Not to be overlooked, this is a Trilingual gem out of Vancouver, BC from the young composer Corey Payette. As it was released near the end of 2019, this album has lifted me up on many occasions over the last year. It has quickly become one of my favorites in my collection, and whenever I want to meditate or take pause, I will often listen to a few tracks from this album.

The song Cold Isn’t Permanent is an anthem of the tenacity of the human spirit. Against the harshest of winters, spring will come. In our current political and social climate, this is a message I need to remind myself of every once in a while. A duet between a man and a woman, each person sings solo for the first few minutes, and then come together harmoniously for the last chorus. The ensemble joins in for the finale outro chants, and the song ends with a chilling piano riff.

As kids, we spent our summers not far from Vancouver on the San Juan islands. Before the internet and cell phones, these islands were completely isolating and pristine. Something about it gave me great peace of mind and a feeling of unlimited freedom. The natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest is painted with Payette’s score. In addition to my love for the Northwest, my education background is in Linguistics, so the Trilingual aspect of Payette’s libretto intrigued me quite a bit. This use of multiple languages speaks volumes to the universality of Music. The conjuring of emotions from text that might not be directly understood by the listening (ie, me).

With lyrics in English, French, and Kanien’kéha (Mohawk), and a lush string-heavy score, Payette makes the beauty of the Canadian landscape come alive before my eyes ears. The score is diverse throughout the album, with only a couple reprises here or there, but mostly a broad spectrum of original songs, motifs, and themes

I highly recommend this album.