LUMIÈRE is Étienne Côté’s solo project, the free embodiment of a musical enlightenment shaped by rock music. His sound is spectacular yet sensitive, transcends trends and brilliantly masters the essence of nostalgia.
The origin of this fiery spirit lies in the picturesque rural village of Saint-Antoine-de-Tilly, located near Quebec City, where the singer-songwriter grew up. His first musical experiences began at the age of three, on his grand-mother's piano during weekends. These instinctive moments served as an entry point to his later experiences with guitar and drums as a teenager.
After moving to Montreal in 2015, the multi-instrumentalist made a name for himself through his active participation in several projects in the alternative music scene. There are many of them, but two stand out: Canailles and, notably, Bon Enfant, an already emblematic supergroup of the current Montreal rock microcosm, for which he plays the drums.
His many encounters and collaborations are central to the ethos of his solo project. Entitled A.M.I.E.S.A.M.O.U.R., LUMIÈRE's first album, released in spring 2021, takes the form of a rock opera epic situated in a rural commune-like area which unfolds half a century earlier in 1971. This free spirited story told through grand musical and theatrical movements follows the adventures of LUMIÈRE and his friends BRIQUETTE (Daphné Brissette of Bon Enfant) and CRISTALE (Naomie de Lorimier alias N NAO) in their idealistic impulses and their desire for emancipation.
At once astonishing and sumptuous, this conceptual work at the crossroads of rock, folk and psychedelic pop quickly gave LUMIÈRE the opportunity to perform here and there in Quebec, notably at key local festivals. The critically acclaimed album led him to cross paths with Pierre Lapointe in a noteworthy performance at the first ADISQ gala.
This performance opened up new doors for LUMIÈRE. In 2022, he supported Pierre Lapointe for a series of shows in Quebec and France, including one at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier and a particularly memorable night at the Olympia in Paris. His chemistry and friendship with Pierre Lapointe lead him, a few months later, to meet French pop megastar Clara Luciani. Can you open for me this fall?, she asked him while sipping her amaretto sour. That's how LUMIÈRE got to be the opening act for her tour of the Zénith indoor arenas, prestigious French venues that can hold up to 10,000 people.
Barely over the excitement of this unexpected and enriching experience, LUMIÈRE is about to unveil GLAM, his sophomore album. Pushing the musical elements of its predecessor even further, this album presents a new, more assertive, exuberant and glamorous LUMIÈRE, who freed himself from his origins and arrives in town with an unshakeable desire to conquer the audience's heart.
Produced by Alexandre Martel, a prolific musician and record producer with whom he also worked on the first album, GLAM will be released on April 28th, 2023 via Bonsound.
