Concert Review: Lowell, Repartee, Drake Hotel, December 3rd

lowell

Toronto based artist Lowell might be destined to be famous. The former U of T music student has yet to see her debut record release, yet in a short time span, we have already seen her collaborate with some famous musicians and already signed to Arts & Craft. While some might attribute that to luck, Tuesday night’s “homecoming” show was a good indication that much of her immediate success is more a result of talent, and sounding just a bit different from other acts in the Canadian landscape. Dressed in some sort of cheerleader uniform, Lowell played an interesting show that highlighted a lot of positives. The show had a selection of new tracks as well as songs from her EP If You Can, Solve This Jumble, which was recorded with the Apparatjik collective. This collective, unknown to me until now, features Magne F of Aha, Guy Berryman of Coldplay and Jonas Bjerre of Mew. How did those guys even meet up? Only God knows. There’s been a lot of comparisons of Lowell’s sound with that of Lykke Li and I guess the comparisons are fair in that they both don’t sound like what you would expect for pop bands, which is great. Some of the songs are playful tracks while others were rockers (including the declarative “LGBT”). While those descriptions are rather vague, there was a certain something different in the way Lowell uses her voice or arrange the tracks. I don’t want to use the word eclectic or kooky, but it’s just..different, but good. The wide range of musical styles combined with Lowell’s strong vocals and streamers and balloons made for a fun show.

Opening the night was Repartee, a indie dance-pop band from St. Johns. They played a short but fun set that injected some energy into a somewhat lethargic crowd at the Drake. Meg Warren was a firecracker on stage and Repartee, with their hand claps, cutesy dancing indie pop sound seemed like a band that could catch a strong audience, since everyone loves that type of music today.

Posted on by Ricky in Concerts

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Britpop lovin Chinaman, consumer of all things irrelevant. Toronto Raptors fan.