
Golden has more of an expansive sound, despite the slow nature of the piece. It sounds like the culmination of all Lucas’ efforts from the rest of the EP, with the strings adding a particular beauty to the music when they kick in. The track has quite a positive vibe, despite being fairly steady in terms of the rhythm. The backing vocals are used very effectively, sounding like a choir in the background.
Who Are We is a cracking EP, showing a young singer-songwriter with fantastic talents. If you like folk of any kind, Lucas Fournier’s music is for you!
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