Hélène Barbier writes songs that are couched in traditional post-punk, power-pop frameworks, but there always seems to be something off-kilter in the presentation. Her penchant for angular guitar lines, drawn from a love of bands like Television, gives her music a distinct edge, even as it flirts with more traditional pop. With her fourth album, Panorama, the Canadian artist has perfected her style, resulting in some instantly lovable songs.
After releasing Something in 2017, a record consisting of just vocals and guitar, Barbier began making records with full bands (Have You Met Elliott? in 2019 and Regulus in 2021). These albums have drawn comparisons to Courtney Barnett, Cate Le Bon, and Perfume Genius for their idiosyncratic, sometimes deadpan approach to traditional indie rock. In Panorama, there isn’t much new ground covered, but that’s fine; like the records that preceded it, it’s a frequently dark journey with sophisticated songwriting and arrangements that are filled with surprising twists and turns.
While she sticks primarily to vocals and bass guitar, Barbier kicks off Panorama with the single “Kindness in a Cup”, featuring a unique, captivating guitar figure from Joe Chamandy. The song, according to Barbier, is about “the desire to keep your head above the water, while flirting with the idea of letting yourself sink”. Switching back and forth between French and English throughout the record, the French lyrics of the mesmerizing “Lapin” give the song a distinctly cosmopolitan feel, like some European new wave single circa 1980, as Ben Lalonde’s exquisite guitar work keeps the arrangements consistently addictive.
By the same token, there’s a playful nature to songs like “Milquetoast”, which glides along with cheesy keyboard runs from Wes McNeil and subtle guitar work from Meg Duffy (of Hand Habits), and the subtle bop of “Plastique Couch”, with French lyrics that are complemented by the coo of Alexandra Levy’s backing vocals. However, the Television-like post-punk dissonance is never more than an arm’s length away, as on the twin-guitar dread of “Dans l’os” (featuring guitars from both Chamandy and Lalonde) and in the sharp edges of “Weather Channel”.
Panorama is often reminiscent of another contemporary songwriter, the UK-born, Paris-based Flora Hibberd, whose latest LP, Swirl, has received critical acclaim for its cosmopolitan sophistication and for drawing on a range of pop, rock, and folk sources. In her new record, Hélène Barbier charts a similar course: writing and recording mature pop songs that rise above the dull thrum of predictability.