Isis Salam Drops 'Surprise Sex' on CMW Audience

Toronto hip-hop and electronic artist Isis Salam proved on Thursday night's CBC Radio 3/Sirius/Billions Canadian Music Week showcase that if you pressure fans into dancing for long enough, it will eventually get them to move.

"I don't know what you people want, okay?" Salam jokingly yelled at her audience. "It's called dancing -- you should try it!"

Salam was put at the early foot of the evening's roster, playing to a smaller crowd at the large Opera House, after folksinger Little Scream but before Cadence Weapon, Hollerado and Land of Talk. The house lights were still on, pretty brightly, but with different circumstances, Salam could have had a reception as energetic as her performance.

Dressed in a sparkly leopard-print unitard crafted by a local designer, Salam danced around the huge stage with bravado. She opened the set with, 'In the Beginning with Stars,' joined by singer Gentleman Reg, but when another song's beats started over on her computer, it forced the pair to end the song prematurely. "That happens all the time!" she laughed.

Salam also played 'LBG (Little Booty Girl)' and 'Nothing 2 Step 2' -- tracks from Thunderheist, her now-defunct dance duo project with Graham Zilla. "We kind of killed it last year," she quipped. "No big deal!"

Most of the work she did besides singing and dancing was through her laptop while drummer David Foster (of Junior Boys) pounded away on his set. Salam played numerous new songs off her "coming of age" album due this summer, including 'In My Youth,' 'Young Love,' 'The One,' 'Drive-In' and 'Avenue.' The songs were loud, danceable and fun. Afterward, she told Spinner that the new album is "tentatively titled 'Surprise Sex' -- if I can get away with it."

She can.