Mathieu Lavigne comes on strong with Little Wars

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      Little Wars (Independent)

      A Montrealer who arrived here as a teen, Mathieu Lavigne comes on strong, if gently so, on Little Wars, with lyrics that are less about the usual relationship conflicts than they are intimate, uncynical odes to everyday struggles—some of which are not won.

      His one foray into French, “Au milieu d’un été”, underscored by Jacob Aginsky’s rolling organ sound, is a highlight. Even more memorable is “Riptide”, which, like many of the tunes, sits casually upon the singer’s solid acoustic strumming—but then its chorus, bolstered by sparkling piano (also from Aginsky), is as swooningly tuneful as anything by Rufus Wainwright.

      Most of the hooks here aren’t quite as assertive, but Lavigne’s earnest, unmannered vocals reward close attention in the sparely self-produced set, with words usually taking pride of place over melodic gymnastics. “In her eyes the glass amongst the grass shined/Like peaceful stars of death” is the key image in “Behind the Prayer”, about his mother’s near-fatal car crash. The subjects and the tempos lean toward the morose, although there is quiet uplift in the notion, expressed in “Vague Riverside Song”, of “songs that are alive before they’re written and need just for you to sing”.

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