Aline Winant presented North, her first bilingual album, produced by Étienne Hamel (Nicolet). An actress and singer-songwriter from Montreal of Belgian origin, she traces, through inhabited poetry, the contours of roots and self-reinvention. Carried by an introspective folk music with careful arrangements, its nine pieces sit like a balm in the heart of winter.
For this project, she surrounded herself with Étienne Dupré (Duu, zouz, Klô Pelgag) on bass, Renaud Gratton on trombone, Guillaume Guibault (Ariane Moffatt) on keyboards and Mandela Coupal-Dagleish (Mon deux Saigneur, Alex Burger, Patche) on drums. Trained actress (Royal, Une fin, Extérieur/Nuit), Aline Winant composed her first songs during the pandemic and begins a collaboration in 2024 with Étienne Hamel (Nicolet), which will lead her to North. Marked by her career in theater, cinema and dance, Aline develops a narrative and sensory universe, where pictorial writing constantly questions the body, vulnerability and sensuality.
ABOUT THE ALBUM Written throughout Aline Winant’s tenth year in Montreal, far from her native Belgium, the album celebrates a slow rooting and reinvention of oneself. Aline’s writing, nourished by her career as an actress, explores the relationship with the past, the body and memory. Always in tension between appeasement and loss of bearings, his music like his words are sometimes light and airy, sometimes raw and vibrant.
North
1. Safe and Sound2. Monica3. North4. Blur5. A Different Man6. Slow Dancer7. Here8. Water9. Without Reason
Cover credit: photo Alessia Pizzanelli colorization Jocelyne Laliberté graphics Elena BolletteCREDITS Lyrics and music Aline Winant Guitar Aline Winant, Étienne Hamel Trombone Renaud Gratton Piano Guillaume Guibault Keyboard Étienne Hamel, Étienne Dupré Bass Étienne Dupré Drums Mandela Coupal-Dagleis Production and mixing Étienne Hamel Mastering Francis Ledoux Recorded at Studio Waterhouse, Sutton UPC 3618026990631 Distributed by Happy Life via Believe
ABOUT THE FOCUS TRACK “WATER” Carried by catchy acoustic guitars and a luminous choir, “Water” brings lightness where life sometimes hardens us. Written in response to a dear friend who said “I’m afraid of becoming a stone,” the song celebrates movement, softness and the possibility of remaining porous to the world.
ABOUT Line Winant is an actress and singer-songwriter. Born in Belgium, raised in Germany and settled in Quebec, she transforms uprooting into a poetic and sensitive subject. After having distinguished herself in theater, television and cinema (Royal, Une fin, Extérieur/Nuit, Liam, Peau à Peau), she reveals herself in music with Suddenly Everyone’s a Stranger in My Family (2023), a first bilingual EP with cinematic and ethereal atmospheres. This project brings her to the stages of the Montreal Pop Festival and Santa Teresa, as well as opening acts for Shaina Hayes, Vanille and Velours Velours. Marked by her career in theater, cinema and dance, Aline develops a narrative and sensory universe, where pictorial writing constantly questions the body, vulnerability and sensuality.