Sophie Hunger live: enchanting and majestic, Patronaat 13 December 2013

Photo Wo.

Sophie Hunger came into my life in the winter of 2013. 'The danger of light' was an album I liked. It was not only original, but also quite intriguing, with all the different sort of sounds being explored in the eleven songs. (Click here for the review.) When I read that Sophie Hunger was coming to Haarlem, I wrote the date in my agenda. Something told me that this could be something special and believe me it was.

From the very first notes of 'Rerevolution' it became clear that we were celebrating music. The atmosphere was solemn, stern even. The people on stage were singing four piece harmonies. Utmost concentration. Sophie behind a grandish piano, a cello, organ, bass and drums. Also in sight were guitars, electric and acoustic, a trumpet, a flügelhorn and a glockenspiel. Where necessary instruments were switched, even a piano switch during a song, fluently from cello to piano, from piano to the flügelhorn. All to make one person shine: Sophie Hunger. It reminded me a lot of the show Blaudzun did in the same venue almost two years before. Though he never shone like Sophie did.

Photo Wo.

Sophie Hunger sings live even better than on record. From low, normal to high screams. All with a lot off ease and very clear sounding. The last is a great compliment to the sound mixer. The sound was near meticulous. The venue was made smaller, so the venue was full for its, not normal, size. The sound ultra clear, never too loud, doing right to all the subtleties in Sophie Hunger's music and singing. The light show was also beautiful. With subtle lightning the musicians were captured in light beams as if in cages of light.

The music is not your every day pop. Elements of singer-songwriter, jazz, pop and, for a lack of a better word, cabaret German style all came by. In a long solo on the piano Alexi Anérilles went of in uncharted territories of free jazz. Playing with the tempo, playing notes outside the scale, going off the edge completely, to come back into the song, all the while followed by drummer Alberto Malo. Not much later Sara Oswald did the same on the cello. All the while Sophie Hunger is out of the spotlight enjoying what her musicians are doing. Cheering them on from the sideline. It were these moments that the audience went from clear appreciation into participation. The fire was burning from that moment on.

Photo Wo.

One of her most beautiful songs 'Souldier' she kept for the end of the set. Sophie Hunger surprised with an a capella version of Z'lied für Freiheitsstatue. With a highlight for the variations sung by Sara Oswald. It all ended with a front stage unplugged song. Intimate as the whole show was at heart, amplified or not. With an audience that was enchanted. No talking through any of the songs. A rarity these days in larger venues.

Sophie Hunger was pure magic. A singer that deserves a much larger audience than she had in Patronaat. Fans of Blaudzun can buy a ticket to her show with their ears covered. Next time in the Netherlands a slot on 'De Wereld Draait Door' and Giel Beelen in the morning should do the trick. The short version? I had expected Sophie Hunger to be good, but this good? I just love surprises.

Wo.

You can listen to Sophie Hunger live here.

Royals. Lorde

There are songs that simply crawl under my skin. It must still have been summer when I heard Royals for the first time on the radio. Music in the back ground. I heard something that was special, but not of the sort that made me go the extra mile, not even an extra step. Just another girl vocal group or so I thought, doing something on the line between beats, r&b and pop.

Royals also didn't become a real hit. Lingering at the bottom of charts, not disappearing again and not really rising also. Then I lost notice for a while, until I heard the song again some weeks back. As in really hearing it and not as musical wall paper as the radio to me often is. (I'm not a radio listener, but an album listener. Somebody very close to me is a radio listener.) This time I immediately followed up on hearing the song again. Putting it on my head phone and heard all the intricate ear candy going on.

Royals is what I call a "non song". Almost everything in the making of a traditional song has been stripped away. No instruments, nothing making up the melody of a song, except for the voice(s). There is something substituting a bass guitar and very thin electronic percussion. All through the song finger clicks keep time. Finger clicks with loads of echo in there, as if recorded in a large bath room or empty museum hall. All else is singing.

The credits for the production go to Joel Little, who must have been under a restraining order. The influence of a band like The xx is there, some Lana del Rey but only in atmosphere. Royals itself seems quite unique, although with a little imagination it is possible to fantasise what a singing group like The Supremes could have done with this composition.

The singing is done by one girl, the now 17 year old Ella Maria Lani Yelich-O'Connor from Auckland in New Zealand. All these intricate voices, deeper, higher, playing off and into each other. Playful and oh so serious, all at once. Making the singing a mix of wonder and beauty. Having created all this space in the instrumental part of Royals, there is so much room for Yelich-O'Connor's voice and she fills it up like The Beach Boys of old, in her own special way. Endless overdubs create an intricate field of singing, that begs to sing along with. "I rule, I rule, I rule, I rule". Each a little differently sung, each a little more forceful, convincing, urgent. A single "o-ooh" is enough for a rapturous moment as well.

