Montréal en lumière: Five shows to see

Spanning classical, theatre and visual arts, Montréal en lumière defies attempts at a definitive selection of highlights. Here are five promising pop/rock shows. Tickets are available via montrealenlumiere.com, Jordan Zivitz writes.

THUS OWLS (Gesù, 1200 Bleury St.; Thursday, 8 p.m., $26 to $37.30).

It’s easy to lose yourself in Erika Angell and former Patrick Watson guitarist Simon Angell’s frosty soundscapes, which are melted by Erika’s scarlet croon. Inscrutable at first, addictive soon after, with the Montrealers’ deliberate majesty occasionally threatened by eruptions of violence.

LOU DOILLON (Metropolis, 59 Ste-Catherine St. E.; Friday, 8 p.m., $42 to $47.55).

The daughter of director Jacques Doillon and Gainsbourg muse Jane Birkin was never destined for normalcy, so her rare grace is more a delight than a surprise. Produced by Taylor Kirk of the darkly atmospheric Timber Timbre, last year’s sophomore album Lay Low deepened the flickering intimacy of her 2012 debut.

RON SEXSMITH (Gesù; Saturday, 8 p.m., $35 to $41.35).

A quarter-century after his debut, Sexsmith’s seemingly effortless melodies can still provoke a sense of wonder. Last year’s Carousel One was among his sunniest albums, but whatever the emotional weather, he never sounds less than absolutely truthful.

BETTY BONIFASSI (Club Soda, 1225 St-Laurent Blvd.; Tuesday, 8 p.m., $30.25 to $32).

The iron-voiced Montrealer and honorary Montréal en lumière copresident has found a deep well of inspiration in the field recordings of musicologist Alan Lomax, updating African-American prisoners’ work songs into audacious 21st-century soul music on her self-titled solo album and its followup, Lomax, due out on March 4.

THE BEATDOWN MEETS HUGO MUDIE (Club Balattou, 4372 St-Laurent Blvd.; Feb. 25, 9 p.m., $11.53 to $15).

One of the more populist options on a program that tends toward the arthouse and ethereal. Founder of the DIY community-centred Pouzza Fest, Mudie embodies the punk ethic as tirelessly as anyone in town, and the reggae-rockers are natural foils.