So far, little has emerged about the musical world of this year’s winner, Roublond. For now, at least, he remains something of an enigma.
The Festival international de la chanson de Granby website offers only these cryptic lines by way of introduction:
“Taking music where it has never gone before. Through some unconscious balancing of forces—perhaps simply a twist of fate—the idea is to combine what has been in order to reveal what comes next: Roublond.”
Speaking to Radio-Canada, Elliot Lavergne, as he is known offstage, describes his music as avant-garde pop. Le Devoir, meanwhile, calls it “theatrical songwriting that flirts with rap and electronic music.”
There is one clue on YouTube: a video titled “Boss chill bedaine pour les 4 personnes qui verront”, which would loosely translate as “Chill boss in chest for the four people who are going to see this”.
“Boss chill bedaine pour les 4 personnes qui verront” by Roublond. Click the link for the video.
With the win, 21-year-old Roublond takes home a host of prizes, including a $25,000 career-development grant. His victory also comes with press-relations support from Roy Turner and radio-tracking services from Nat Corbeil for his upcoming releases—none of which are currently available on Spotify.
The semifinalists in the 58th Loto-Québec Grand Concours were Aleksi Champagne, Sylvie Walker, Système Féodal and Alexandrine Larson.
The SOCAN Song Prize was awarded to Aleksi Champagne for Je bois.