Foxtrott is something of a Montreal secret, but she shouldn't be for much longer. Marie-Hélène L. Delorme serves up dark and danceable electro-pop on record, but shook things up live with a French horn player, a decision that paid dividends. As Delorme belted out tunes that shook with soul — "Colours," from her Shields EP, was an early highlight — her compatriot's horn playing added more emphasis than mere backing tracks could, somehow evoking both solemnity and power at the same time. Dramatic, inventive pop song "Whiskey" had an unshackled quality, but Delorme is just as effective when she's quiet as when she wails; which is to say incredibly so. A slowed-down, chopped-up cover of "There is a Light That Never Goes Out" was both uncharacteristically heavy and heavy-handed, with none of the electricity of her original material, but she followed it up with another strong handful of songs before telling the excited crowd that "These are all songs that are recorded but not released yet." If Foxtrott is as inventive on record as she is live, fans should be in for a treat.
See more photos from Pop Montreal in our gallery here.
See more photos from Pop Montreal in our gallery here.
