Biography
As an independent singer-songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist, Cedric Noel developed his craft across several Canadian indie rock communities by issuing self-recorded albums and EPs that moved through ambient textures, personal singer-songwriter material, and, as Special Solace, D.I.Y. R&B-pop. His first release on a label under his own name arrived with the reflective Under a Falling Building and Out the Other Side in 2017. A decade into his recording work, the mercurial Hang Time appeared on Joyful Noise Recordings in 2021, examining themes of awareness and Black identity through tracks addressing adoption, the role of allies, and self-acceptance.
Born in Niamey, Niger, Cedric Noel grew up in multiple countries with his multi-national, multi-racial adoptive parents. He later studied at university in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, where he established himself within the local indie rock scene. The self-recorded and self-released Tempest and Calm surfaced in mid-2011, followed later that year by The Fall EP, whose songs addressed love and a dislike of autumn. Early in 2012 he issued another album, The Customer, which contained tracks such as "Winter Cold" and "Lull." In 2013 the live recording Live at the Wilser's Room captured a performance opening for the Floogs and featured drummer Will Pacey. Noel returned to solo work for the 2015 EP All. We. Are. and early 2016’s Um, the latter comprising two improvised instrumentals tracked in Ottawa and marking his initial outing on Front Porch Records.
That same year Noel relocated to Montreal, where he quickly connected with its active indie community. August 2016’s A Few Pieces of Repetition, drawn from songs intended for a discarded concept album titled Repetition, incorporated guests on drums, lap steel, and additional instruments. Before the year ended he released the fully self-recorded ambient EP Causes. His label debut for Front Porch, 2017’s Under a Falling Building and Out the Other Side, was recorded with drummer Scott Cuzner while Noel handled guitars, bass, piano, and organs; the album and its arrangements drew inspiration from works by the Afterglows, Mount Eerie, Sufjan Stevens, and Florist. Also in 2017 he introduced the R&B-oriented Special Solace project with the Single Years EP. Two further eight-song collections under his own name, late 2018’s For Empty Pairs and early 2020’s nothing forever, everything, appeared on Front Porch before he self-released the synthesizer album Patterns in December 2020, which included select contributions on strings, woodwinds, percussion, and vocals.
Hang Time, written largely in 2017 and 2018 and centered on identity and belonging, was self-produced in Montreal with engineer Steve Newton. The album, issued in November 2021 by Joyful Noise Recordings/Forward Music Group, featured contributions from Ella Williams of Squirrel Flower, Brigitte Naggar of Common Holly, and drummer Liam O’Neill of Suuns, among others. During the same year Noel supplied vocals, guitar, and piano to releases by the Montreal-based singer-songwriters Le Ren and Ada Lea.
Born in Niamey, Niger, Cedric Noel grew up in multiple countries with his multi-national, multi-racial adoptive parents. He later studied at university in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, where he established himself within the local indie rock scene. The self-recorded and self-released Tempest and Calm surfaced in mid-2011, followed later that year by The Fall EP, whose songs addressed love and a dislike of autumn. Early in 2012 he issued another album, The Customer, which contained tracks such as "Winter Cold" and "Lull." In 2013 the live recording Live at the Wilser's Room captured a performance opening for the Floogs and featured drummer Will Pacey. Noel returned to solo work for the 2015 EP All. We. Are. and early 2016’s Um, the latter comprising two improvised instrumentals tracked in Ottawa and marking his initial outing on Front Porch Records.
That same year Noel relocated to Montreal, where he quickly connected with its active indie community. August 2016’s A Few Pieces of Repetition, drawn from songs intended for a discarded concept album titled Repetition, incorporated guests on drums, lap steel, and additional instruments. Before the year ended he released the fully self-recorded ambient EP Causes. His label debut for Front Porch, 2017’s Under a Falling Building and Out the Other Side, was recorded with drummer Scott Cuzner while Noel handled guitars, bass, piano, and organs; the album and its arrangements drew inspiration from works by the Afterglows, Mount Eerie, Sufjan Stevens, and Florist. Also in 2017 he introduced the R&B-oriented Special Solace project with the Single Years EP. Two further eight-song collections under his own name, late 2018’s For Empty Pairs and early 2020’s nothing forever, everything, appeared on Front Porch before he self-released the synthesizer album Patterns in December 2020, which included select contributions on strings, woodwinds, percussion, and vocals.
Hang Time, written largely in 2017 and 2018 and centered on identity and belonging, was self-produced in Montreal with engineer Steve Newton. The album, issued in November 2021 by Joyful Noise Recordings/Forward Music Group, featured contributions from Ella Williams of Squirrel Flower, Brigitte Naggar of Common Holly, and drummer Liam O’Neill of Suuns, among others. During the same year Noel supplied vocals, guitar, and piano to releases by the Montreal-based singer-songwriters Le Ren and Ada Lea.
Albums
Singles
