Top Of The Pops

On Thursday, the Great Hall hosted Diana's debut album release. I first learned about this band as they were starting to get online buzz (snagging a 21-city tour with Tegan and Sara) from drummer Kieran Adams, who was moon-lighting as a barista at my local coffee shop The Common. The lead singer was Carmen Elle, whom I've also seen in Army Girls and Donlands & Mortimer. Yet I kept missing the few local shows they were doing. If they do blow up big (Carmen Elle has done a couple of glamour "dreamy female singers" fashion profiles), this was my chance to see them in a smallish space.

Opener Empress Of also uses a lot of synth and drum machines, but they were more dance music. Many of the songs had propulsive beats with heavy bass and running riffs. The singer, Lorely Rodriguez, often looped or overlaid effects over her vocals, adding a bit of experimental elements to their music. Although she was quite animated while singing, her stage banter was fragmentary and diffident.

Stage confidence is not some that Carmen Elle lacks, probably due to her long-time experience (at the ripe old age of 24). In fact, the 4-member band were all indie veterans and played their new dreamy synth-pop with assurance. On several numbers, keyboardist/saxophonist Joseph Shabason, guitarist Paul Mathew and Adams exploded into manic passages. Carmen Elle's natural dancing and clear high voice complemented and sold the earnest pop lyrics. In interviews, she forswore her guitar-playing a la Army Girls for this project. But during the set, she will usually pick up her guitar for phrase or two.

It was a good-sized crowd of about 300. I wasn't sure about the ratio of fans (there were group sing-alongs and even girls-on-boyfriend's-shoulders for Born Again) versus curiosity seekers (Diana got a front-page profile in alt-mag Now Toronto). But their slow-burn synth sound on Perpertual Surrender and a cover of Roxy Music's More Than This went over great. Though more layered and experimental on the album, the logistics of a live show meant stripping away some of that effects. This made their music even more immediately accessible including last song New House, which attained a Lana Del Rey's Video Game insta-hit feel, with its minor-chord refrain of "Am I wasting my love on you?"