For Patrick Watson, Canadian musician and soundtrack composer, music is essentially a matter of magic. Sounds are assembled to create suspended atmospheres that invite daydreaming. He began collaborating with The Cinematic Orchestra on the album Ma Fleur (2007), and later continued with his own band (Simon Angell on guitar, Robbie Kuster on drums, Mishka Stein on bass), releasing six albums marked by classical influences and affectionate nods to Jeff Buckley and Nick Drake. Meanwhile, he has gained recognition for his delicate film soundtracks, such as French-Canadian It’s Not Me, I Swear! and Hidden Diary starring Catherine Deneuve, while his songs have appeared in notable films like Wim Wenders’ Perfect Days.
Always positioned between mainstream music and the avant-garde, Watson has received awards and solid commercial recognition in several countries. His stated goal is to “help people find peace within the chaos of modern times,” something immediately clear when listening to his dreamy songs, imbued with delicacy and fragility.
His latest release, Uh Oh (Secret City Records), is the perfect synthesis of his musical aesthetic, merging his sense of magic with a certain fondness for minimalism. Even the title is an ode to restraint: it evokes that moment when something unexpected enters our lives—not a cry of despair or shock, but a quiet “and now, what happens next?”. It was Watson’s own reaction when he discovered he was losing his voice, and the album stands as his response to that moment. Rather than stopping, he chose to write songs about the fragility of destiny with the help of special guests. The outcome is an intimate collection of delicate pieces shaped through close collaboration: “Every singer has these different magical powers on this record, and each song kind of represents that.”
The opener, “Silencio,” featuring French singer November Ultra, begins with a faint Spanish vocal invoking the power of silence; a chorus and guitar gently build a texture of musical caresses over which a piano drifts at low altitude. “The Wandering,” with Portuguese artist MARO, draws the listener into a reverie of angelic voices, plucked guitar strings, and faint traces of distant violins. Sounds chase each other like children in a playground. “Peter and the Wolf,” inspired by the ghosts of New Orleans, was the first single and plays with filtered, overlapping vocals surrounded by an array of sonic details in a subtly indietronic mood. “Gordon in the Willows,” featuring Canadian Juno Award–winner Charlotte Cardin, is shaped by a magical atmosphere of piano lines and far-off, dreamy voices—one of the album’s most touching moments.
The subject matter of Uh Oh is akin to the language of dreams—the delicate ones in which we finally open a door and discover something beautiful. With this album, Watson offers smiles, and that is no small achievement.
