It’s early August and there’s a heatwave in Montréal. The whole music industry is a bit hung over. Why? Because Osheaga. But a who’s who of the scene is at O Patro Vys for a special showcase. The star of this showcase: singer-songwriter Gabrielle Shonk.
The artist invited friends, peers and acquaintances to make sure the room was packed, because otherwise it would’ve seemed a little empty. And on everybody’s lips are the same words: Miss Shonk has got the world at her feet right now.
She only had to sing one song, but what a song!
Some might recall the gorgeous Québec City-based young woman from her brief passage on La Voix [the Québec version of The Voice] – and especially her fragile and honest interpretation of Jean Leloup’s “Sang d’encre” – but to revellers in Québec nightlife, she’s a singer-songwriter who’s been singing on the club circuit for at least a decade. Electro lovers will also remember her voice as the voice on Men I Trust’s first album, whose band members share the gig with Miss Shonk.
“Habit,” Shonk’s first original song, was launched on various digital platforms in late May of 2016. The grandiose, soulful ballad is fuelled with anger, directed at some dude with really nasty habits. It turned out to be a calling card for Shonk.
Just a few weeks later, Buzzfeed included it in its “Songs You Need In Your Life” list. Noisey, the music publication under Vice magazine’s umbrella, said of her voice that it’s “too big for small towns.” It’s easy to understand why offers began pouring forth from every corner after that. First, there were e-mails from Roc Nation, the production and management company run by Jay-Z, which greatly surprised the artist.
So it’s no surprise that the album on which “Habit” was to be released officially in September – a bilingual, self-produced affair Shonk had been working on with friends for the past two years – was put on hold so that Shonk and her management team can take time to carefully consider the numerous offers received over the past few weeks.
But no matter what’s decided, you can bet that Gabrielle Shonk’s star will keep on shining brighter and brighter.