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Myriam Gendron, 'Solace'

One of 2014's quiet surprises was Not So Deep As A Well, in which Montreal's Myriam Gendron set Dorothy Parker's poetry to little more than an acoustic guitar and a wry, wistful voice. Just when you think Parker's words have worn away Gendron, the singer twists or repeats a phrase in a way that unexpectedly cuts deeper, or even skews absurd.

In a video for "Solace," roses explode from a plucked head and birds topple mustachioed men from stems, with a stop-motion-animation technique that recalls Terry Gilliam's work for Monty Python. Gendron writes:

The music video for "Solace" was created by two Montreal-based artists, Anick Beaulieu and Gigi Perron. Gigi mostly draws and paints, and Anick makes short films when she's not working at her fishing camp in Temiscaming (western Quebec). They make a great team: Gigi has a thousand ideas per minute, and Anick is very meticulous and has a great sense of rhythm. "Solace" is their third project together. They used the stop-motion technique for this video. It contains, more or less, 3,600 photos. It was made on three superimposed window panes with black sesame seeds and collages of old prints.

A reissue of Not So Deep As A Well is out now on Mama Bird Recording Co.

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