Dominique Fils-Aimé loves house plants. Indeed, she has about eighty strewn across her Montreal apartment, referring to them as her roommates. It is appropriate then that her fourth album, Our Roots Run Deep, is themed around greenness and rebirth. With her trademark mix of haiku-like lyrics and soulful mantras, it’s the first in a new trilogy from Dominique, following great acclaim for her earlier themed trinity.
When we catch up via Zoom, it’s mid-morning in Montreal, and the blue sky is cloudless. Dominique is on her way home waiting for a delivery of AirPods, explaining the sound is much greater when she has them in. Wearing a baggy orange hoodie and oversized sunglasses, she traipses upstairs to her building’s top floor, saying her legs feel this journey every day.
Hanging on the wall inside is a blue-grey Recording King guitar. Dominique says, “It’s not such an amazing instrument but I thought it was so pretty. I like objects that bring me joy.” Next to it is a plant stand with her new album nestled among the pots, its cover a vivid forest green. Besides this is a nail polish rack, so she can invite girlfriends over for self-care instead of going to a salon. “Then you have all the services and plus,” she adds with a beaming smile, her accent carrying the Québécois chantant quality.
Born in Canada to Haitian parents, Dominique was meant to learn the piano from her sister. “But I didn’t practise and there was too much structure around my fingers; it was very technical,” she says. “So my sister retired from teaching very early on. My mum played music from everywhere – Haiti, Nigeria, Mexico, France. My sister had the biggest collection of CDs and I’d borrow one at a time for weeks, obsessing over it.” The adult Dominique worked in psychological support for employees in corporate life and turned quite late to making music. Then, a researcher from the TV talent show La Voix asked her to apply, and she ended up in the semifinals of the 2015 edition. Signing to Montreal label Ensoul Records, Dominique’s debut album Nameless came out in 2018, followed by Stay Tuned! and Three Little Words.
The trilogy was devised to trace African-American music from nineteenth-century slave songs to the birth of hip-hop. Composing orally, Dominque layered chords of vocables from invented sounds and syllables to form haunting modern parables. Into the mix came catchy tunes with sparse accompaniment from bass, percussion and Ensoul founder Kevin Annocque on didgeridoo. Each record’s artwork reflected its musical themes in colour and photography. Blue for the blues, water and the weight of history; red for jazz revolution, passion and liberation; yellow for heat, happiness and a sunny explosion of styles.
Dominque explains this further: “Each cover is planned from the beginning, so I know where each album is going and what it’s exploring. The designs are by Siou-Min Julien, a talented and sensitive artist. On the Nameless album there was a desire to hide part of my face, as my beginning. There’s also an association there with the moon’s different quarters. Then the half-turn on Stay Tuned! has an energy that’s defiant but not in a bad way, feeling proud as a woman and standing tall. Three Little Words looks like a face-to-face conversation, the journey to becoming more direct and vulnerable about my intentions. I started out wanting to be anonymous and debated this with my manager. He raised the point of how few black women are visual in the city’s landscape and how having posters of my albums might relate to someone who doesn’t feel represented. So displaying your face does matter.”
She shows me some paintings that were made when conceiving her music. With their cosmic swirls and dark backgrounds, they look like floral fields suspended in deep space. Dominique used acrylics, oils and pieces of Japanese paper. “I’ve never disconnected from the kid in me who enjoyed colours and creating and meditating on colours.”
Dominique notes that green is the colour of earth, rebirth and the heart chakra. If her first three outings represented primary colours, she’s using secondary ones in this next phase. “I feel like my personal journeys are reflected through my music, especially this new album,” she says. “The first trilogy was about contemplating the past and how other artists expressed themselves in historical moments. Now I’m sharing my personal views. It took some courage to be more open but that’s a form of self-improvement, sharing things that people might judge or not approve of. My mission is to bring more compassion and discussion around the taboos of mental health. Once we open the door, we realise everyone’s going through this and wants to feel comfortable talking about it, to make a safe space and help each other heal.”
Our Roots Run Deep is an exuberant hymn to the natural world and personal growth, soaked in verdant grooves and ripe melodies. “We talk about going into nature as if we’re separate from it and not organic ourselves,” says Dominique. “We’ve recently discovered how much trees talk to each other and feed each other underground. Their roots were hidden from us for a long time, we didn’t know them or think of them. Forests were just seen as rows of trees next to each other, without connection. Humans are the same, we see them standing together in a crowd, but don’t see what connects us to our ancestors, everything they built for us to be in this modern world. A lot of my strengths and blessings are thanks to my mother and grandmother. Through talking or meditation they bring me great advice when I see challenges coming. I wanted this album to represent me as a plant from those bottom roots to the top branches, reaching towards the sun.”
Another influence on Dominique’s thinking comes from Montreal’s renowned street art. “I dream of a world where all cities have this freedom to beautify their walls with art and colour, with or without consent. There was an old debate about street art damaging property, but if advertising is allowed on huge posters, why can’t artists play their part in our landscape? Street art raises certain topics, expressing what matters to the residents here. It’s a peaceful form of protest and conversation. It’s like little secret messages are hidden everywhere and you start knowing about local artists such as Dalkhafine and Labrona. So even when it’s winter and it’s cold there is joy and colour present. That’s priceless for me.”
Dominique is part of a vintage generation of soul singers with folk-jazz spirits, such as Kadhja Bonet, Allison Russell, Zara McFarlane, Jessy Wilson, Rhiannon Giddens, Leyla McCalla, Joy Oladokun and Tina Leon. She says, “We’re in a rich period of musical history that’s feeding my soul and inspiration. I met Allison Russell last year and she had a definite influence on my feeling freer, both on and off stage. The joyous strength she carries had a great impact on my creations. Some people say you’re naïve to believe in the power of love, so meeting other artists with the same energy gives you courage. When you find your tribe, you feel more powerful.”
Our Roots Run Deep releases September 22, 2023 – https://singwithmi.bandcamp.com/album/our-roots-run-deep
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