Hélène Barbier unveils the song Milquetoast before releasing her new album this Friday

After releasing the singles Lapin and Kindness in a Cup earlier this fall, Hélène Barbier now presents the song Milquetoast, the final single from her new album. Panorama, the Montreal artist's third effort, will be released this Friday (November 14th) on all music services and on vinyl.

The album launch will take place at La Toscadura in Montreal on November 27th (as part of the Festival Triste) and at Le Pantoum in Quebec City on November 28th.

More optimistic than the previous singles, this lively, upbeat song falls somewhere between the lush greenery of parks and the reassuring light of street lamps after sunset. Thanks to Meg Duffy (Hand Habits, Perfume Genius, Kevin Morby)’s delicate yet pulsating guitars, Wes McNeil (Night Lunch)’s hypnotic keyboards, and Barbier's distinctive bass line, the song evokes the feeling of arriving somewhere and already wanting to leave. It’s also a call to find peace and comfort in the mundane, a recurring theme on Panorama. 

Shot on Super 8 and directed by Jolie M-A, Milquetoast's music video features images from Hélène's wedding, interspersed with a stroll through Montreal. They're just little moments where nothing extraordinary happens, but where, in reality, everything matters, explains Hélène. 

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.

Follow Hélène Barbier : ​ Bandcamp / YouTube / Spotify / Apple Music / Instagram