Montreal's long-running Suoni Per Il Popolo is the embodiment of an adventurous, community-driven music festival. Its 2024 lineup is unpredictable, spanning from rap to pop to punk to experimental noise — and it's all tied together by a fearless and uncompromising indie spirit.
There's a lot of sonic range in our picks for the festival's five must-see acts of 2024. Suffice to say, Suoni Per Il Popolo will offer a little something for everyone — so long as you like boundary-pushing art operating outside of the mainstream. Tickets are available from the festival's website.
Backxwash
Since making Exclaim!'s album of the year in 2020, Montreal metalhead rapper Backxwash has completed her trilogy of albums. Most recently, she released the eight-minute epic single "WAKE UP," ushering in a new chapter that's ferocious, electrifying and bound to be crushingly intense in concert.
Born at Midnite
Montreal duo Born at Midnite make fun synthpop tunes that are smooth and funky, with a cheeky sense of humour that recalls fellow Arbutus Records labelmates like TOPS and Rapport. Their way-too-short 2022 EP Alternity includes four perfect nuggets of low-key pop, and they kept that vibe going on 2023 singles "*69" and "Spotlite." More, please!
Sarah Davachi
Always sure to push the envelope, Calgary-born composer Sarah Davachi makes haunting works that disorient listeners with extended, hypnotic drones. Suoni per il Popolo will present the premiere of her new 65-minute piece Three Unisons for Four Voices, performed on violin, cello, bass clarinet, trombone, ondes Martenot and percussion.
Mustafa Rafiq
Edmonton experimentalist Mustafa Rafiq concocts adventurous, psychedelic worlds of sound, with the 2022 solo album If I Were a Dance featuring hazy tapestries of textures, including collaborations with a poet and a tabla player. Expect his live performance to be similarly unclassifiable and thought-provoking.
Wolf Eyes
For nearly three decades, Wolf Eyes have been noisy trailblazers. Harsh and uncompromising, the group — now operating as a duo after various third members have come and gone — have been pummelling speakers and eardrums with electronic abstractions and bludgeoning beats across a long and extremely prolific career.