Open-hearted pop turns heads and ears
Newfoundland singer LeRiche and his likeable compositions seem bound for big audiences
What’s the deal? Tiny ferry-terminal town Port aux Basques doesn’t typically rank high on lists of Canada’s greatest music-export hubs, but young Newfoundland singer/ songwriter LeRiche is doing his best to make his hometown a household name.
Although he has hardly even played much around the rest of Canada at this point, LeRiche — who’s signed to upstart Toronto indie Big Story Entertainment — recently inked a European deal with U.K. label Fierce Panda Records, which counts the ooey-gooey likes of Coldplay and Keane among its clients and no doubt hears the similarities to both of those bands in this sensitive (and rather handsome) soul’s open-hearted and melodically generous pop compositions. And hence, of course, LeRiche’s potential to be quite popular.
It’s certainly not beyond the realm of possibility that LeRiche could catch the ear of, say, the Ed Sheeran/James Blunt crowd with some of the smartly produced tunes — kinda folky, but not above a dapple of electronics here and there and often scaled, production-wise, with an expansive eye for the cheap seats — found on his forthcoming X-Dreamer EP, although we’d never accuse him of being as flatly boring as either of those gents.
Two of the singles from the EP, “Under Covers” and “River Runs” are, in fact, quietly amassing a following at “Triple A” radio in the U.S. right this moment, including the influential “adult alternative” outlet WXPN in Philadelphia.
Frankly, LeRiche does kinda sound like he was born to be played on the radio, albeit not in an icky way. His are the sorts of tunes you catch yourself humming at the kitchen sink, even though you’ve done your best to tell yourself you don’t like them. Deep down, though, they’re pretty likeable. Sum up what you do in a few simple sentences. “I am a young singer/songwriter hailing from Port aux Basques, Newfoundland and Labrador. I like to think of my music as unique brand of alternative folk-pop. I now live in St. John’s and travel regularly to work on new music. Writing is my creative outlet — it’s like an addiction — and even though I’m mid-release with my X-Dreamer EP I continue to write constantly. I think you have to embrace the creative when it comes. I couldn’t be more excited to share my first body of work and enter into the live-performance arena locally and internationally . . . I am forever grateful for all the support the music has received to this point. Thanks for listening.”
What’s a song I need to hear right now? “Under Covers.” Ladies, start your swooning.
Where can I see him play? At the Dakota Tavern on Friday, Nov. 24.