Victoria Canal - “Black Swan”

SXSW 2024 - OEB Score: 8; Popularity Index: 5

Pairs Well With…Clairo, Gracie Abrams, Billie Marten

I caught a set from Victoria Canal at SXSW 2024 and it was a moving experience, bare, pretty ballads enrapturing a small, silent barroom. Born with one arm due to Amniotic Band Syndrome, Canal’s strength to perform guitar and piano was admirable and inventive even within the smallest of songs. Limitations can yield opportunity, and not having fingers has a way of  simplifying strums or melodies and in turn, bringing out the best qualities of Canal’s songwriting. Residing in Germany, Spain, and Atlanta in the past, now based in London, Canal’s songwriting brings in experiences by looking inward instead of a music travelogue. Sharing a sweet, pop-centered vocal tone, she keeps thing pretty understated on her latest EP WELL WELL, landing best as she leans into atmospheric indie folk modes and adds more detail to a spare core sound. Check out Victoria Canal at Speakeasy Ballroom on Thursday night before a closing-night showcase at the British Music Embassy on Saturday. (Kevin McStravick)