Dominique Fils-Aimé is a two-time Juno Award winning singer-songwriter from Montreal whose parents immigrated to Canada from Haiti. She just released My World is the Sun, the second collection in what’s to be her 2nd trilogy of albums.
The Montreal based artist never intended to become a musician. She studied psychology, philosophy, photography, fashion design, and worked doing psychological support for employees, and helping people with autism. After becoming burnt out on that work, she turned to music for personal therapy, eventually deciding that music is a great healing force.
Her first trilogy was an exploration of the history of African music and her musical influences including Nina Simone, Erykah Badu, and BB King. The first release in the series, her debut album, Nameless, was dedicated to the blues. Following that, was Stay Tuned, focused on jazz, and then Three Little Words, a study of soul.
Having spent time digging into musical styles, she chose to work on her own truth with the first installment of her follow-up trilogy which began in 2023 with Our Roots Run Deep. The album was nominated for the 2024 Polaris Prize and took home the Juno Award for Best Vocal Jazz album, and the 2024 Félix, an award specific to Quebec, for Jazz Album of the Year.
Now she continues her personal exploration with My World is the Sun. It weaves jazz, soul and blues as she explores spiritual freedom. It’s the kind of album meant to be heard all the way through. The instrumentation is stripped back, leaving room for velvety, often mulit-tracked vocals to do the storytelling.
It opens with her personal lineage, the track Ma Mélodie, a classical-based guitar piece featuring a 1970s cassette recording of the artist’s mother Claudette Thomas. It sets the tone for the atmospheric soul that follows, then returns to the melody at the end.
Tune into Open Air to hear tracks from My World is the Sun on Open Air, weekdays 9am-3pm on JPR’s Rhythm and News Service.
