Alexandra Stréliski dévoile aujourd’hui un quatrième extrait intitulé Lumières tiré de son album à paraître Néo-Romance, disponible partout le 31 mars prochain via Secret City Records au Canada et XXIM Records dans le reste du monde. Pour Alexandra, Lumières est une pièce fantaisiste qui raconte une histoire. Elle s’inspire du siècle des Lumières où les convives se réunissaient dans les salons français pour discuter de grandes (et de moins grandes) idées.

Lumières (extrait)

Cet extrait donne suite aux trois premières chansons sorties récemment: The Hills une pièce qui parle des aléas de notre condition humaine, selon Alexandra ainsi qu’Élégie, un dernier adieu a quelqu'un qu'on aimait et BORDERS, un souhait d’unité dans un monde de plus en plus divisé. Les pièces Élégie et BORDERS se sont retrouvées au numéro 1 des ventes des chansons au Québec.

Pour Néo-Romance, la pianiste et compositrice Alexandra Stréliski s’est posé une question. Fascinée par le romantisme, les romantiques et leur relation super sombre avec la nature, elle s’est demandé ce que tout cela signifiait dans ce monde moderne que nous avons créé. Le passé, la liberté sans restriction, le dévouement à la beauté — tous ces grands thèmes romantiques, mais exprimés de façon post-moderne , explique-t-elle. Comment peut-on demeurer dans cet imaginaire malgré l’époque de peur et de désillusion dans laquelle on vit? C’est la prémisse et le contexte de l’album. 

La musique d’Alexandra Stréliski, c’est plus de 330 millions d’écoutes en continu à travers le monde. INSCAPE, c’est plus de 168 000 albums vendus et écoutés au Canada seulement, une certification double platine, cinq Félix en carrière et un prix JUNO (Album instrumental de l’année). C’est aussi l’un des trois meilleurs vendeurs de l’année 2019 et 2020 au Québec, récipiendaire de l’album de l’année au Independent Music Awards et nommé sur la longue liste du prestigieux Prix de Musique Polaris 2019. Ses pièces ont été entendues dans Sharp Objects et la table ronde de Big Little Lies Season 2 de HBO ainsi qu’au défilé d’Hugo Boss au New York Fashion Week. L’album a grimpé sur les palmarès de ventes de musique classique dans plus de 20 pays à travers le monde. Le spectacle INSCAPE a reçu un billet d’argent de l’ADISQ et a vendu plus de 40 000 billets à travers la province. Pianoscope - le premier opus de Stréliski est certifié or au Canada et ses pièces ont été entendues dans Dallas Buyers Club, Demolition et à la cérémonie des oscars en 2014.

Billboard a décrit Stréliski comme l’une des plus importantes nouvelles vedettes du classique moderne et Noisey a déclaré que sa musique est un contraste de profondeur et de fragilité qui ressemble étrangement à la condition humaine elle-même.

Today Alexandra Stréliski shares a fourth single, Lumières, off her upcoming album Néo-Romance, to be released March 31 via Secret City Records in Canada and XXIM Records in the rest of the world. For Alexandra, Lumières is a whimsical piece that tells a story. It's inspired by the Age of Enlightenment, the “siècle des Lumières,” when people would gather in French living rooms to discuss great (and not so great) ideas.

Click here to watch the Lumières music video directed by Laurence Baz Morais — click HERE.

This new single follows the first three songs previously released: The hills, a song about the hazards of the human condition, according to Alexandra, as well as Élégie, a final farewell to someone you loved, and BORDERS, an ode to tolerance, wishing for unity in an increasingly divided world. Élégie and BORDERS hit #1 in sales among Francophone songs in Quebec.

This single follows the first two songs that were released in November and January: The Hills, a song about the hazards of the human condition, according to Alexandra, as well as Élégie, a final farewell to someone you loved. The latter became #1 in sales among Francophone songs in Quebec. It features string arrangements written by Alexandra herself and played by the Belgian-Polish quartet Karski.

The composer recently announced a series of concerts she will play this spring, including dates in Europe and the United States, as well as two nights at the Place des Arts in Montreal and three at the Grand Théâtre de Québec. The Néo-Romance concert is directed by Cirque Le Roux, the same French company that created the scenography for the INSCAPE concert. For the Canadian dates, Alexandra will be joined by a string trio. Tickets are selling out fast! Click here.

For Néo-Romance, pianist and composer Alexandra Stréliski pondered a question. Intrigued by Romanticism, the romantics, and their super dark relationship to nature, she wondered what it all meant in this modern world we’ve created. The ancient past, freedom from rules, devotion to beauty, these big romantic themes, but really expressed in a post-modern way, she says. How do you remain in that imaginary world in these disillusioned, scary times we’re living through? That was the premise and setting for the album.

The subject matter of Néo-Romance was but one departure from Stréliski’s usual modus operandi. Long associated with the neo-classical movement, she wanted to distance herself from a tag that doesn’t accurately reflect her work. Inspired by the idea of encapsulating and expressing emotions through art, and the Romantics’ love of individual expression over the restraints of tradition, she set out to follow her instinct. I’m much more of a romantic in the sense that I express my own inner world to make sense of the wider world, she says. So, the thread I’m pulling on here is the idea of neo-romance, in a musical way but also as a form of contemplation.

Alexandra Stréliski has over 300 million streams worldwide. INSCAPE has sold 140,000 albums in Canada, where it is certified platinum, in addition to winning five Félix and a JUNO award (Instrumental Album of the Year). INSCAPE is also one of the three best-sellers of 2019 and 2020 in Quebec, it won Album of the Year at the Independent Music Awards, and it was nominated on the 2019 Polaris Music Prize Long List. Alexandra Stréliski’s music was heard in Sharp Objects and the Big Little Lies Season 2 round-table, both on HBO, and at the Hugo Boss fashion show during the New York Fashion Week. The album climbed the classical music charts in more than 20 countries worldwide. The INSCAPE concert received a Silver Ticket from l’ADISQ and sold more than 40,000 tickets throughout the province. Pianoscope — Stréliski’s first opus — is certified gold in Canada, and its songs have been heard in Dallas Buyers Club, Demolition, and during the Oscars ceremony in 2014.

Billboard called Stréliski one of the foremost new stars in modern classical and Noisey stated that her music is a contrast of depth and fragility that uncannily resembles the human condition itself.