Philippe B

Somewhere between the sophisticated songwriting of Leonard Cohen and Jacques Brel, the rugged folk of Bob Dylan and Neil Young, the acoustic pop of Simon & Garfunkel, and the haunting melancholy of Nick Drake and Elliott Smith, there is Philippe B, who reminds us of the depth that can be conveyed with nothing more than a guitar and a few words. Cigale, his seventh album, is expected on March 13th, 2026. It features Philippe at his most raw and personal, drawing inspiration from his early adulthood to illustrate the reality of a young musician who is struggling to make a living from his art.

Philippe B has been delighting Quebec with his precious songs for over 20 years now. Recognized as one of the province’s most brilliant singer-songwriters, the Rouyn-Noranda native is known for his beautiful melodies, elegant arrangements, and disarmingly intimate lyricism. He may be a master of autofiction, but his poetry is by no means impenetrable; the simplicity and precision with which he manages to highlight the universal aspects of otherwise specific experiences transforms his songs into mirrors, through which we always end up seeing a part of ourselves. Whether he’s singing about romantic relationships, the passage of time or his home region of Abitibi, the subject is always conveyed in a moving and vivid style.

Following his first two albums, on which he developed his identity as a singer-songwriter in the 2000s, his solo career reached new heights with the release of Variations fantômes in 2011. His third opus was immediately acclaimed by critics and audiences alike, in part for its reinterpretation of some of the classical repertoire’s greatest works, which were carefully sampled to adorn each track with sublime orchestral arrangements. Variations fantômes found itself on the end-of-year lists of several reputable media outlets (Le Devoir, La Presse), in addition to being listed in the top 25 best Quebecois albums released since 1990 by the Journal de Montréal and being named best album of the 2010’s by CISM.

His subsequent albums also received considerable recognition: Ornithologie, la nuit (2014), La grande nuit vidéo (2017) and Nouvelle administration (2023) earned him nominations at the ADISQ Galas (including a win for Songwriter or Composer of the Year in 2014), the JUNOS, and spots on the Polaris Prize long list. Even though they all follow a similar formula, each of his albums has its own unique personality. It’s precisely because of this familiar simplicity that each new Philippe B release is so warmly received: you never know exactly how he will present his stories, but you can always expect a powerful experience.

Over the course of his career, Philippe B collaborated with several renowned Quebec artists, specifically as a lyricist (Safia Nolin, Vincent Vallières, Pierre Lapointe, Salomé Leclerc, among others) and producer (Les soeurs Boulay, Émile Bilodeau, Isabelle Boulay), in addition to his role as a guitarist for Pierre Lapointe in the 2000s. He also made his mark in the film industry, composing the soundtrack for two films by Éric Morin, Hunting the Northern Godard (2013) and We Are Gold (2019), as well as Dominic Leclerc's documentary, Wolfdogs (2019).