COEUR DE PIRATE at The Mod Club. Friday, November 11. Rating: NNNN
Coeur de Pirate, a.k.a. Beatrice Martin, is a 22-year-old singer-songwriter from Quebec generating buzz in English Canada with her sophomore LP Blonde, a collection of a ‘60s-style French pop songs.
A rising star in France, she has dusky voice and a relaxed air about her but – at least on this night – also a nervous energy.
“I never thought this would happen to me – playing Toronto to a sold out crowd,” she told the packed house. “I might get emotional.”
Though misty-eyed, she kept her composure, winning over the audience with her airy ballads, which were amped up for the stage by a beardy, four-piece back-up band. Stylistically, Martin sounds older than her years her waltz-y melodies have a clap-a-long appeal that would probably get your dad on the dance floor at a family wedding.
Her music straddles a line between dated and timeless but she’s most compelling, however, when she goes minimal, like on her acoustic cover of Wicked Games by The Weeknd. The audience went nuts for it and Martin appeared overwhelmed. By the show’s end, her Toronto show felt like a triumph.
Read an interview with her here, and watch another interview with her here.
