Depending on your view, life can resemble a box of chocolates or a bowl of cherries. But life can also sometimes resemble a spinning top. Sometimes it’s smooth and balanced. Other times it’s remaining upright despite the occasional wobble and seemingly out of one’s control. Regardless, it does end at some point. For Ottawa-based New Age artist Huguette Lavigne, such complexities of humanity are found in her contemplative new single “Spinners (La Toupie).” It’s a song Lavigne approached with no preconceived notion.
“This piece, ‘Spinners (La Toupie),’ began without a vision or theme,” Lavigne says. “Initially, I approached it with a sense of exploration, letting the process guide me. As I worked, the image of a spinning top gradually came to mind—starting with vigorous motion, whirling with energy, only to halt abruptly in the end. This visual became a metaphor for the human condition.”
“Spinners (La Toupie)” is a gorgeous, reflective piano instrumental that starts as a soothing, almost hypnotic melody with its various ebbs and flows. Dramatic without being over-the-top, the song exemplifies the course of one’s life, rising at times in intensity before delicately concluding after 155 precious, cherished seconds.
“Reflecting on the perpetual motion present in our lives and the universe, I found the underlying theme for this piece,” Lavigne says. “The spinning, as reflected in many of our activities, became a symbol of our journey through life. This contemplation on movement and stillness, activity and cessation, shaped the essence of ‘Spinners (La Toupie).'”
Lavigne, whose music veers through genres such as new age, contemporary classical and modern jazz, released a video for “Spinners (La Toupie)” in July featuring images of objects (and people) in motion. Such imagery includes a spinning top, amusement rides, celestial bodies, girls holding hands while spinning, and ballerinas.”
“Like the spinning top, we go through our lives with a certain rhythm, propelled by the forces around us,” Lavigne says. “Our planet spins on its axis, orbiting the sun, creating a cosmic dance that mirrors our daily routines. We engage in love, work, creation, and play, each action adding to the momentum of our existence. Yet, despite this dynamic activity, there comes a moment when everything ceases. Much like the spinner, our hearts eventually come to an unexpected and sudden stop.”
Lavigne, who along with her siblings would use their creativity to construct “imaginary worlds with astonishing detail” as children in their parents’ “unfinished basement” as she wrote in a 2022 article entitled “Bliss, Ecstasy, and Pure Joy of Making Stuff.” Her creative work includes more than 50 original piano compositions, some of which have complemented stunning visuals for a multi-sensory experience.
“Spinners (La Toupie)” follows previous 2023 singles “As It Goes” and “Pixie Dust.” In 2022 Lavigne released Jazzed Up Dreams, an album Lavigne said “began with five jazz pieces with riffs and melodies that developed out of improvisation.” Describing her sound at the time as “eclectic,” her music has been featured in Canadian Beats Media, Tinnitist and Record World International among others. Previous albums also include 2021’s Yin and Yang and Free and Easy and 2020’s Five O’Clock Somewhere. These four albums were all recorded at Ottawa’s Raven Street Studios.
Now with her calming, pensive “Spinners (La Toupie)” look for Huguette Lavigne to continue to push the creative envelope for engaging, eclectic and excellent compositions. It’s a song that you should definitely put in your musical rotation.
