Cœur de pirate
Béatrice Martin, better known by her stage name Cœur de pirate, is a Canadian singer-songwriter and pianist. A francophone from Montreal, she sings mostly in French and has been credited in Montreal Mirror with "bringing la chanson française to a whole new generation of Quebec youth".
Career
Early beginnings
Born in the province of Quebec, Martin started playing the piano when she was only three years old. She entered the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal at age nine and studied there for five years.At age 15, she played as a keyboardist in the post-hardcore band December Strikes First, which starred her best friend, Francis, who would later become the subject of the song "Francis" on her debut album. Martin had a brief stint as keyboardist for Bonjour Brumaire from late 2007 to April 2008.
2007–2009: Debut album and first success
In a report broadcast on French television, Martin explained that she chose the name "Cœur de pirate" to appear not "as an isolated musician, but to get a band identity from the start". She initially called herself Her Pirate Heart, but translated the name to French when she stopped writing songs in English. She released her debut album Cœur de pirate on September 16, 2008, on Grosse Boîte. Described as "rather simple" musically, it mostly featured her voice and piano playing along with some minor additional instrumentation.In February 2009, Martin attracted wider media attention when a photographer from Quebec City, Francis Vachon, used the song "Ensemble" as the soundtrack to a viral video on YouTube entitled "Time lapse of a baby playing with his toys", leading to coverage on Good Morning America, Perez Hilton's website, The Globe and Mail, and elsewhere.
2009–2011: Side projects Pearls and Armistice
In March 2009, Martin released a song in English, "One for Me", under the name Pearls on MySpace. In a later interview she described the project as a joke and said she did not plan to continue it, though she did not rule out the possibility of releasing music in English at a later date.In June 2009, she made a special appearance on CBC Radio's Q radio show. She performed her single "Ensemble" and a new song, "Place de la République".
Martin performed with Jay Malinowski of Bedouin Soundclash in May 2010 on Q and talked about collaborating with him in the future. She was later featured in a Bedouin Soundclash song, "Brutal Hearts", on the album Light the Horizon. Martin, Malinowski, and several members of the American rock band The Bronx subsequently collaborated on a five-song EP under the band name Armistice, which was released on February 15, 2011.
Martin contributed a new song, "La Reine", to the 2010 edition of CBC Radio 2's Great Canadian Song Quest.
2011 to present: ''Blonde'', ''Trauma'' and ''Child of Light''
On March 27, 2011, Martin revealed via her Facebook page that she was to return to the studio to commence work on her second album the following day. Her second album, Blonde, was released on November 7, 2011, in both digital and hard copy versions. "Adieu" and "Golden Baby" were released as singles from this LP.After announcing her pregnancy in February 2012, Martin stopped touring during the second half of the year and gave birth to a daughter in September. In early 2013, Martin returned from her hiatus with a music video for "Place de la République", the first for which she acted as director, and an international tour beginning in March.
In 2013 she recorded music for the fifth season of the Canadian drama series Trauma, with a soundtrack album released on January 14, 2014.
In 2014 she composed the soundtrack for the Ubisoft Montreal's video game production Child of Light. The soundtrack includes a song, "Off to Sleep", sung in English.
In April 2015, she released the single "Carry On" in both English and French. Both versions of the song appeared on her album, titled Roses. The music video for it was filmed in the Ruins of St Raphael's Church, South Glengarry, Ontario.
On August 12, 2015, it was announced by PR Newswire that Martin has signed a record contract with American record imprints Cherrytree and Interscope Records. Upon signing, she made a statement on Facebook: "It feels wonderful to have Cherrytree Records/Interscope Records join the team," "When I first started listening to music seriously, my musical heroes were all on Cherrytree. I'm sure I'll feel right at home. Huge thanks to Martin Kierszenbaum for believing in me. I can't wait to discover what's in store as I embark on this new adventure."
Her song "Crier Tout Bas" is featured in the trailer for the Paul Fieg directed thriller A Simple Favor due to come out September 2018.
On June 1, 2018, she released the album En cas de tempête, ce jardin sera fermé, her fourth album which also marks the tenth anniversary of her career.
In December 2018, Martin announced that she does not plan to release any further albums under the name Cœur de pirate, although she plans to continue making music.
Collaborations
Martin has appeared in concert with French singer Julien Doré, performing a duet of the Rihanna hit "Umbrella". In 2009 she recorded a new version of her song "Pour un infidèle", with Doré featured as the male vocalist. They appeared together in the video for the song, styled as a 1960s-era celebrity couple.Martin contributed vocals on "Brutal Hearts", the fourth track on the 2010 Bedouin Soundclash album Light the Horizon. Frontman Jay Malinowski and Martin subsequently collaborated under the band name Armistice, releasing a five-track self-titled album on February 11, 2011. In 2010 Martin also contributed vocals to the second track of David Usher's Mile End Sessions album, titled "Everyday Things".
She also appeared in Peter Peter's eponymous debut album Peter Peter in the song "Tergiversate".
Martin co-wrote the song "Jet Lag" with Simple Plan and a demo was recorded with her voice. The final version was recorded with Marie-Mai. The final version is shorter.
She appears on the track "Voila les anges", a cover of the song recorded originally in 1988 by Gamine on the 2012 album Couleurs sur Paris by Nouvelle Vague.
Martin contributed vocals for "Peace Sign" by Canadian synth-pop artist Lights, on the acoustic version of her 2011 album Siberia, released on April 30, 2013.
Martin also contributed vocals on "Suicide Bomber" and "All This " on the album "Shape Shift with Me" by punk band "Against Me!"
Personal life
In July 2009, it was revealed that Martin had been a nude model for the alt-porn website GodsGirls under the name Bea. About 800 naked pictures were featured on the website for many months. GodsGirls removed the pictures at her record company's request when she signed her contract, but the pictures keep reappearing on the web via some blogs and forums throughout the years. Martin always acknowledged that she had done these pictures but never wanted to talk about them before July 2009.On February 29, 2012, Martin announced on Twitter and Facebook that she was expecting a girl with her fiancé, Alex Peyrat, a tattoo artist. Martin and Peyrat were married later that year on July 26 and their daughter Romy was born on September 4.
On June 16, 2016, in an op-ed for Vice magazine's Noisey, Martin came out as queer as a response to the shooting at Pulse, a gay club in Orlando. The following day, she announced that she was filing for divorce from her husband. At the time, she was known to be in a relationship with Laura Jane Grace, who fronts Against Me!, although they later broke up. Martin and Peyrat remarried in March 2017.
Discography
- Cœur de pirate
- Blonde
- Trauma
- Child of Light
- Roses
- En cas de tempête, ce jardin sera fermé
Awards