Album Review: Joseph Edgar - Interstices

One can't talk about Marc Joseph Edgar Poirier without acknowledging what he's accomplished as a musician in the modernizing of Acadian roots that are distinctly Monctonian. Between his trailblazing achievements with Zero Degre Celsius and three prior francophone solo albums, Edgar has always been a poet with a quick tongue and an urgent message, becoming the de facto voice of a regional generation always deserving of a wider audience.

With Interstices, his fourth album in seven years, Edgar expands the musicianship of his previous solo efforts, giving a personal twist -- his signature voice is always present - to the possibilities of texture in the folk-rock genre. The guest musicians appearing on the album -- including Montreal's The In & Outs as a backing band -- allow for some songs to stroll around, wander, explore and drift around their potentials and possibilities, and what I can only assume makes for very energized live shows where the true potential of dynamics and subtleties speak volumes.

Songs like the title track have a tinge of Canadiana along the lines of Neil Young, while influences from Edgar's tours and travels to Europe and central Canada also appear throughout the album, as do the environments in which he's lived: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Montreal. Every track creates its own story and atmosphere; no two compositions on the album sound the same, making the album's title ring true throughout. Those little moments in time when everything comes together and lifts a listener's ears with curiosity, skill and craft appear time and again throughout the record.

Embodying the album is the bilingualism of the culture inherent in Edgar's craft. While the lion's share of the songs is in French, a good portion is sung in English. This attests to the coexistence of languages and reaffirms the fact that there's an interstice of cultural richness prevalent between them that speaks more than either language could ever do on its own.

- Mario Gautreau