Sudbury's Edouard Landry has been on something of a roll since 2015.
Over the past four years, the French-language singer-songwriter, who describes his sound as folk accentuated by rock, pop and reggae, has released four albums.
His first album, Pomme Plastique, came out in 2015, his second, Pomme Plastique II, was released in 2016. Pomme Plastique is loosely inspired by New York and Pomme Plastique II by Chicago.
In 2017, he put out his third album, entitled “L'Escalade.” Many of the songs on that album focus on what Landry calls the “mountain climb” of life.
Last month, Landry released a “threequel” — Pomme Plastique III. Like the first two albums in the Pomme Plastique series, this album also focuses on a great American city — in this case Los Angeles.
He said many of his songs focus on the role Los Angeles plays in mass media and myth making.
Given Landry is an urban planner with the City of Greater Sudbury, it's not surprising he has a love of large cities.
“A question I often get asked is 'Why these American cities?'” he said. “I think just the whole kind of romanticism of it all, and it's next door, so you can go visit them and still feel kind of foreign.
“They're kind of inner journeys. You leave your own city to find out what you're all about. Who am I? What's my city compared to other cities?”
The name Pomme Plastique itself is a reference to a phrase in a Beatles song — plastic soul — that once got stuck in Landry's head. He said it also refers to creating art out of everyday life.
Landry has received some critical acclaim for his efforts, including award nominations through the Northern Ontario Music and Film Awards, Prix Trille Or and the Mayor's Celebration of the Arts.
He has been involved in the local francophone music scene for more than 20 years, and was a founding member of Sudbury band Konflit Dramatik in the 1990s. He released his first solo EP, Montreal/Paris, in 2003.
But with the rigors of family life — he's the father of two — and establishing his career, Landry didn't end up releasing his first album until 2015.
“After a few albums you get the sense as to who's the team, what are the things to expect, what are some of the obstacles,” Landry said.
“You learn how to kind of navigate through all that. In some ways it's easier, but we keep exploring, we keep adding musicians, we keep adding to the project team.
“I think we're working efficiently. In this case we've been recording two albums at the same time, sometimes three albums at the same time. There's more news to come.”
If you'd like to check out Pomme Plastique III or any of Landry's previous albums, they're available on all major streaming platforms.
A vinyl version of Pomme Plastique III is also available for sale locally at Cosmic Dave's and Sunrise Records.
