On Wednesday afternoon The Drake Underground hosted some of Universal Music’s best and brightest rising stars. Live in Limbo was lucky enough to be invited to the Virgin Underground New Artist Showcase in Toronto and got a sneak peek at some of Canada’s up-and-coming musical talents.
Up first was Lucas – a 19-year-old smooth-voiced vocalist whose compositions sounded well beyond his years. Discovered through his YouTube channel and showing off his dexterity with a guitar, Lucas played a three-song set of tropical inflected original material. The quickly spit-out “Pager” featured instrumental loops while the well-developed “The Crowd” showed off his ear for pop-hooks as a singer-songwriter. As he left the stage, people around whispered questions and confirmations that he was, in fact, only 19-years of age. The future looks bright.
He was followed by Wes Mack, another young talent. Where Lucas slanted more R&B pop, Mack skewed more toward the country side of things. He also looked like Justin Bieber meets Ed Sheeran, so there’s definite hope he’ll pick up a younger crowd. He made reference to the Sheeran similarities himself, joking about it in the middle of his set. Prior to being signed to Universal, Mack had released some independent singles. After signing, he went down to Nashville to record some new songs for his upcoming album. The city’s influence certainly showed in songs like “Before You Drive Me Crazy”, his current radio single. Expect to see him pushed hard on the country circuit – and expect a lot of cowboy-boot wearing teenagers to swoon into their smartphones.
W. Darling brought the energy up, telling the crowd: “I’ve been singing for 8,000 years – but this is the first time I’ve had a band.” Backed by a six-piece ensemble, Darling is currently prepping Lost Girls, her debut album. Her voice – dreamy and on the higher side of the spectrum – was complimented nicely by the backing band that gave it a darker, more driving edge. From her first song (which she jokingly called her Hunger Games song before asking if anyone in the crowd had any connections to the film) to “Nights Like This”, Darling went big and ambitious. Interestingly, it’s material that sounds like it could belong in the headphones of indie rock fans; relevant to fans of bands like Sylvan Esso or Chvrches. She carries herself like a pop star though, so I’ll be curious to see where her career will go and what side of the audience divide she’ll end up in. Those at Universal are probably hoping for both.
Closing out the afternoon was K.I.D. (Kids in Despair), a band I was surprised to have already seen – albeit in a different incarnation, then opening for Rich Aucoin under the name The Boom Boom in 2013. While my memory was helped by the fact I vaguely know Bobby, their keyboardist (fun fact: we met way back in the day when Much on Demand was a thing,) their grunge pop offerings were also quick to come back into my head. Songs like “I Wish I Was Your Cigarette” and some song about a bong were familiar as soon as they began, though the band has obviously benefited from production value and label attention. Vocalist Kara carries herself like Angelina Jolie in Girl, Interrupted. It’s admittedly spooky – but also pretty enthralling. Bobby, meanwhile, did his best at a disengaged, disaffected shtick, eating a pop-tart and rolling his eyes at the crowd. There’s a specific bratty persona to what they do and songs about drugs and alcohol consumption are a bit of a hard sell when you have a difficult time relating to them. But maybe that’s just me leading a boring, responsible life… With the success of artists like Ke$ha, it’s easy to imagine K.I.D. following up with her fan base. The good news is: I’m sure Ke$ha money can buy a lot of pop-tarts.
