The Grammy-winning Michael Doucet, known for the Cajun sound he joyfully shares with the world through his long-term band, BeauSoleil, is now shaking it up with a new band and new music which “isn’t necessarily Cajun music; it’s Southwest Louisiana music.”
Michael Doucet avec Lâcher Prise is founded on musical freedom and the concept of “letting go,” a loose translation of the phrase, Lâcher Prise. “I’ve reached a point in my life and career where I can do whatever the hell I want to do,” he explains. Today (November 21), OffBeat.com premieres the first taste of that new sound, “Water, Water.”
“We obviously have a problem with water in Louisiana,” Doucet says. “About three years ago, there was a thunderstorm over Lafayette and the Parish, raining 24 inches in 24 hours. It flooded everything. I had to go rescue my daughter-in-law. When I came back, my friends got flooded. The chorus just came to me.”
“Water, Water,” while about the power of mother nature and the floods she brings down on Louisiana, still feels like a celebration, with its fiddle and accordion-threaded arrangement and catchy chorus.
“This is music we like to play, and we have a lot of fun doing it. We let the magic happen. There was a total live feeling,” he said, speaking of the process. The “we” of Lâcher Prise refers to: Doucet, Chad Viator (guitar), Compass Records co-founder Garry West (production), Sarah Quintana (vocals, guitar), Chris French (bass) and Jim Kolacek (drums). They recorded their self-titled debut earlier this year at the well-loved Dockside Studio in Maurice, Louisiana, over a flurry of only three days.
You’ll have to wait until February 2020 to hear the rest of the record but if “Water, Water” is any indication of the sound, you’ll be in for a cheery, cheeky, energetic frolic. As Doucet himself says, “Some of the record is cerebral, but it’s got a different feeling overall. All of the musicians are amazing. It’s not just my record; it’s ours. I have so much confidence in those guys and gal. Most of all, I hope everyone has as much fun listening to it as we did making it.”
