Montreal neo-soul duo Rau_Ze will release an expanded edition of their 2024 debut album Virer nos vies on October 10th. The reissue, titled Re;;;Virer nos vies, adds two previously unreleased tracks to the original 11-song collection that helped establish Rose Perron and Félix Paul as notable figures in Quebec’s R&B scene.
The new material includes “La dérive,” built around Brazilian rhythms from the 1960s and ’70s, and “Travaille toute la nuit,” a cyberpunk-influenced piece the duo has performed live since 2022. Both songs continue the album’s exploration of mental health, relationships, and work, themes Perron and Paul address through what they describe as authentic, everyday language.
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Since releasing Virer nos vies in March 2024, Rau_Ze has performed over 100 shows and accumulated 2 million streams for L’Habitude and more than 5 million across all platforms for the album. The album earned them the ADISQ Félix for R&B/Soul Album of the Year and recognition as a Radio-Canada Révélation 2024-2025. They also received the Panthéon des auteurs et compositeurs canadiens’ Discovery Prize for Songwriting, the Prix Félix-Leclerc, and the Festival d’été de Québec’s Prix Espoir.
This year, the duo is nominated for two more ADISQ awards: Group or Duo of the Year and Sound Engineering of the Year.
Rau_Ze emerged from Montreal’s independent music circuit, winning the grand prize at the 2022 Francouvertes competition. Their sold-out album launch at Foufounes Électriques in Montreal signalled strong local support for their approach, which blends jazz, hip-hop, funk, and ’90s trip-hop influences.
Onstage, Perron and Paul perform with Henri Bouchard on bass, Juan Espitia on drums, and Julien Fillion on saxophone. They’ve played the Francos de Montreal, Festival d’été de Québec, and Festivoix, and opened for artists including Ariane Roy and Les Louanges.
The expanded album represents a continuation rather than a departure, adding texture to an already varied debut that positioned Rau_Ze as practitioners of a contemporary Quebec sound rooted in classic soul traditions.
Photos – Elizabeth Landry & Steve Gerrard
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