THE MONTREAL PIANIST AND COMPOSER SHARES “CARNAVALITO” FROM FOURTH ALBUM, MIRADOR, OUT SEPTEMBER 25 VIA ARTS & CRAFTS
BUY / STREAM “CARNAVALITO” HERE
WATCH / SHARE “CARNAVALITO” HERE
PRE-SAVE MIRADOR HERE
CANADA, EUROPE AND UK TOUR DATES BEGIN THIS FALL
"A piece that opens with the full range of a 12-person baroque choir before Blais' piano takes the lead, guiding us through a vibrant dreamscape in just three minutes. ...with Ulysse, Blais is letting us into his inner world." CBC Music, Songs You Need To Hear on “ulysse”
Photo Credit: Adrian Villagomez // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES
Today, Montreal pianist and composer Jean-Michel Blais shares his new single, “carnavalito”, the latest track to be taken from his forthcoming fourth album mirador, released September 25, 2026 on Arts & Crafts. Following previous single “ulysse”, “carnavalito” offers another glimpse into an album that finds Blais turning his gaze onto a wide, wondrous world, exchanging contemporary minimalism for a light and generous maximalism. It is an odyssey that spans choirs, strings and the music of the Andes, from Spanish caves to Estonian forests and all the way back to the basement in Nicolet, Québec, where Blais first imagined adventures.
As a musical kid and, even if he wasn’t fully aware of these things yet, as a queer person, with Tourette’s, Blais’ hideaway was his imaginary lookout, his “mirador,” from which he could dream the world.
Speaking about “carnavalito”, Blais says:
“Fiesta de la quebrada, humahuaqueña para cantar (andean trad.). My crossing of the Andes leads me to Quito, where an elderly instrument seller finally reveals what I had been seeking for months: my three favourite bands are playing at the same festival, Inti Raymi, The Festival of the Sun. Suddenly I find myself overlooking Otavalo, high in the cordillera, searching for tickets to see Charijayak, Los Kjarkas and Bonnie Alberto Terán, the only white face among a mocking crowd. My search leads me backstage, helping the technical crew with the setup. One of the most beautiful days of my life, dancing the carnavalito.”
BUY / STREAM “CARNAVALITO” HERE
WATCH / SHARE “CARNAVALITO” HERE
With more than 375 million streams globally to his name, mirador began with Blais reflecting on childhood memories of building imaginary worlds in his parents’ basement. The album’s title references those early “lookout” spaces, places of refuge, invention and possibility. Working with composer and arranger William Brittelle (LA Philharmonic, The National), he assembled a choir of 12 baroque singers before adding a string quartet of friends. Blais also enlisted Tulio Velazco Villagra, a master of Andean instruments, while residencies at the Arvo Pärt Centre informed the album’s meditative atmosphere. The result is Blais’ most adventurous and transportive work yet, moving fluidly between folk traditions, contemporary composition and cinematic storytelling while holding onto a sense of intimacy throughout.
MORE ABOUT JEAN-MICHEL BLAIS
Jean-Michel Blais is a Montreal based pianist, composer and performer signed to Arts & Crafts and Mercury KX (Decca). In the first decade since the release of his landmark 2016 debut album, II, the classically trained Blais has defined his music through the reverent intimacy he shares with his instrument, the piano. Named in TIME’s Top 10 Best Albums of the Year, the magazine described his improvisation inspired debut as “music that breathes, invites one to take a moment, and acknowledges that there is still much beauty in the world.”
BUY / STREAM “ULYSSE” HERE
WATCH / SHARE “ULYSSE” HERE
Through this connection with the piano, the multiple Polaris Music Prize shortlisted and two time JUNO Award nominated artist has reached audiences around the world. He has performed one of the largest neoclassical concerts in history to nearly 40,000 people at the Montreal Jazz Festival, collaborated with the Orchestre de l’Agora and the Orchestre symphonique de Québec, and amassed more than 397 million streams across a catalogue that includes the ambient and new age inspired Dans ma main (2018), which drew influence from the music that soothed his Tourette syndrome as a child, the Félix Award winning aubades (2022), his first exploration of composition for chamber orchestra, and désert (2025), a collaborative album with American harpist Lara Somogyi.
His diverse résumé also encompasses the Cannes Award winning Matthias & Maxime (2019) soundtrack, the twilight inspired serenades EP (2023), and Cascades (2017), created with producer CFCF. Together, these works continue Pitchfork’s observation of the “thrilling synchronization of piano and electronics” that has become a defining thread throughout his catalogue.
