Katie Stelmanis at Steam Whistle Unsigned

It was rather shocking when Toronto-based artist Katie Stelmanis played Steam Whistle’s Indie Unsigned night last Friday to a barely there crowd.  Perhaps it was the glorious weather on the huge patio, or the high energy lead up of Whale Tooth and The Balconies (gosh, we love them sooo much) that did it, but either way, we’d say the crowd missed out on some pretty great music.

Her sound has a Bat For Lashes feel consisting of her hugely evocative vibrato-heavy voice backed by guitar, bass, keys, drums, and midi beats. CBC Radio 3 describes her sound “as if the Anticon crew and Patrick Wolf teamed up to convince Kate Bush to sing over drill and bass beats at the top of her lungs.”

With a full length expected to drop this Fall sometime, Stelmanis has been hustling hard for a few years since she appeared on Fucked Up’s album The Chemistry of Common Life. She put out her first album back in 2007, has contributed to the Friends In Bellwoods compilation for two years, and is set to drop another 7″ for “Believe Me” on June 22nd.

Check out this bewitching video for “Believe Me” below.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJi26Eo6hgc[/youtube]