''Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs'' is the third studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter

Klô Pelgag Klô Pelgag is the stage name of Chloé Pelletier-Gagnon (born March 13, 1990 in Sainte-Anne-des-Monts, Quebec), a Canadian singer-songwriter from Quebec. Beginning her career in 2009 as a performer at various festivals and music contests in Queb ...

, released on June 26, 2020. The album received critical acclaim upon its release.

Release

''Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs'' was initially set for release on April 17, 2020. However, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the release of the album was later pushed back to June 26, as announced via Pelgag's official website on April 10.

Singles

Prior to the official launch of the album, four singles were put out. "Rémora" serves as the lead single, which was released on February 6, 2020. She wrote the song after reading '' One Hundred Years of Solitude'' by

Gabriel García Márquez Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez (; 6 March 1927 – 17 April 2014) was a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter, and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo () or Gabito () throughout Latin America. Considered one ...

, in which he mentioned the

remora The remora (), sometimes called suckerfish, is any of a family (Echeneidae) of ray-finned fish in the order Carangiformes. Depending on species, they grow to long. Their distinctive first dorsal fins take the form of a modified oval, sucker-li ...

, a kind of fish that lives on other bigger fishes, using the disk on its head to attach to them. Pelgag explained: "The song "Rémora" is about dependency to a toxic, bloodsucking relationship, to which you hang on even though it drags you down to the bottom of yourself. Eventually, you have to heal from it." Its music video was directed by Baz. "J’aurai les cheveux longs" is the second single, released on March 30, 2020, which is about "reconciliation." The string section was arranged by Canadian composer

Owen Pallett Michael James Owen Pallett (born September 7, 1979) is a Canadian composer, violinist, keyboardist, and vocalist. Under their erstwhile moniker of Final Fantasy, Pallett won the 2006 Polaris Music Prize for the album ''He Poos Clouds''. Pallet ...

. "Umami" is the third single, released on May 5, 2020. She wrote the song after rereading ''

The Old Man and the Sea ''The Old Man and the Sea'' is a novella written by the American author Ernest Hemingway in 1951 in Cayo Blanco (Cuba), and published in 1952. It was the last major work of fiction written by Hemingway that was published during his lifetime. ...

'' by

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century fic ...

. She said: "I felt like I was this old man going into himself, for I don’t know how long. I wanted to return with answers. I knew that life had the potential to be greater than what we’re being offered." "La maison jaune" is the fourth single, released on June 4, 2020. She refers this song to the house that

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2 ...

lived when he suffered from depression. According to Pelgag, the song is about "the moment when you finally leave this place in the hope of never returning there." The string and brass sections were arranged by Pelgag for the first time. The music video was directed by Baz. On November 12, 2020, "Mélamine" was released as the fifth single. Pelgag revealed the meaning of the song through her website, saying it is about "when just being yourself isn’t enough anymore, when your vision of yourself and of others is distorted, and your pain seems unique and overwhelming. And finally, the struggle to free yourself from this despair that has become casually comfortable." The music video for the song was directed by Soleil Denault.

Awards

The album received two

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

nominations at the

Juno Awards of 2021 The Juno Awards of 2021, honouring Canadian music achievements, were presented on 6 June 2021, observing the 50th anniversary of these awards. The main ceremonies were televised on CBC. The ceremony was originally scheduled to take place in Ma ...

, for Francophone Album of the Year and Album Artwork of the Year; it went on to win the latter. In July 2021, it was shortlisted for the

2021 Polaris Music Prize The 2021 edition of the Canadian Polaris Music Prize was presented on September 27, 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, the award was presented in a livestreamed virtual event hosted by Angeline Tetteh-Wayoe of CBC Music. The longlist ...

Track listing

Credits are adapted from

Genius Genius is a characteristic of original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for future works, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabiliti ...

. All tracks are written by Klô Pelgag.

References

{{Authority control 2020 albums Pop albums by Canadian artists