Meadowlark

Over the years The Owl Sanctuary in Norwich has played host to some pretty high energy acts – I think of Slaves, of Palma Violets, and of Acid Mother Temples, just to mention three. And in its new home in Timber Hill it continues to feature a good mixture of hard rock, punk and dub in its listings. But now The Owl is spreading its wings, and featuring an even wider range of genres. On Saturday night there was occasion to catch Bristol based synth-pop duo Meadowlark as they landed in Norwich to promote debut album Postcards.

Having been at Norwich Arts Centre earlier in the day for NAC's Sonic Youths Showcase, it seemed somewhat serendipitous to arrive at The Owl to find not just one, but two, Sonic Youths alumni also playing tonight. First up was guitar playing singer songwriter Aphra whose versatile vocal style allows her to switch seamlessly from highly personal songs like Grow Up, through edgier political material such as Billboard, to using clever poetic metaphor in the like of Candy Floss. Aphra is currently getting a band together to record an EP, and hopefully to perform more live dates.

Hydra Lerna was the first ever artist to play a Sonic Youths Showcase, and is now a talented recording engineer and music producer as well as singer and songwriter. Tonight's set provided a perfect chronology, starting acoustically with harp and vocals on early song Silence, reworking a couple of looped electronic tracks from her debut EP Birdcage, and finishing with new singles Hydra and Clean For You. Hydra Lerna is instantly recognisable, not just from the blue hair, but also from regular plays on Future Radio.

Kate McGill and Dan Broadley were last in Norwich back in February when Meadowlark supported Amber Run at The Waterfront. Prior to that I saw them support Megson a couple of years ago at Norwich Arts Centre. Back then their sound was still hovering somewhere between acoustic folk and electronic. However, this summer's release of Postcards seems to clearly mark them as claiming territory occupied by the likes of  Oh Wonder – beautifully harmonised vocals carried along on a wave of gentle electro-pop whilst supported by guitar and sympathetic percussion.

They start with Paraffin, a love song featuring a rather incendiary romantic analogy. The dark backdrop of the Owl Sanctuary stage is bathed in the warmth of golden filament lighting, which ebbs and flows with the rhythm of each number, and forms a protective halo around Broadley and McGill and their keyboards.