In a world where our attention is constantly being pulled in multiple directions, Dominique Fils-Aimé asks the listener to take a deep breath, look around, and be present in the moment. Her latest record, My World is the Sun, is equal parts improvisational jazz and mindful meditation, and serves as an anecdote to negative frequencies and division. Combining a series of repetitive chants, lush textures, and a type of sonic freedom you can’t quite replicate, this album is a joyous rebellion against the countless amount of AI tracks being uploaded to the ether everyday.
A former psychological support counselor for children on the spectrum, Fils-Aimé came to music in an unorthodox way. Feeling burnt out from her work, she took a break and started making music. With no formal music education background, Fils-Aimé let her inner voice and her experience with the therapeutic power of music lead the way.
“Music has a crazy impact on the brain,” Fils-Aimé explains. “It’s really something that is underexplored, under-talked about. We need to acknowledge the power of the music, not only on the soul, but literally on the physical brain and the body and the vibrations. That’s something that stayed with me [from my work] – the link between the soul and the brain through music can deeply impact us.”
This brain-body connection is viscerally evident in not only the way her music sounds, but the way that it’s made. Fils-Aimé explains that all of the songs on My World is The Sun started solely with her voice and a melody. She built the beds of the songs with different vocal textures and melodies then brought it to her band to record live, leaving ample room for improvisation.
“I don’t want any thinking, I want feeling,” says Fils-Aimé. “There’s something very meditative about creating, especially music. For me, at least, it’s always been a form of meditation, a form of self-soothing.”
The result of this cathartic songwriting process is a river of sound that feels like Fils-Aimé’s inner monologue at its most peaceful. Seamlessly floating between French, English, and universal vocal textures, Fils-Aimé takes in her surroundings and focuses on things that ground her - the sun, the sea, the flame - rather than fixating on any singular thought or feeling.
The instrumentation mirrors Fils-Aimé’s free-flowing approach to songwriting, with piano riffs fitting effortlessly between vocal phrases and organic percussion serving as the heartbeat of the meditation. This collaborative and spontaneous creation process also reflects how Fils-Aimé learned music initially - through immersing herself in Montreal’s vibrant jazz scene.
She fondly remembers attending various jam sessions around Montreal and letting her voice be guided by instinct rather than scales or reason. “Jazz existed before it was in academic books. And the essence of jazz has been about the freedom to create however you want, the connection between people, the quest for freedom, and deconstructing whatever,” says Fils-Aimé. “Structure has been imposed on art, which doesn’t belong, because art is meant to be constantly evolving, constantly moving, changing, growing in different ways. So, this is how I learned music.”
The feeling of freedom harnessed in creating her music emanates throughout My World is the Sun and continues to take different shapes with every show that Dominique and her band play. She says that the energy of the day really dictates what iteration of the record her bandmates and her will perform, and that they’ve never played the same show twice. Her hope is that the collaboration and connection integral to the music she makes can resonate throughout any crowd that comes to see them perform.
“This tour…I feel extra aware of how much of a form of resistance is the act of being together. Division everywhere right now. Standing next to someone with completely different opinions from you, but still being there together; I think it’s a great starting point to remember what connects us all - which is emotions, which is our soul - so that there is a more empathic starting point to have conversations about why are we so divided”
Currently on tour, Dominique Fils-Aimé will play The Sun Rose in LA this Sunday, September 6th. If you’re not in LA, check out her other upcoming tour dates and locations here.