On mirador, his fourth studio album, Blais embarks on an expansive, beneath the surface odyssey spanning choirs, strings and the music of the Andes. Travelling from Spanish caves to Estonian forests before returning home to tiny Nicolet, Québec, mirador opens listeners’ eyes onto Blais’ wide, wondrous and deeply personal world. It is an aspirational journey that exchanges contemporary minimalism for a light, generous maximalism.
Throughout his discography, Blais has used instrumentation and composition as tools of personal expression, subtly revealing different facets of his identity as a queer artist, perpetual traveller, student and caregiver, often through the lens of his upbringing. Four albums into his career, Jean-Michel Blais is no longer simply charting the map of his grown up heart. On mirador, he offers a new perspective on childhood: a vivid and vicarious invitation to listen again, gazing ahead into the imaginary.
PRE-SAVE MIRADOR HERE
TOUR DATES
2026
09.24 — WATERLOO, QC — Maison de la culture de Waterloo
09.27 — STE-GENEVIÈVE, QC — Salle Pauline Julien
10.03 — VAL-MORIN, QC — Théâtre du Marais
10.23 — BERLIN, DE — Felt Room
10.26 — LONDON, UK — World Heart Beat
10.27 — UTRECHT, NL — TivoliVredenburg
10.28 — PARIS, FR — La Piccola Scala
11.28 — TORONTO, ON — Koerner Hall
2027
01.23 — NOMININGUE, QC — Espace Saint-Ignace
01.28 — SAINTE-THÉRÈSE, QC — Théâtre Lionel Groulx
01.29 — ST-HYACINTHE, QC — Centre des arts Juliette Lassonde
01.30 — BAIE-DU-FEBVRE, QC — Théâtre Belcourt
01.31 — VICTORIAVILLE, QC — Le Carré 150
02.05 — SHAWINIGAN, QC — Centre des Arts
02.06 — SHERBROOKE, QC — Théâtre Granada
02.07 — SALABERRY-DE-VALLEYFIELD, QC — Salle Albert Dumouchel
02.10 — DRUMMONDVILLE, QC — Maison des arts Desjardins Drummondville
02.12 — JOLIETTE, QC — Centre Culturel Desjardins
02.13 — MONTMAGNY, QC — Salle Edwin-Bélanger
02.14 — QUÉBEC, QC — Grand Théâtre de Québec
02.17 — BROSSARD, QC — Théâtre Manuvie
02.18 — L'ASSOMPTION, QC — Théâtre Hector Charland
02.19 — ST-MARIE-DE-BEAUCE, QC — Salle Méchatigan
02.20 — THETFORD MINES, QC — Salle Dussault
02.21 — TERREBONNE, QC — Théâtre du Vieux-Terrebonne
02.25 — LONGUEUIL, QC — Théâtre de la Ville
02.26 — LAVAL, QC — Salle André-Mathieu
02.27 — ST-EUSTACHE, QC — Le Zénith
03.05 — OTTAWA, ON — National Arts Centre
04.30 — VANCOUVER, BC — Chan Centre for the Performing Arts
05.20 — EDMUNDSTON, NB — Salle Léo-Poulin
05.21 — CARAQUET, NB — Centre Culturel de Caraquet
05.22 — MONCTON, NB — Capitol Theatre
05.23 — FREDERICTON, NB - Playhouse
10.02 — CHÂTEAUGUAY, QC — Château Scènes
10.03 — LÉVIS, QC — L’Anglicane
10.07 — ST-JEAN-SUR-RICHELIEU, QC — Théâtre des Deux-Rives
10.08 — MONTRÉAL (LASALLE), QC — Théâtre Desjardins
10.10 — GATINEAU, QC — Salle Odyssée
10.12 — ST-JÉRÔME, QC — Théâtre Gilles Vigneault
10.13 — VAL-D'OR, QC — Théâtre Télébec
10.14 — ROUYN-NORANDA, QC — Théâtre du Cuivre
10.15 — AMOS, QC — Théâtre des Eskers
10.20 — SAGUENAY, QC — Théâtre C
10.21 — RIMOUSKI, QC — Salle de Spectacles Desjardins
10.22 — CARLETON-SUR-MER, QC — Studio du Quai des Arts
mirador TRACKLIST
1. muses
2. ulysse
3. pavane
4. carnavalito
5. mirador
6. quwi
7. granada
8. kyrie
9. laulasmaa
10. silhouettes
11. querelle
12. a chambre des possibles