Kevin Bronson on September 1st, 2016

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The voices of Peter Dreimanis and Leah Fay go together like oil and water. Fay sings brightly, sweetly, crisply, like a refreshing drink the morning; Dreimanis’ whiskey-soaked Waits/Lanegan growl suggests the morning after. It makes for the compelling dynamic in July Talk, the Toronto quintet who will release their sophomore album “Touch” on Sept. 9. Already a mild sensation north of the border and known for their in-your-face live shows, July Talk — Dremanis and Fay, along with Josh Warburton, Ian Docherty and Danny Miles — are all about dualities, and the vocal calisthenics in their intoxicating mix of blues, metal and pop are a big part. The album Fay says, is inspired largely by the extensive touring the band did behind their 2012 debut. “Touring constantly provides a strange view of the world because you’re in transit more often than you’re still,” she says. “We became sensitive to the varying reactions we’d get from any given audience depending on the cultural norms and politics of a place. We became drawn to the idea of what it actually means to be a living breathing human. It’s messy and visceral and unpredictable.”

||| Stream: “Push + Pull”

||| Also: Watch the video for “Push + Pull” and stream “Strange Habit”

||| Live: July Talk open for Nothing But Thieves at the Fonda Theatre on Sept. 26 (tickets) and play the Wayfarer in Costa Mesa on Nov. 17 (tickets).