September 22 street date. There is a cinematic quality to “Our Roots Run Deep”. Dominique Fils-Aimé frames her latest album with a loose, dreamlike narrative structure that tells a story of growth. The first track sets the stage with the phrase: “our roots run deep underground”. Along the way, there are a myriad of human challenges and forms of interference. An underlying life force presses on. The final track closes with the lyric: “let me climb all the way to the sun”. Dominique provides a spaciousness in her work by creating her own musical language. She layers a variety of catchy, wordless vocal licks that feel like mantras or prayers—repeating, soothing the nervous system, and distinguishing her sound. These patterns don’t have any literary definitions attached to them so they escape the clutches of our interpreting minds. The result is a sonic space where the listener can feel and dream alongside innovative melodic structures. “Our Roots Run Deep” is an album that can be played from start to finish. Songs move in organic sequence—flowing leisurely, falling dramatically and shaping the environment. This style of continuity allows the audience time and space to sink into Dominique’s world on a trip of their own.
September 22 street date. There is a cinematic quality to “Our Roots Run Deep”. Dominique Fils-Aimé frames her latest album with a loose, dreamlike narrative structure that tells a story of growth. The first track sets the stage with the phrase: “our roots run deep underground”. Along the way, there are a myriad of human challenges and forms of interference. An underlying life force presses on. The final track closes with the lyric: “let me climb all the way to the sun”. Dominique provides a spaciousness in her work by creating her own musical language. She layers a variety of catchy, wordless vocal licks that feel like mantras or prayers—repeating, soothing the nervous system, and distinguishing her sound. These patterns don’t have any literary definitions attached to them so they escape the clutches of our interpreting minds. The result is a sonic space where the listener can feel and dream alongside innovative melodic structures. “Our Roots Run Deep” is an album that can be played from start to finish. Songs move in organic sequence—flowing leisurely, falling dramatically and shaping the environment. This style of continuity allows the audience time and space to sink into Dominique’s world on a trip of their own. "Our Roots Run Deep" made CBC's list of "Canadian albums we can't wait to hear in 2023"
Available now. Dominique Fils-Aimé’s debut full length ‘Nameless’ draws inspiration from a poem by Maya Angelou, “Still I Rise”. A writer, poet and civil rights activist, Angelou’s universal poem sends out a powerful message of hope in the name of those who are being oppressed and their ability to rise against injustice. Soothing, fiery, emotional, the album takes place overnight between dusk and dawn and pays homage to the resilience of the human spirit in the face of adversity. It took a year and a half to make this album during which Dominique Fils-Aimé researched the history and musical forms of blues and work songs and how African-American figures from the first half of the 20th century influenced the course of music. ‘Nameless’ is a socially engaged album in which Dominique lends her voice and rebellious energy to those oppressed. With the help of her best musicians, the album’s strong and uncluttered sound mainly relies on the use of drums, the upright bass, the guitar and keys to make room for Dominique’s sometimes smooth sometimes strong and firm voice backed by rich vocal harmonies.
Available now. 'Stay Tuned!' is Dominique Fils-Aimé’s sophomore album, the follow-up to her debut full length 'Nameless', part of her trilogy that brings to center stage the resiliency of mankind in the face of adversity and oppression and pays homage to Afro-American history and culture. In this second recording, containing 14 original songs, Dominique delves into the civil rights movement of the 60s and explores several significant socio-political events which deeply affected the course of black history (Lincoln Hills Country Club, Little Nine Rock, Emmett Till). She honours unsung heroes of the civil liberties movement as well as historical figures of the time such as Rosa Parks, Joséphine Baker, Lena Horne, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King. The album combines elements of soul, jazz, gospel and blends vocal harmonies, double bass, piano and trumpet over stirring and permuting grooves. Moving on from the blues-tinged 'Nameless'—which boldly confronted historical silences and sorrows—'Stay Tuned!' is both a call for and reminder of revolution expressed with the fury of red-hot jazz.
