''Trompe-l'œil'' is the second album by the

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band

Malajube Malajube is a Canadian francophone indie rock band formed in Montreal, Quebec. History Formed by a group of friends in Sorel-Tracy, Québec, the band made itself known in 2004 with the release of its first album, ''Le Compte complet''. Critics ...

, released in 2006 on

Dare to Care Records Bravo Musique is a Canadian independent record label. Based in Montreal, the label was founded in 2000 by Éli Bissonnette and Hugo Mudie as Dare to Care Records. Artists who have released material on Bravo Musique or Dare to Care include CLAASS, ...

. The album is inspired in part by

medical Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practic ...

themes; in the album's liner notes, each song is given a subtitle relating to some aspect of physical or mental health.

Critical reception

Unusual for a

French language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...

album from

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, the album received significant critical attention in both

English Canada Canada comprises that part of the population within Canada, whether of British origin or otherwise, that speaks English. The term ''English Canada'' can also be used for one of the following: #Describing all the provinces of Canada that ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, including airplay on

CBC Radio 3 CBC Radio 3 is a Canadian digital radio station operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, which plays a relatively freeform mix of indie rock, indie pop, alternative hip hop, folk, country and electronic music. The service, which lanuc ...

and a favourable review on

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...

. The album was also shortlisted for the 2006 Polaris Music Prize. It was the first francophone album to be on that award's shortlist.

Music videos

They have released music videos for "Montréal -40°C", "Pâte Filo", "Le Crabe", "Ton Plat Favori", "Fille à plumes" and "Étienne D'Août".

Track listing

Thematic subtitles for each track in parentheses, per the liner notes "Le Grand Galion" starts at 8:52 into "La Fin".

''Étienne d'août'' single

Guest musicians

*"Jus De Canneberges" - Ryan Battistuzzi on guitar, Catherine Lesaunier on cello and Martine Gaumond on violin *"Montréal -40°C" -

Pierre Lapointe Pierre Lapointe (born 23 May 1981) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. His work largely follows in the tradition of French chanson, though he is influenced by modern pop music. Defining himself as a "popular singer", he has built an egocentric pe ...

, Martin Pelland and Simon Proulx on vocals, Valérie Jodoin-Keaton on western concert flute and vocals, Ryan Battistuzzi on guitar and Joe des Breast on maracas *"Pâte Filo" - Ryan Battistuzzi on slide guitar, Catherine Lesaunier on cello and Martine Gaumond on violin *"Le Crabe" - Valérie Jodoin-Keaton on vocals *"La Monogamie" - Valérie Jodoin-Keaton and Virginie Parr on vocals and Ryan Battistuzzi on slide guitar *"Ton Plat Favori" - Valérie Jodoin-Keaton on vocals. *"La Russe" -

Loco Locass Loco Locass are a Canadian hip hop group from Quebec formed in 1995. The group often defends the role of the French language, and champions Quebec sovereignty. Songs such as " ROC Rap" and "Résistance" highlight the band's political leanings, a ...

on vocals. *"Casse-cou" - Valérie Jodoin-Keaton on western concert flute and vocals and Ryan Battistuzzi on guitar *"Étienne D'Août" - Catherine Lesaunier on cello and Martine Gaumond on violin

In popular culture

*The song "Fille à plume" was used on

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to imitate real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" ...

Rugby 08 ''Rugby 08'' is the last release in the Rugby series to be published by EA Sports. The game allows players to play as 20 different Rugby nations, both major and minor, and includes many tournaments, such as the Rugby World Cup, Tri Nations, Six ...

'', and was used for a video compilation of the ''2003 IRB Rugby World Cup''.

References

2006 albums Malajube albums Bravo Musique albums {{2000s-indie-rock-album-stub