Valerie Broussard at The Cave, CMW 2016

On a night of club hopping checking out the smaller club shows I was curious as to this venue called The Cave, could it be possible that it was one I just had never heard of or maybe it was brand new and it had not had years of alcohol spilled on every inch of it. I searched the address on Google Maps, and learned that no, The Cave isn’t brand new and it isn’t some place I had never heard of. It was Dance Cave above Lee’s Palace and for some reason they are calling it The Cave for some reason now. 

Valerie Broussard was making her first appearance not only in Toronto, but also in Canada as a whole as the Philadelphia bred native is making inroads into our country as she prepares for her debut album to come out in the near future. Broussard’s music sounds poppy, but her vocals are soulful with an edge allowing her to have a distinct voice in this ever-changing pop landscape. Broussard’s song Holy, is like her subversive take on religion much like Hozier’s Take Me To Church from last year. 

It was surprising to learn that Broussard’s full backing band was actually not her own, but session musicians she met up in Canada set up to play with her. The group must have practiced quite a bit as they all complimented each other quite well. Broussard’s keyboard/synth player was a highlight showcasing a contrast between deep brooding synth’s and beautiful classical piano playing. Broussard who works as a songwriter as a day job clearly knows how to get inspiration from anywhere, as shown in the song Chaos, which was a song about quantum mechanics being translated into one about life. 

Revolution is a club ready song that with a booming bass beat could be heard anywhere from The Village to The Hoxton. Towards the end of Broussard’s set she played her current single A Little Wicked, which is an empowering feminist song that has already been getting featured on the TV show Lucifer with it’s Alicia Keys upbeat RnB style. Broussard is the type of talent that will most likely appear on the next up and coming act similar to Disclosure.