It’s here! That time of year that the majority of us anxiously await is finally here, and P’tit Belliveau is helping us celebrate with his latest single, “Income Tax.” Embodying the powerful feeling of receiving a few hundred extra dollars all in a lump sum, this track encourages us to live it up, and it is sure to be relatable to many on a painfully deep level.
The track is the latest single off P’tit Belliveau’s upcoming album, Greatest Hits Vol. 1, and was released alongside a video. Following the theme of life on a low income, the track acts as an ode to those living paycheque to paycheque, and the video portrays the artist in front of a poorly-executed greenscreen, which is paired with word-art letters and low-quality images.
“I filmed a bunch of different footage with my phone in front of a green bed sheet, and I kind of figured out the rest while editing,” says P’tit Belliveau. “I’m not very good at editing, so I leaned into the bad quality to try and get some laughs.”
And while we know not everyone’s tax return will be substantial, we estimate P’tit Belliveau’s will be at least $600. With $200 to blow at Walmart, $40 at taco bell, $300 at the liquor store and roughly $60 on a full tank of supreme gas (how extravagant!), he will be living large and spending his income tax cheque on pure luxury.
“This track specifically is about how it feels to receive a lump sum of money when normally you’re living paycheque to paycheque. When money is tight, it feels like something that has a clock ticking over it, because as soon as you get paid, it goes in your gas tank, your insurance, your phone, rent, etc. So when you get a sudden extra bit of cash, it can feel like you need to spend it before it disappears. Why not blow it on a rager with your friends?”
His previous release, “Les bateaux dans la baie,” discusses how life’s simpler things, like watching the boats in the bay, can be all you need to feel happy — even when everything else going on around you seems to disappoint you. And it doesn’t look like this is the last we’ll hear from P’tit Belliveau on the theme of simple rural life.
“I tend to write about day to day types of topics, like work, taxes and life in a small town. I don’t specifically seek out these types of topics, but they tend to come up a lot when I write. I guess I just write what I know (which isn’t much).”
Coming from the Metaghan River community in Clare, Nova Scotia, P’tit Belliveau’s Acadian roots shine through in his lyrics and language. In addition to the smalltown themes, he uses French that is heavily Acadian, in a dialect that is unique to his area.
His album Greatest Hits Vol. 1 will be out on March 27th, and the album launch will take place on April 1st at l’Escrogriffe Bar Spectacle in Montréal — and no, it’s not a joke.