Friday evening at POP MTL, I happened to come across the world of Jules Reidy, an artist from Berlin, originally from Australia.
It all began almost incognito. After Una Rose’s concert, as the stage emptied amid a flurry of technicians, a discreet figure placed a classical guitar, then another electric one, followed by a computer and a few controllers on a small central table. With their modest appearance, you’d have sworn they were part of the technical team.
Then the lights go out. Silence. Jules returns, this time alone. Not a technician, but the artist himself. They delicately step forward, pick up their electric guitar, and position themselves in front of the microphone. Each gesture is measured, tender, almost timid. Little by little, a presence takes hold, subtle and magnetic.
The first note resonates. The voice unfolds, soft and narrative, like a thread guiding us through a mysterious story. Behind it, electroacoustic textures gradually build: strange, enveloping, constant layers, to which the guitar responds with striking precision and intention. The two worlds fit together perfectly, creating a hypnotic balance.
Autotuned vocal effects are added, recalling a hard and ethereal pop, in the continuity of the evening that heralded the next set, that of Chanel Beads. The loops accumulate, slowing down time, plunging the room into a gentle trance. We are no longer just listening to music: we are floating in a suspended space.
Jules puts down his electric guitar, patiently adjusts his electronic textures, before returning with the acoustic. Rawer, rougher, it shifts the atmosphere, adding an unexpected depth. Always graceful, always taking their time, they let each sound breathe, each silence count.
And the audience, captivated, lets itself be drawn into this slow construction, as if witnessing an intimate ceremony where everything unfolds with intention.
A rare moment. Hypnotic. Touching.
Jules Reily does not give a concert: he opens a passage, a space where time becomes emotion.
