Punkt

This album is mastered for iTunes. A toy box of acoustic instruments accompanies Pierre Lapointe’s playful Punkt, a collection of 23 musical miniatures that sway with the same fanciful panache that defines the singer’s catalogue. Chiming harpsichords, fluttering trumpets, and chattering xylophones make a lighthearted impression, but Punkt has enough tenderness to demand serious attention. After bouncing along to an oom-pa bassline and thudding tom-toms on “Les remords ont faim,” the moody melancholia of songs like “La date, l’heure, le moment” and “Monsieur” seem all the more heartrending. Eclectic, ecstatic, and mischievously resourceful, Punkt is a dizzying musical kaleidoscope.