Chiiild live at The Axis Club in Toronto

Montreal’s Chiiild (born Yonatan Ayal) recently released his latest album, Better Luck in the Next Life. A follow-up to his critically acclaimed debut record Hope for Sale is a further dive into his genre-melding sound that he coined as “synthetic soul”.

This record is an “in-depth exploration of creative freedom, personal equilibrium, and a return home,” according to the press release. He shared with Complex that his approach to this record was to make the kind of music he would listen to on his way to school, “a mash-up of all the records I listened to”. His nostalgic, romantic take on telling stories through music is something that his fans especially relate to and these fans turned up for tonight’s performance strong.

The show started with a rather dramatic opening, Chiiild’s band in the dark with just the headlamps. Our eyes are drawn to the violinist, her presence is mesmerizing. In time, they get joined by Ayal who, dressed in a thick knitted sweater, proceeds to sing and pace across the stage, occasionally making contact with his fans.

Throughout this performance, we head tracks across Child’s repertoire, from “Weightless” (Hope For Sale, 2021) to “Pirouette” (Synthetic Soul, 2020), and of course, plenty of tracks from his latest release. It was a calm show, the kind that you can just sway and nod to for the entire hour. Which seemed to be exactly what his fans came here for.