Opening for Justin Nozuka’s sold out show on Monday night at the Virgin Mobile Mod Club was Ontario-native singer, Megan Bonnell. Playing mostly the songs from her folk-pop album Hunt + Chase, released last October on Nevado Records, Bonnell created an intimate atmosphere by being sonically simple with only a piano or guitar accompaniment.
The minimal background instrumentation brought forth her smoky, soulful, deep but breathy vocals, which had enormous range that was kept under impressive control. Her lower voice register grounded the excited crowd and gravitated their whole attention towards her on stage. The raw emotion found in her songs shone through as well as she played with eerie falsettos and explosive yelps. Although being mostly static throughout the set, Bonnell’s performance style was lightened up by cabaret-like vocals and more elaborate piano licks such as in “Hunt and Chase” and “Off The World”.
All in all, Megan Bonnell seemed to master the delicate balance that blends easy-listening phrases and catchy choruses with resonating lyrics with sombre undertones.