Hélène Barbier unveils Kindness in a Cup, the second single from Panorama

After unveiling the song Lapin earlier this fall, Hélène Barbier now presents Kindness in a Cup. This avant-pop track showcases the Montreal artist's unique voice and enthralls us from the very first notes. This is the second single from the album Panorama, out November 14th via Bonsound. The album launch shows will take place at La Toscadura in Montreal (as part of the Festival Triste) on November 27th and at Le Pantoum in Quebec City on November 28th.

Built around a hypnotic bass line, Kindness in a Cup culminates with sublime yet unexpected violin arrangements, perfectly highlighting the singer and bassist's distinctive vocal patterns. It's about the desire to keep your head above the water, while flirting with the idea of letting yourself sink, says Hélène Barbier. But there is a soothing presence in the song that ensures the story ends well. 

Characterized by haunting melodies, stripped-down choruses, and a subtle layer of nonchalance that reinforces the songs' magnetism, Panorama is an avant-pop album that was crafted over a period of three years. Born in response to the stress caused by certain events that disrupted the daily life of the Montreal singer and bassist, these nine tracks sound as if they were postcards sent at different moments in life, even if their intriguing lyrics leave room for interpretation.

Influences from the past and present mingle in these deliberately hard-to-date recordings; it's as if The Shaggs had taken guitar lessons from Tom Verlaine in Montreal in 2025, before forming a band by divine accident. The resulting album delivers a symphony of gooey jangle pop riffs, throaty melodies, and tangled grooves.

Though it is a very personal album, Panorama is also a collective effort. After taking the time to refine her songs and remove elements she felt were superfluous, Hélène Barbier called on Ben Lalonde and Joe Chamandy (Retail Simps), with whom she has been making music for many years, as well as Claire Paquet, Thomas Molander, Samuel Gougoux (Corridor, Trafic des Airs, Victime), Wes MacNeil (Night Lunch), Mélanie Venditti, Alexandra Levy (Ada Lea), Meg Duffy (Hand Habits), and producer Emmanuel Éthier.

About Hélène Barbier

Hélène Barbier seeds melodies that ferment and blossom in the shadows, pairing hummable lines with alien tunes conjured in someone else’s psyche across time and space. Siamese fragments. She creates an imbalance through juxtaposition. Four simple notes become evocative alongside four disorienting, different notes, and this simplistic rule has become a basis for complex play.

After releasing Have You Met Elliot ? in 2019 and Regulus in 2021, the France-born, Montreal-based artist will release her third album, Panorama, this fall. Enlisting musicians based on their willingness to break from tired chords, worn fills, and needless flourish, Barbier switches between English and French atop aggressively anti-complicated avant-pop melodies. 

Keen to highlight the humour and beauty of everyday life, whether it be a road trip with her dog Toody or gardening in the small flower bed in front of her house, Hélène Barbier has nevertheless written many songs from Panorama in response to anxiety and health problems that surface when everything else seems to be going well. 

In addition to cultivating her creativity with her musical endeavours, Hélène Barbier is deeply engaged in the Montreal music scene, notably through her involvement with Celluloid Lunch, an innovative independent label she co-founded with her husband Joe Chamandy, who also plays guitar in her band.

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