B-Side Guys

Dominique Fils-Aimé strips “Going Home” down to single guitar and layered vocals, then uses that minimalist framework to explore how movement itself can constitute arrival. The JUNO-winning Montreal artist has built her career on rich, warm vocal arrangements that navigate jazz, soul, and blues with social consciousness, but here she trades complexity for clarity, letting her dynamic harmonies carry the entire emotional weight.

The production choice matters because it forces focus onto what Fils-Aimé does with her voice—those NPR-lauded abilities that make her interpretations feel both familiar and unexpected. Without orchestration or rhythm section to soften edges, every harmonic shift registers with heightened impact. When she ruminates on “going nowhere, going broke, going rogue,” the phrasing carries an almost conversational ease that masks the sophisticated vocal layering underneath. The guitar provides just enough structure to ground the melody without competing for attention.

What distinguishes this track within Fils-Aimé’s catalog is how it reframes failure as forward motion. The lyrics catalog apparent disasters—broke, rogue, nowhere—but anchor them to “still going strong,” suggesting that vitality matters more than destination. She’s not romanticizing struggle or pretending poverty equals freedom; she’s recognizing that ambition and boredom both constitute inclinations that move us, that the movement itself holds value regardless of what external metrics might say about progress.

Fils-Aimé describes home as state of mind, as loved one’s arms, as cup of tea—definitions that make geography irrelevant. “Going Home” functions as invitation to “disconnect from the external madness” and “sync within,” which could sound like self-help platitude if the music didn’t approach the concept with such understated grace. Her sweet subtlety, that ability to deliver meaningful messages without heavy-handedness, keeps the optimism from curdling into forced positivity.

As first single from ‘My World Is The Sun’ (due February 2026), this signals Fils-Aimé’s continued commitment to sonic, creative, and spiritual freedom—concepts she’s been exploring across two album trilogies that trace chapters in African-American musical history alongside her own introspective journey. The stripped arrangement suggests confidence: an artist who’s performed at Jazz à Vienne, North Sea Jazz Festival, and Osaka’s World Expo doesn’t need production flourishes to hold attention. Just voice, guitar, and the understanding that sometimes going strong matters more than where you’re going.