She Makes War @ Open
All in all, a damned good evening
Bearing a passing resemblance to The Hold Steady's Craig Finn, Matt Watson kicks things off in fine style. Opener Tales of the Sea brings to mind TV Smith's solo work. The End of Chivalry hints at Billy Bragg. It might have been the reference to The Wonderstuff’s Erica Nockalls in the intro but there's a dash of Miles Hunt in new songs We Were Young and Love of My Life. I’ve seen Matt a few times and this is the best set I've seen from him. The new songs suggest his next album might be very special indeed.
Bryde trades Watson’s acoustic for an electric and takes things down a gear or two. Superficially, songs like Oh Tender and Wait are in the same territory as Hannah Lou Clark or Charlotte Carpenter but there's a slow-burning, aching melancholia to them that gives Bryde an identity of her own. For comparisons, I was trying to avoid referring to PJ Harvey but she's mentioned in Bryde's Facebook profile so I think I can get away with that one. There are also hints of Jeff and Tim Buckley along with Ben Harper. Not happy good time music but pretty damned moving.
And that is a description that can be used for She Makes War's patented gloompop. From opener Time To Be Unkind to closer Scared To Capsize, this is a fine set from one my favourite artists. Not unsurprisingly, the set draws heavily on new album Directions of Travel.
Having seen SMW a number of times, I think this is the first time that Laura has used pre-recorded backing tracks. Pretty much limited to drums and violins on a few of the songs, in the absence of the full SMW band these add a welcome depth to the sound. Of the new tracks, Drown Me Out and new single Cold Shoulder are definite highlights. Of the older songs, it is always a pleasure to hear Olympian and In This Boat. Delete is, as ever, a showstopper with Laura looping her own voice into a veritable wall of sound.
Tonight has seen three solo artists rooted in the singer-songwriter tradition but performing very different set. In their own way, each has star quality and is an entertaining, engaging, funny and charming raconteur. All in all, a damned good evening.
