JESSY LANZA at the Garrison, Saturday, November 2. Rating: NNN
When Jessy Lanza spoke to NOW magazine at Pop Montreal, she said she didn’t really think of herself as a singer. That was hard to believe Saturday night at the Garrison during the first song of her moody electro-R&B set. She’s an excellent vocalist.
Very early on, however, I understood. While some songs had relatively classic song structure, others were more big-room DJ. Often a rolling bass would swell up and kick the audience into a higher gear. (The first time this happened, as if on cue, a glass broke just after the song climaxed.) Lanza could easily win over a crowd at a huge dance festival.
Her singing is breathy and resonant, and sure, you can’t always decipher the lyrics (actually, mostly it was very difficult to decipher the lyrics), but she emotes well and you more-or-less get the message. In its upper register, her voice is Janet Jacksonesque, which fits perfectly with her 90s R&B vibes. (If you don’t feel like dancing to her tunes, there are other, equally suitable activities. Hell, at least two couples directly in front of the stage decided they couldn’t wait and started making out.)
Visibly bashful while addressing the crowd, but supremely in-the-zone otherwise, Lanza isn’t huge on stage banter. But she managed an endearing “You guys are so fuckin’ nice” before an awesome double encore which included her album’s title track, Pull My Hair Back. (And, being not pertinent to her musical capabilities, I shouldn’t comment on the woman’s hair, but, for the record, it is pretty spectacular.)
