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Matt Holubowski releases his second album today – the first since joining the Audiogram family. The singer-songwriter, who enchants and moves an ever-growing audience with his natural and disconcerting integrity, presents his new record: SOLITUDES.

Born of a Polish father and a Quebecer mother, Matt Holubowski grew up in a bilingual household in Hudson and has always lived at the crossroads of the French and English languages. He confides that this in-between can be perceived as a "third solitude" of sorts, referring to Two solitudes (Hugh MacLennan), a book he discovered at a young age, and which he has read many times since.

This notion of isolation of two cultures within a single territory fascinates this globe-trotter, lover of his planet and its infinite cultures. With this second album, Solitudes, the self-taught musician, poet and composer offers eleven titles that in many ways evoke isolation, estrangement, and exile, but also delves into the forms of solitudes we seek and often at times need. That solitude which frightens us, while also revitalizing us. The solitude of creators, travelers, and refugees, as well as that of the condemned. The eleven songs are drawn largely from his experiences around the world, along with more intimate personal observations.

"Solitude is a state of being – or a state of mind – common to all, for better or for worse, and has a unifying power as strong as love and sadness, in my opinion," emphasizes Matt Holubowski.

Holubowski’s unmistakable voice and steadfast personality was revealed to some through his appearance as a finalist on the La Voix show. He has since worked tirelessly, while surrounding himself with invaluable musical collaborators, in order to assemble each of the album’s tracks with Stéphane Bergeron (Karkwa) on drums, Marc-André Landry (Chloé Lacasse) on bass, Simon Angell (Patrick Watson) on guitar and Marianne Houle (Antoine Corriveau) on cello. Connor Seidel, his faithful collaborator, produced the record, and co-mixed it with Warren Spicer (Plants and Animals).

"The songs were originally written on the acoustic guitar, but the record became so much more because of the precious input of the musicians and the producer. Connor and I put in countless hours, often on the verge of going mad…We were completely immersed – haunted at times – by the album for months on end, and I’m quite certain we left a part of our souls in every song. Solitudes is truly a concerted endeavor equal parts Seidel and Holubowski. The arrangements came together very organically, essentially resulting from jamming the tunes together as a band. It was important for me that we really hear ‘the musicians’ rather than ‘the instrument’, and the result is an incredibly heartfelt, human recording. I definitely could not have gotten to that result without those guys (and gals!)."

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SOURCE: AUDIOGRAM