In April of 2023, as Montreal’s winter stubbornly abided, between tunes at a Hay Babies rehearsal, Katrine said, half-jokingly: “We can’t seem to find time to make this album. Why don’t we go to Louisiana or something?”
Julie and Vivianne missed the joke, but caught the genius: Like many Acadians, the three girls felt a deep-rooted connection to Cajun culture, and always met a warm welcome in the Bayou. They booked flights south that very evening.
The band was already well-connected in Louisiana and were offered lodgings in an ancestral house just outside Lafayette, complete with farm, garden, sugarcane field—and even loaner instruments! Their generous welcome meant that their schedule quickly filled up with shows, chance chats with French speakers eager to release their pent-up paroles, and family namesakes (maybe distant relatives?). So it wasn’t long before they stopped accepting dinner invitations in order to concentrate on their Louisiana mission: writing music.
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Their previous album Boîte aux lettres was a concept album, narrative in nature; whereas Tintamarre is thematic, focused on pan-Acadian identity and its innate joie de vivre, distinct voice, and all-encompassing pride. Louisiana is a dynamic place: Everything and everyone is constantly in motion. Tintamarre captures that eclectic vibe deftly with party tunes that span musical idioms from country, to roots, to classic rock; and lyrical topics from communities, to celebrations, to recipes.
