Aidan Knight

Aidan Knight first picked up a guitar a decade ago in his hometown of Victoria, B.C., and has since made music-making his life and his livelihood. Knight fell into a community of Victoria’s indie scene musicians, playing in bands such as Maurice, Counting Heartbeats and The Zolas. But Knight prefers to be captain of his own creative vessel. Since appearing solo for the first time at the peak of an H1N1 crisis that banished his bandmates to their bedrooms, he now most commonly appears this way – a solo act often backed by the members of the other tour acts.

In March 2010, Knight released Versicolour, his first LP and the culmination of six years of song writing. In the making of a record, Knight is not in the habit of writing and recording tracks that are later eliminated in the editing room. Instead, he has adopted an everyone-makes-the-team policy, which translates into song writing of the highest caliber. “I hate to throw away songs or ideas,” he says. “There’s always an interesting and impacting bit of music present.” Each track is reworked until “perfectly imperfect,” assembling a multitude of musical and lyrical ideas.

Since Versicolour's debut, Knight has hardly left the road. In fact, it’s been a year since his last hometown onstage appearance. But he won’t be returning empty-handed. Three new tracks have been laid on his Friendly Fires EP, which made its first appearance this past November. As on Versicolour, Knight accounts for approximately 80 per cent of the musical output, and calls again on Colin Nealis, David Barry, Oliver Clements and Julia Wakal for the remaining 20 per cent of the sound. After dedicating the entirety of the past year to playing music, he has found that “there’s always pressure to have something new to give to people when you’re touring. Friendly Fires is a reflection of this year and an indication of what the next will look like.”
His sound is universally pleasing and genuine, complimented sweetly by his terrific vocals and engaging lyrics. Knight admits that he isn’t overly analytical about the words, but he is careful to vary his themes often. He admires the lyrical style of David Bazan and endeavours to write balanced lyrics, contrasting light and dark imageries.

Most recently, he has found himself experimenting with narrative-style song writing. The track and video for "Margaret Downe," which can be viewed on his site, is a beautiful, heartbreaking story about a man and who falls in love with a dentist and, eventually, how time and space divide them. The song is chock full of striking wordplay, carrying the dentistry allegory throughout. Careful listeners may even be able to discern the borrowed We Are the City lyric.

Canadians everywhere are in luck! The tightly packed tour continues from February through to April (and beyond?), making stops from Port Alberni, B.C., to Charlottetown, P.E.I. Knight is touring with We Are the City from Kelowna, one of his favourite bands, for a second bout of their Reckless Bravery Tour. Knight’s particular brand of indie folk pop is love at first listen and unlikely to fade away anytime soon. Aidan Knight is an absolute treat – on his album, on the stage and on the phone. - BeatRoute Magazine

If you’ve heard of Aidan Knight before now, chances are it’s because of his extensive experience as a supporting musician, as he has loaned his talents to a slew of local acts including the Zolas and Maurice. Despite having played second fiddle for so long, there’s nothing particularly modest about his solo debut, Versicolour, which pairs his hushed, reverent folk songs with lush string arrangements and grandiose choral harmonies.

Opener “The Sun” begins with a gentle, ticking electro beat and baroque piano chords, gradually swelling to a blissful crescendo of horns, violins, and crashing cymbals; Knight’s voice is nearly overwhelmed by the rich harmonies of the Toronto orchestral outfit the O’Darling, whose vocal and instrumental contributions ensure that the album is much more than just another singer-songwriter project.

“Eyelid Clicks” pushes Versicolour’s sound into more experimental terrain, its resonant piano chords accompanied by squeaks of feedback and burbling electronic noise. Knight similarly branches out on “Knitting Something Nice for You”, which begins as a gentle acoustic waltz before transforming into a hypnotic keyboard groove, Knight’s usually whispered vocals rising to a cracked yell.

The album’s only significant shortcoming is its length; with only eight tracks (one of which is more of an intro than a song), its brief running time somewhat undercuts the grandeur of its chamber-folk arrangements. Still, with songs this good, it’s a little mystifying that Knight was content to be a backing musician for so long.

Download this: “Jasper” - Georgia Straight

Until now, if the name Aidan Knight sounded familiar, it's likely because of his numerous backing contributions to bands in the Victoria/Vancouver music scene. But take a few listens to his debut Versicolour and it's hard to imagine Knight backing up any musician other than himself.

A mix of folk and acoustic pop, Versicolour moves through many different moods. Some songs are light, others are dark and often they're both. Opener "The Sun" starts out feeling gloomy before a glockenspiel and back-up vocals hint at the full-on release to follow, courtesy of a crescendo of strings and horns. Conversely, "Knitting Something Nice For You" begins with hauntingly delicate finger-picking before Knight's tortured vocals and driving drums turn it into something more sinister. And then there's "Jasper," the sunny and uplifting finale whose joyous hymn-like refrain is damn near perfect.

Part of what makes this album so strong is the excellent arrangements and orchestration, both of which are brought out through an impeccable mix and are best listened to on a quality set of headphones. Clearly a mature songwriter, Knight shows that it's possible to craft songs that are dense without being overwhelming and sparse without being boring.

To put it bluntly, Versicolour is a collection of beautiful songs from a promising new artist. If there's but one complaint it's that with eight songs in only 28 minutes, it's over far too soon. - The McGill Tribune

This debut from Victoria, B.C.'s Aidan Knight is bookended by two of 2010's best songs (thus far).

Opener "The Sun," though it begins plaintively, eventually morphs into a sweeping orchestral chant that'd act as the perfect soundtrack to a lamentable rainy day. Closer "Jasper," along with its brief a cappella prelude "Sorrows," is destined to become the smart-pop hit of the summer. Both tracks would sit nicely along side Hayden's "The Hazards Of Sitting Beneath Palm Trees."

What's in between these two standouts tends to be uneventful — though not unenjoyable — fare. Knight handily uses the meat of his album to display his songwriting chops. These are carefully constructed, sparse creations that find a way to be memorable despite the absence of bells and whistles.

There's some Dan Mangan in Knight's singing and songwriting, and also a little Sondre Lerche in his guitar work. Overall, the midsection of Versicolour has the feel of Hawksley Workman's "Safe And Sound."

At eight songs, Veriscolour feels a little unfinished, but we'll take what we can get. There are clearly big things to come from this guy. - CHARTattack

juror comment: “I need to keep reminding myself that he is in fact from (and still lives in) Victoria.”

When his upcoming tour winds down in Victoria on Dec. 11, singer-songwriter Aidan Knight will finally be able to take stock of what he has accomplished in the nine months since the release of his solo debut, Versicolour.

Knight, 24, soared off the back of Versicolour and into the Peak Performance Project, the Vancouver-based talent showcase that was eventually won by the rapper Kyprios. Knight placed fifth in the contest earlier this month, winning $5,000 along the way.

More integral to the future of his career, however, were the good notices that came along with the cash prize. At one point in the Peak process, word had it that Knight was destined for placement even higher than fifth — a considerable accomplishment for an unassuming nice guy and former member of local acts Maurice, Counting Heartbeats, and Black Tie Social.

“No one was more surprised than me when people caught on to Versicolour,” Knight said. “When you set your expectations really low, everything seems amazing.”

Next week, Knight will release Friendly Fires, a new two-song EP, to coincide with a tour that takes him to Alberta and back. Following the holidays, he will set about making good on the promise of what was, in the words of Frank Sinatra, a very good year.

“The way that we did it was really lucky. We had so many incredible people say that it was cool. Some of it was under my control, but a lot of it was people spreading it around through word of mouth.”


- The Vancouver Sun