Rykka has been a little quiet since winning the 2013 Peak Performance Project. But only because she has been hard at work on her new album, splitting her time between Canada and Switzerland. Just last month she released the first single from it, and this weekend she returned to Vancouver for a taste of some new songs at the Fox Cabaret.

Opening the night was current PPP top 12 artist Little India. The Langley four-piece played indie-pop that had a hint of influence from the early 00's indie-rock/post-punk wave of bands.
The band teased some new songs, as well as well as their current Peak single "Oola". I though they put on a fine set, but nothing really stood out for me until the last couple songs; I didn't get the name of either, but the latter started moody and intense, before ramping up to an explosive ending.
The young band has been doing well in radio competitions the last few years -- aside from The Peak, snagging Best of BC on the now-defunct The Shore and winning Fox Seeds -- and I'll be interested to see how they progress.

Thanks to the curfew for the show, it wasn't long before Rykka was out, with a slimmed down backing band of Jason Cook on drums and Andrew Braun on keys and bass (sometimes both in the same song). She also brought onstage a small, personal trampoline, which just added to her already lively, bubbly energy as she occasionally bounced while singing and playing the drum pad.
She immediately launched into her breakthrough single "Blackie", followed by "Maps Inside" from her last album Kodiak, getting the crowd into it right away, before leading us into a couple new songs. They had the same eletro-rock explosiveness as her previous album, but also felt like a nice progression of her sound.
Mid-way through the set, she brought things down for a moment with the beautiful "Grasslands", before Cook & Braun took a break while Rykka did a chilled out version of The Police's "Roxanne" on guitar.
A couple of the new songs that stood out came later in the set, and back to back: a somewhat existential song which I think may have been called "A Hundred Years", followed by an R&B-pop-infused hit that, mark my words, is destined to be a giant crossover hit.
After her ridiculously catchy new single "Movies" she wrapped up the main set with the appropriately titled "Electric", getting the crowd clapping along. But of course she was back out for an encore, playing one last, new song.

I've always enjoyed seeing Rykka perform -- even back before her Ryan-Guldemond-mentored transformation from Christina Maria to Rykka -- and this show reminded me of that. I don't think the new album has a release date quite yet, but based on what I heard, I am definitely looking forward to it.

setlist
Blackie, Map Inside, Bad Boy*, Tickety-Boo*, The Brink, Grasslands, Roxanne [Police cover], Ghosting*, Down in the Depths, A Hundred Years*, Running Away*, Movies, Electric.
(encore) Chasing Dark.*
*(some of the new songs may be named incorrectly, based on my ability to hear or guess from the chorus)