Cold comfort

Moxie’s heavy, marble-topped tables had been slid into bunches away from the foot-high stage at the front of the cafà, and the young, fresh-faced crowd was snuggled in tight for a night of chilly music from the north.

One amplifier and one electric guitar were stationed on stage all night long, joined by each of the three touring performers, one at a time. After a modest and somewhat forgettable set of unchanging, muted guitar chords and consonant-free chanting in French by Montreal singer/songwriter Genevieve Castree (a.k.a. Woelv), Julie Doiron (also from Montreal) snuck up to the mike and spoke an ice-cold rendition of Tom Waits’ “Innocent When You Dream” before announcing, “I’m going to play whatever comes into my head.”

Doiron proceeded to sing about snow, songwriting, and what was at the front of her mind, the two children at home waiting for mom to get back from tour.

“I will close my eyes/ in front of all the people/ I will close my eyes/ thinking of you.” ("Last Night,” from Doiron’s latest, Goodnight Nobody)

K Records artist Phil Elvrum, a.k.a. The Microphones, is only 25 and he’s already garnered accolades from both sides of the corporate line (Amazon and Pitchforkmedia) and had a documentary made about him. You would hardly know it, though, as the unassuming and shy songwriter pieced together his odd stories and unfinished song ideas into a friendly, stream-of-conscious dialogue as the last act on this Thursday night.

With a polite bend of the knees and "thank you" punctuating each song, Elvrum ended the night with a fill-in-the-blank last line: "There’s ringing in my ears/ it’s a phantom high/ and when I listen to it/ It says _____."