Most of today’s pop sensations are often rushed to market, their material manufactured quickly before fully fermenting into something that lasts. Christopher
Gallant is not like most pop sensations.
In 2014, the buds of his heady debut EP,
Zebra, flowered after he formed his roots at the music school of New York University. Two painstaking years of musical development and experimentation later, his glistening full-length debut Ology blossomed into a critically acclaimed, multi-textured masterpiece of R&B, both traditional and uncharted.
His influences are as vast as the album’s many personalities—he draws from both modern, alternative R&B, and EDM and meshes it squarely with a dash of Prince-era disco. This concoction results in his familiar yet refreshingly unique sound.
Overflowing the apron of Lincoln Hall’s narrow stage, Gallant brought a roof-shaking performance of his bass-heavy pop to Chicago on Sunday night. The 24-year-old soulster brought crowd favorites such as “Skipping Stones” and “Weight in Gold” to new heights as his verbose falsetto soared out of his throat, at times cracking from his heavy force.
His funky three-piece band added a live pulse to synthesized scores such as “Episodes,” and allowed Gallant to act as conductor, building and crashing the songs as he pleased. The sold-out crowd wailed as he leaped about the stage with great conviction and force, letting his body contort along the bloops and bleeps. Gallant's set showcased his musical mastery and his dedicated fan base, which will only grow as time goes by.
