Ariane Moffatt

Québecois singer/songwriter Ariane Moffatt crafts melodic adult pop laced with electronica, folk, and French chanson elements. Playful arrangements shaped her 2002 debut Aquanaute, blending wistful numbers with more theatrical pieces. A 2006 Juno Award nomination recognized her live recording À la Station C, while 2010 brought a collection of covers tied to the Canadian television series Trauma. Her fifth studio effort, 22h22, arrived in 2015 and embraced brasher electropop while retaining her intricate approach.

Born in Lévis, Quebec, in 1979 on the opposite side of the St. Lawrence River from Quebec City, she grew up in the suburbs of that city. After finishing secondary school she relocated to Montreal and pursued music studies at Cégep de Saint-Laurent, later completing a bachelor’s degree in music and singing at the Université du Québec à Montréal. Shortly afterward she accepted an invitation to tour alongside singer Marc Déry, then joined Daniel Bélanger’s touring band in 2001 as keyboardist and backing vocalist.

She soon signed with Audiogram, which issued Aquanaute in 2002 and showcased her understated blend of playfulness, melodicism, and nostalgia. Le Cœur Dans la Tête followed in 2005, the same year she released her first live album and DVD, Á la Station C, earning a 2006 Juno nomination for Music DVD of the Year. Two years later her third studio album, Tour les Sens, appeared and yielded the Canadian Hot 100 single “Je Veux Tour”; it became her first charting release in Canada and reached number two.

In 2010 the Trauma: Chansons de la Série TV compilation gathered her interpretations of songs by Simon & Garfunkel, Leonard Cohen, R.E.M., and Pink Floyd, among others, and peaked at number nine on the albums chart. She returned in 2012 with MA and, via the Mo’Fat label, MA Remix, which included contributions from Poirier, Bonjay, Dubbel Dutch, and Nautiluss; the original album returned her to the Canadian number-two position.

Moffatt subsequently joined the Simone Records roster and delivered the bolder electropop album 22h22, which rose to number four upon its 2015 release. The live set Le Petit Spectacle à la Chapelle appeared in 2017.