Novo Amor at MTELUS: “Musical Intricacies in Real Time”

The fall season crept in early this year at Montreal’s MTELUS’s, as the venue welcomed the timid voice of Novo Amor to round up Indie music lovers. On Wednesday, September 18th, Ali John Meredith-Lacey, known under his stage name of Novo Amor, arrived in Montreal to mark the eleventh stop on the North American leg of his tour.

Amor, a Welch multi-faceted artist and creator, interrupted the indie-music scene with the release of his EP Woodgate, NY in early 2014. Not only did the singer’s melancholy ambience separate him from artists surrounding him, but his self-produced discography also shined new light on cinematic easy-listening music. With a paralleling tone to that of Bon Iver, Amor holds a hefty collection of five studio albums, 2 extended plays and a plethora of singles: impressive, given his short timeline of only eleven years. With only this brief history, Amor has established himself as a pioneer for immersive, soundscaping, and self-produced music. 

Wednesday night’s show was introduced by Montreal’s very own Afternoon Bike Ride, a trio inspired to evoke sentiments enlisted by their name. The angelic vocalization of female lead Lia Kuri sent the group off the races during the premiere of their new live set for their “two biggest shows” to date. The audience devoured the effortless falsettos by Kuri, paired perfectly alongside the group's raw, nostalgic lyricism: the perfect prelude to Amor’s veracious and cinematic performance. 

From the moment he crept slyly on stage, Amor placed his audience in a state of complete immersion: backing graphics were poignant with each track’s tone, lighting felt scintillating in its strobing fashion and the band worked unitedly to form a singular entity of sound. As an ensemble, bandmates Dave Huntriss, Si Martin, Tom Mason and Rhodri Brooks passionately exchanged verses and choruses to echo the effects of Amor's records. 

Off of Cannot Be, Whatsoever, a scream of “I should take my life more seriously!” erupted from the Gen Z and Millennial heavy crowd, as drummer Martin energized the “Halloween” rhythm to meet that of listeners. A similar power flared from “No Plans” during Mason’s rock-guitar solo as Amor’s aggressive punk side radiated. 

Highlighted within their crowd-pleasing “State Lines” was Amor’s shining skill in plucking out eclectic the intricate sound effects and instrumentation. Quiet string picks and light vocalized echoing were explored in the forefront of Amor’s performance rather than sheltering these sounds in the background for the detail-oriented listener. The collectivity of Amor and his bandmates through call and response and harmony allowed audience members to interact with these usually amalgamated sounds. Such skill has proved to be a strength of Amor’s work throughout his recorded discography, however, his ability to perform such intricacies live was astonishing. 

Throughout his show, the multi-instrumentalist joked genuinely with his nearly full concert hall. Amor broke the foreground of his stage as he stood outside of his performer light and allowed fans to truly grasp his silliness and humanity. “Does anyone have any questions?” Amor pondered before providing open responses to over a dozen queries from fans. A young audience member asked, “What’s your favourite song to perform?”, to which Amor joked, “Whatever’s the last one”. To this, the audience’s chuckles ruminated as the singer sunk into his bashfulness. 

While as a lyricist Amor explores the gloom of loneliness, as a producer, he holds his audience in that loneliness and wraps them in a layer of comfort. His personality attested to the freedom he feels through his music, enabling his ability to truly be in pure authentic form when on stage. Amor’s delicate whisper muted the external noise and thoughts of listeners, thus creating a space of embodied engagement of his artistry, compassion and innovation. Amor’s orchestration of his set truly highlighted the creativity he brings to the Indie-music scene, and unlocked a view for Montrealers that was not to be missed. 

Listen to Novo Amor's newest solo work, Collapse List, here