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Encore un soir (2016)

Where the lyrics of Encore un soir take you, and where it was really made.

Encore un soir was recorded in studios in five countries, from London to Las Vegas, and Dion's husband and manager died in the middle of the sessions.

Key places

Recording at Angel, RAK, London (2016)

Recording site Wild Bunch Studios (London) — Recording site listed for the album. The pin marks the city centre rather than the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recording at Hyperion, Marseille (2016)

Recording site Hyperion — Recording site listed for the album. The pin marks the city centre rather than the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recording at Addictive, Paris (2016)

Recording site Pathé Marconi studios — Recording site listed for the album. The pin marks the city centre rather than the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recording at East West, Los Angeles (2016)

Recording site East West — Recording site listed for the album. The pin marks the studio building itself. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recording at Lion Share, Los Angeles (2016)

Recording site Lion Share — Recording site listed for the album. The pin marks the studio building itself. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recording at United, Los Angeles (2016)

Recording site United — Recording site listed for the album. The pin marks the studio building itself. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recording at Piccolo, Montreal (2016)

Recording site Piccolo Studios — Recording site listed for the album. The pin marks the studio building itself. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recording at Piano Music, Amsterdam (2016)

Recording site Piano Music, Power Sound — Recording site listed for the album. The pin marks the city centre rather than the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recording at At the Palms, Las Vegas (2016)

Recording site Studio at the Palms — Recording site listed for the album. The pin marks the studio building itself. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Encore un soir: 26th studio album and 15th French-language album by Celine Dion
• Released 26 August 2016 by Columbia Records
• Songs produced by Jean-Jacques Goldman, Jacques Veneruso, Zaho, Silvio Lisbonne, Humberto Gatica, and Scott Price
• Lead single 'Encore un soir' issued 24 May 2016, number one in several Francophone countries
• Topped the charts in France, Canada, Belgium, and Switzerland
• Major commercial success, more than 1.5 million copies sold worldwide

Background

• August 2015: manager Aldo Giampaolo announced a French album for 2016 and an English album for 2017
• Mainly new material, plus a cover of Robert Charlebois' 'Ordinaire' and a remastered 'Trois heures vingt' from the 1984 album Mélanie
• January 2016: husband and manager René Angélil died during the recording process
• 'Encore un soir', written by Jean-Jacques Goldman, marked their first reunion in more than 12 years
• Dion sought to pay tribute to Quebec's musical heritage by reinterpreting 'Ordinaire'

Recording

• Recorded between June 2015 and June 2016
• Released over seven months after Angélil's death in January 2016
• 'Trois heures vingt' was played at Angélil's funeral at exactly 3:20 pm, marking the start of the ceremony

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Born 30 March 1968 in Charlemagne, Quebec, Canada, the youngest of 14 children.
• Discovered by future manager and husband René Angélil after her brother sent him a demo recording of her first song "Ce n'était qu'un rêve".
• Angélil mortgaged his home in 1981 to fund her first record, La voix du bon Dieu, which became a No. 1 hit in Quebec.
• Won the Yamaha World Popular Song Festival in Tokyo in 1982.
• Won the Eurovision Song Contest 1988 for Switzerland with "Ne partez pas sans moi".

Career

• Debuted in the Anglophone market with Unison (1990), followed by Celine Dion (1992).
• Breakthrough with "Beauty and the Beast" (1991) with Peabo Bryson, winning her first Grammy.
• The Colour of My Love (1993) and Falling into You (1996) became major international successes.
• "My Heart Will Go On" from Titanic (1997) became her signature song and one of the best-selling singles.
• D'eux (1995) became the best-selling French-language album.
• Held the A New Day... residency at Caesars Palace (2003–2007), the highest-grossing concert residency; the Los Angeles Times ranked her the top-earning artist of the 2000s.
• Announced in 2022 a diagnosis of stiff-person syndrome, cancelling tours; returned to performing at the Paris 2024 Olympics opening ceremony.

Members

• Solo artist; manager and husband René Angélil (died 2016) guided her career.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• AllMusic: four out of five stars, describing the album as one of the subtlest and most moving collections in her catalog
• Nicolas Houle of La Presse: praised the restraint and subtlety of 'Encore un soir', one of the album's strongest tracks
• Nicolas Houle of La Presse: also praised 'Ordinaire', the two Grand Corps Malade songs 'L'étoile' and 'Les yeux au ciel', and 'À la plus haute branche'
• Alain de Repentigny of La Presse: described the album as carefully arranged and highlighted 'Plus qu'ailleurs', 'L'étoile', 'Je nous veux', 'Toutes ces choses', and 'Si c'était à refaire'
• Benjamin Locoge of Paris Match: gave a positive review, praising 'Plus qu'ailleurs', 'À la plus haute branche', and the new feminine adaptation of 'Ordinaire'

Records

• France: debuted at number one with 218,684 units, the second-largest opening week of 2016 and of the decade
• France: highest first-week sales for a female artist in the country
• France: 2016 second best-selling album with 662,047 copies, the year's top album by a female artist
• France: diamond certification, awarded 11 November 2016 for sales over 500,000 copies
• Canada: debuted at number one with 60,175 copies, Dion's 15th number-one album there
• Canada: eighth best-selling album of 2016 with 140,000 units, the only Francophone release in the year-end top ten
• Canada: double platinum
• Belgium: number one in Flanders and Wallonia, best-selling album of 2016 in Belgium, platinum
• Switzerland: number one, platinum
• United States: first French-language Dion album on the Billboard charts, number 82 on Top Current Albums, number one on World Albums
• Worldwide: more than 1.5 million copies sold as of October 2017
• Juno Awards 2017: two nominations, Album of the Year and Adult Contemporary Album of the Year
• Félix Awards 2017: won Adult Contemporary Album of the Year and Best Selling Album of the Year

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The title track was the first reunion of Dion and Jean-Jacques Goldman in more than 12 years, and Dion and Angélil had planned it before his death.
• 'À la plus haute branche' was selected from more than 4,000 submissions after a contest on Dion's website, and the winning song by Daniel Picard was included on the album.
• 'Trois heures vingt' opened Dion's Summer Tour 2016, which ran 28 shows in Belgium, France, and Canada.
• Angélil was particularly fond of 'Trois heures vingt', and the song was played at his funeral service.
• The album's cover art, revealed 17 May 2016, is identical to the album's cover, shared with the lead single's artwork.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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