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What she does with her voice is absolutely incredible.
Dominique Fils-Aimé’s voice – a defined, sinewy muscle – guides her across a constellation of genres and eras in a robust trilogy dedicated to the history of Black music.
JUNO Award-winning R&B songstress Dominique Fils-Aimé releases her fourth full-length project with clear, tight harmonized a cappella vocals throughout, and using bare minimal instrumentals, relying instead on syncopated inflection and a great use of dynamics, vocal leaps and scat stylings. Fils-Aimé presents haunting lead melody lines and a delicious full sound, with precise delivery and gorgeous melismas. Acoustic bass, minimal drumkit sounds, and muted trumpet build over scat intros with stunning mix and production quality shining through.
On ‘Our Roots Run Deep‘, Dominique Fils-Aimé offers a humanist side to healing where mind, soul and body connect to word, rhythm and imagery. It’s an album that dreams in lush colours, a stunning work of folk-magic and fellowship.
About the album Our Roots Run Deep:
(Title: These 14 highly anticipated albums will be your fall soundtrack)
A real tour de force vocal performance by Fils-Aimé, which subtly incorporates elements of R&B, jazz and gospel.
Dominique Fils-Aimé Fertilizes a Network of Communication Between Souls with New Single “Our Roots Run Deep”.
A heavyhearted, bluesy guitar opens “Like Mama Said,” the lead track from Dominique Fils-Aimé’s EP “The Red,” but not even the song’s aching chords can match the emotion that the Canadian singer conveys with her voice. She fills every nook and cranny of the melody, and her tone is so tender and disarming that it’s won her comparisons to such bygone greats as Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday. Still, the 2019 Polaris-nominated artist doesn’t imitate the past—she uses its inspirations to compose contemporary soul that tackles oppression and offers hope for the present day.
Fils-Aimé’s powerful vocals and chorus create a steady beat with a deliberate cadence, soothing and empowering listeners.”
The Haitian-Québécois singer, songwriter and arranger is considered a rising star in vocal jazz; that’s the category in which her previous album won a JUNO Award—the Canadian equivalent of a Grammy—last year. But she relates to jazz more as a mindset, one that’s wide open to elegant vocal exploration. Her own voice–reedy, lustrous and continually fanning out in downy harmony, sculpted counterpoint and frisky licks that could easily be played on instruments–is her most important accompaniment.”
Her songs are haunting, often feeling as though they came from a place of both struggle and strength, and leave you hypnotized and singing softly to yourself.
Taking those influences into the future produces a contemporary groove that is along the lines of similarly powerful and inspired composers
These societal issues that Dominique Fils-Aimé skillfully puts on the table with each song and which give this project a rare resonance and depth.
Words is an infectious, original work, one that solidifies Dominique Fils-Aimé as a grounding force in contemporary jazz…
On her latest record and the final installment of her album trilogy, Dominique Fils-Aimé is simply glowing. Three Little Words serves as a reminder of the artistic richness of the African diaspora and the timeless power of African-American musical traditions, but it’s also just a wonderful collection of songs and performances.
NPR New Music Friday: The top 8 albums: “the stunning voice of singer Dominique Fils-Aime”
Three Little Words in summary is dense, heartfelt, and thought-provoking all at once. There are so many layers to unpack as she brings a unique human experience on wax that is relatable and vivid.