Available now. Three Little Words concludes Dominique Fils-Aimé's album trilogy exploring the roots of African-American musical culture. Her 2018 acclaimed debut full length blues-tinged Nameless saw Fils-Aimé boldly confront historical silences and sorrows while her sophomore JUNO award winning album, Stay Tuned! delved into the civil rights movement of the 60s through jazz. Now with Three Little Words Dominique embraces the emotional lushness of soul music of yesterday and tomorrow. Perhaps her most musically diverse and eclectic album to date, Fils-Aimé's distinct brand of incisively-delivered vocals resonate throughout 'Three Little Words', whether they are engaging the listener with the heartwarming 1950s-inspired doo-wop harmonies of While We Wait, or with the punchy brass-fueled crescendos of the more soulful Mind Made Up. Throughout the album, Dominique’s captivating yet gentle voice is backed by the spellbinding groove of African percussion, horns, synthesizer and expansive bass lines, the likes of which are never more prevalent than in Love Take Over with its coaxing, melodramatic drums that envelop the listener in a primal and soothing aural embrace. Integral to the trilogy as a whole has been the tireless work of acclaimed record producer, musical arranger and mixer Jacques Roy.
Available now. Dominique Fils-Aimé’s debut full length ‘Nameless’ draws inspiration from a poem by Maya Angelou, “Still I Rise”. A writer, poet and civil rights activist, Angelou’s universal poem sends out a powerful message of hope in the name of those who are being oppressed and their ability to rise against injustice. Soothing, fiery, emotional, the album takes place overnight between dusk and dawn and pays homage to the resilience of the human spirit in the face of adversity. It took a year and a half to make this album during which Dominique Fils-Aimé researched the history and musical forms of blues and work songs and how African-American figures from the first half of the 20th century influenced the course of music. ‘Nameless’ is a socially engaged album in which Dominique lends her voice and rebellious energy to those oppressed. With the help of her best musicians, the album’s strong and uncluttered sound mainly relies on the use of drums, the upright bass, the guitar and keys to make room for Dominique’s sometimes smooth sometimes strong and firm voice backed by rich vocal harmonies.
Available now. 'Stay Tuned!' is Dominique Fils-Aimé’s sophomore album, the follow-up to her debut full length 'Nameless', part of her trilogy that brings to center stage the resiliency of mankind in the face of adversity and oppression and pays homage to Afro-American history and culture. In this second recording, containing 14 original songs, Dominique delves into the civil rights movement of the 60s and explores several significant socio-political events which deeply affected the course of black history (Lincoln Hills Country Club, Little Nine Rock, Emmett Till). She honours unsung heroes of the civil liberties movement as well as historical figures of the time such as Rosa Parks, Joséphine Baker, Lena Horne, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King. The album combines elements of soul, jazz, gospel and blends vocal harmonies, double bass, piano and trumpet over stirring and permuting grooves. Moving on from the blues-tinged 'Nameless'—which boldly confronted historical silences and sorrows—'Stay Tuned!' is both a call for and reminder of revolution expressed with the fury of red-hot jazz.
Available now. Three Little Words concludes Dominique Fils-Aimé's album trilogy exploring the roots of African-American musical culture. Her 2018 acclaimed debut full length blues-tinged Nameless saw Fils-Aimé boldly confront historical silences and sorrows while her sophomore JUNO award winning album, Stay Tuned! delved into the civil rights movement of the 60s through jazz. Now with Three Little Words Dominique embraces the emotional lushness of soul music of yesterday and tomorrow. Perhaps her most musically diverse and eclectic album to date, Fils-Aimé's distinct brand of incisively-delivered vocals resonate throughout 'Three Little Words', whether they are engaging the listener with the heartwarming 1950s-inspired doo-wop harmonies of While We Wait, or with the punchy brass-fueled crescendos of the more soulful Mind Made Up. Throughout the album, Dominique’s captivating yet gentle voice is backed by the spellbinding groove of African percussion, horns, synthesizer and expansive bass lines, the likes of which are never more prevalent than in Love Take Over with its coaxing, melodramatic drums that envelop the listener in a primal and soothing aural embrace. Integral to the trilogy as a whole has been the tireless work of acclaimed record producer, musical arranger and mixer Jacques Roy.