Montreal singer-songwriter Jade Lessard has released her latest single, “J’veux pas être ici,” the first glimpse of her upcoming album Stable Comfort, due in May 2026. The song arrives three years after her debut EP Réflexions argentées, which helped establish her as a distinctive new voice in Quebec’s independent scene.
Written with longtime collaborator Émile St-Pierre, the track captures a feeling many will recognize: the awkward, slightly surreal sense of wanting to be anywhere but where you are. Lessard leans into that discomfort with humour rather than despair. Over a rhythmic, lightly percussive arrangement, her vocals shift between weary resignation and sly amusement. “J’veux pas être ici” takes the form of a wry internal monologue rather than a lament, offering small flashes of irony amid the repetition of everyday absurdities.
The accompanying video, co-directed by Lessard and St-Pierre, extends the song’s concept through a series of vividly staged scenes that mix humour with subtle critique. Its tone recalls the theatrical playfulness of early French pop videos, filtered through a distinctly Montreal lens — intimate, self-aware, and quietly political in its portrayal of social unease.
Watch below:
Lessard worked with a familiar team for the recording: Erwan Cosnuau-Polewska on bass and percussion, Olivier Chenard on guitar, and Simon Charette on drums, each adding texture without overwhelming the song’s conversational tone. The result feels both modest and carefully built, a balance that has become part of her signature sound.
When not writing and performing, Lessard continues to teach high school in Montreal, a detail that adds dimension to her work’s recurring themes of empathy, patience, and self-discovery. Her new material appears to build on the introspection of Réflexions argentées, but with a lighter hand and broader outlook.
With Stable Comfort set for release next spring, “J’veux pas être ici” serves as both a standalone statement and a quiet prelude to what looks to be a more expansive chapter for one of Montreal’s most promising independent artists.
Photo credit: Léa Rajotte
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