Quebec group presents gorgeous downtempo love songs and a new album coming soon
KURATED NO. 127
DEBUT ALBUM ANNOUNCED
Heaven, Wait by Ghostly Kisses
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CONTENTS

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Singing with an airy and compelling voice over downtempo compositions, Margaux Sauvé is the inspiration behind Montreal-based Ghostly Kisses

DELIVERING GHOSTLY KISSES

Subtle Quebec chanteuse set to release first full album

Margaux Suave’s intimate and quietly insistent vocals land with gentle force on the ear and heart, taking listeners to interior landscapes – hers and, perhaps, yours. “Ghostly kisses” – her group’s performing name – is an apt description of her musical effect. She borrowed the phrase from the William Faulkner poem Une Ballade des Femmes Perdues.

The classically trained violinist presents her love songs with airy restraint and mature remove. They are delicate and insightful evocations of elusive, lost or unrequited love; felt declarations of its presence, or not, between two people or among friends and family.

Last month, Ghostly Kisses released the title track from their upcoming first album, Heaven, Wait. Sauvé says the song “…is about transitions: from friendship to love, life to death, solitude to relationship, childhood to adulthood. A transition from the dark towards the light; from difficult experiences to being at peace with these events.”

Since releasing her first songs in 2015 the Quebec singer has shaped a subtle and evolving soundscape for her downtempo music. For the past few years she has been composing and playing with her musical and life partner, neo-classical pianist Louis-Étienne Santais. Their compelling live performances often feature simple voice and piano arrangements played in spare settings such as community centre halls or, recently, in Quebec City’s Le Grand Salon. Studio works ride on undercurrents of trip-hop and understated electronic effects. Sauvé cites a range of musical influences. From the 90s she includes Dido, Massive Attack and Portishead. More recent favourites are London Grammar vocalist Hannah Reid and US singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens.

Ghostly Kisses’ orchestral arrangements, such as those in last year’s gorgeous live performance of Where Do Lovers Go? or the studio version of Touch, feature a nuanced blend of strings, keyboards and guitars – sometimes dramatic and sometimes chill. All the songs beautifully foreground Sauvé’s primarily English vocals.

The group’s career path seems as unhurried as its music. Authors of four EPs and numerous singles, their upcoming first full album is set for release on January 21 of 2022. The band has been slowly and steadily cultivating a large and devoted audience through its collection of well-produced videos and dozens of tunes on streaming services. They have hundreds of thousands of followers on Spotify and YouTube combining for tens of millions of streams of their songs, all of which should make for an eager and receptive audience for their upcoming release.

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Kris Sig Plastic V3
16 October 2021

PLAYLISTS

Spotify

YouTube

Interview on CBC Music’s The Intro

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Link to the interview here
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Images from the Ghostly Kisses Instagram page