July Talk hits Toronto’s Danforth Music Hall this weekend.Leah Fay handout
To take in the full dynamism of the Toronto rockers July Talk, one might require a split-screen brain. On one side is the darkly handsome guitarist and thick-throated singer Peter Dreimanis; on the other, the sweet and saucy beguiler Leah Fay. Fortunately, the band (which recently released Touch, the nail-tough but danceable follow-up album to its highly successful self-titled debut), is playing two shows at the Danforth Music Hall this weekend. So go twice: Watch him one night and her the other. For this week's Suggestion Box, we went with the singer (and part-time actress) Fay, who let us in on her current passions.
What she's listening to: "I'm alternating between Solange's A Seat at the Table and Gord Downie's Secret Path. The production and creative choices alone make these albums worth multiple listens, but when you add to that the fact that these artists are concerned with aiding in the re-education of their respective nations after hundreds of years of misinformation, they're unarguably essential listening for 2016."
What she's looking forward to: "Eamon McGrath, who started July Talk with us, has his first novel coming out next spring on ECW Press. It's called Berlin-Warszawa Express and it chronicles the mania of his DIY tours through Europe. He's one of the most prolific songwriters of our generation (with something like 35 albums under his belt), so I'm not at all surprised that his transition into prose has been utterly graceful."
What she recently enjoyed: "I watched Quote Unquote Collective's Mouthpiece on opening night at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre last weekend and I can't recommend it enough. At a glance, it's about a woman writing a eulogy for her late mother. In actuality, it sheds light on, tears apart, examines and gets messy with feminist theory, pressures of mainstream media, privilege, sexism and the male gaze. It's hilarious, devastating and wildly entertaining."
July Talk plays Danforth Music Hall on Oct. 28 and 29, 7 p.m. $29.50. 147 Danforth Ave., 855-985-5000 or ticketmaster.ca.
Brad Wheeler