Chic Gamine is coming back in a big way.

It’s been five years since the band released its sophomore album, City City, and now their third album, Light a Match, is finally out along with a music video and a tour.

“This album is about a lot of different things. The title track, “Light a Match,” is about what you are going to do with your life and the opportunities that come your way. Are you going to make the most of them or are you going to watch them burn out?” one of Chic Gamine’s lead singers, Alexa Dirks, says.

Each song is inspired by band members’ life experiences, the obstacles in the music industry and relationships. Dirks says it is a mix of genres and she is proud of each song on it.

“My favourite (song) to sing is ‘Maybe I Need Some Good Loving,’ because it has some good moments where I can really emote, but at the same time all of the songs feel the same,” Dirks says.

A music video for Light a Match was released on Oct. 25, just two days after the album came out. The video was directed by Mike Maryniuk, a Winnipeg filmmaker.

“It was a really cool experience, we showed him the song and he came up with a concept that we really enjoyed. It became this whole other thing we could have not imagined and it was a fun process,” Dirks says.

Dirks says it took a couple of years to finish Light a Match.

“It wasn’t like we worked on it absolutely every day for those two years. It just kind of came together in that way,” Dirks says.

Band members would get together to write, and then record, and then write some more.

“That was just the process we took,” Dirks says.

During that time, there was also a member change.

Ariane Jean, a founding member of the band, decided she wanted to focus on her life at home rather than travelling, which the other members of Chic Gamine want to do more of.

“We would love to go all over the world with music. We would love to go to Japan, Iceland, Brazil, a lot of other places we have not been yet,” Dirks says.

Jean was replaced by Benoit Morier, who Dirks says plays the electric guitar, bass and tells jokes.

Playing music with people who are fun and make you laugh is something Dirks recommends to musicians starting out.

“Don’t take yourself too seriously. It’s a balance of taking yourself seriously to have people believe in you, but it’s good to have a sense of humour in the industry or you won’t be able to laugh,” Dirks says.