Basia Lyjak

 

Some singers were born with the rock’n'roll gene and some were not. The minute Toronto’s Basia Lyjak opens her mouth, you know which group she falls into. Lyjak has the kind of voice that would be out of place anywhere but centre stage in front of screaming guitars, big bad bass lines, and pounding drums. Her music is a full frontal assault on the senses, and she gives no quarter.

You would expect nothing less of her after scanning the list of people she cites as having influenced her musical development. Included in that list are such heavy hitters as Led Zeppelin, Guns’n’ Roses, Motley Crue, Hole, and Nirvana. I had an Outer Limits moment when I saw both Motley Crue and Hole on that list because my first thought after hearing Lyjak rip into “Don’t Talk” was that she’d somehow been possessed by Vince Neil and Courtney Love. There’s a lot of attitude in the music Lyjak writes, but she’s not putting anything out there she can’t back up, as evidenced by her recent nomination for Best Song at the 2008 Toronto Independent Music Awards for the aforementioned single, “Don’t Talk.” Her current EP, Writings On The Wall, bears witness to an artist mature beyond her years. The vocal prowess Lyjak displays on that EP and the strength of the original material she’s penned point to a long run for her. Her efforts have already been recognized with five International Online Music Awards, a segment on OMNI’s Na Luzie TV show, and an opening slot for Lee Aaron.

Listen to Basia Lyjak’s Don’t Talk

This entry was posted on Monday, September 22nd, 2008 at 5:39 pm and is filed under Showcase. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.