The lyrics are about the differences in life style from ordinary folks and the super rich or the royals. And the videos of rappers are sort of summed up. All superficial bling bling and status. A little fantasy, "you can call me queen bee". Many things that we do not have and never will have. "No postcode envy" is a nice term. Irony has it that after what the world has done by massively buying the song and album, this lifestyle is within reach of our young singer.

Something else happened in the meantime also. In November and December Royals has gone top 5 and resides in the charts for over 20 weeks. Apparently more people had the slow burn experience with this song like I had. Royals crawls under the skin, not to let go. The making of a true hit that will stand out for a long time.

It makes me wonder what can a singer of 16, that is able to make a song as special as Royals at this age do at a later age? On the other hand Royals has everything spelling out "one hit wonder" all over it. Time will tell what Lorde will bring. It should be more than just Royals. Whatever happens beyond 2013, Royals is one of the most special songs of 2013. No doubt about it.

Wo.

You can listen to Royals here in the world version or here in the US version of the video.

.NoWordsNeeded

http://vimeo.com/78130481

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Defend yourself. Sebadoh

Another band that released a record after years of silence. So let's add it to the series anyway, despite closing with Paul McCartney's 'New' last Tuesday.

After Lou Barlow co-resurrected Dinosaur Jr. and came up with the excellent 'I bet on sky' (click here for the review), he resurrected his band Sebadoh in 2013. Leading to the very pleasant Defend yourself. 14 Years after 'The Sebadoh' a new album is released.

Exactly like Dinosaur Jr (with 'Farm') I missed every note before this album of Sebadoh. That allows me to listen to Defend yourself completely fresh, not being hindered in any way by preconceptions and comparisons to what went on before.

Sebadoh consists of Lou Barlow, Jason Loewenstein and Bob D'Amico on "performance and production". The first two being old compadres in Sebadoh, a word that is nonsensical, drummer D'Amico a very recent addition to the band. This three some only has two releases to its name, an EP and Defend yourself.

The album is at heart a rock horse. Guitars, a strong bass and loud drums drive most songs on Defend yourself. Neil Young is a clear reference in the way Barlow sings and in the guitars. There are side steps, like REM in 'Oxygen'. The sound is just a little harsher, certainly the bass is more fiery. The pop feel underneath the more direct sound is very REM, 'Monster' style. There is also some Pearl Jam in Sebadoh. In the way the songs shy away from flowing free and easy, challenging me to listen just a little harder, without resentment building up which usually happens to me listening to Pearl Jam (Eddie Vedders' wining voice). Buffalo Tom, The Lemonheads?, yes, they as well. Bands I haven't listened to for years, I realise.

Most songs remain within certain boundaries. 'Inquiries' does not. A too filled country rocker with guitar notes flying all over the place, but without a lot of coherence to it. Luckily there are not too many others of songs like these on Defend yourself. 'Final days' makes up for the slip. What a delicious rocker this song is. The difference between the band J. Mascis plays first guitar in and Lou Barlow second, also becomes very clear. 'Final days' may be guitar driven, but it is not a huge wall of guitars one has to wade through to get to a song. 'Final days' rocks, but every instrument and voice has its place in the mix. This makes for much more relaxed listening for me.

Lou Barlow's voice is not the most distinguished in rock, but the faintly hoarse sound is proficient enough to carry his songs and has a modest but pleasant ring to it. Towards the end of the album the pace goes down and it is clear enough that his voice suits these songs like a glove. 'Let it out' and 'Listen' stand out and prove that Sebadoh handles slower songs, ballads Sebadoh style?, quite well. Especially 'Listen' belongs to the finer songs on Defend yourself.

Looking at Defend yourself as whole, it is about three songs that keep the album from a perfect score. For the rest this indie rocker is a nice collection of songs that go off the beaten path and shows the gems that lie just beyond it. Sebadoh decided to make a comeback and quite rightly so. Perhaps all its previous records were better, I just don't know. It seems like it is time to find out.

Wo.

You can listen to 'I will' here.

Lily & Madeleine. Lily & Madeleine

Ik kijk al een tijdje uit naar het debuut van de Amerikaanse zusjes Lily en Madeleine (Jurkiewicz). Na een paar veelbelovende voorproefjes, waaronder een EP en een aantal akoestische video’s, ligt een paar maanden na het eerste levensteken al het debuut van Lily & Madeleine in de winkel en het is een debuut dat mijn hooggespannen verwachtingen met gemak heeft overtroffen. Lily en Madeleine maken op hun debuut vooral uiterst ingetogen popliedjes. Het zijn popliedjes zonder al te veel tierelantijntjes die het moeten hebben van een mooie en sfeervolle instrumentatie (met afwisselend een hoofdrol voor gitaar en piano) en vooral de prachtige stemmen van de zusjes uit Indianapolis, Indiana. Lily & Madeleine zijn pas 16 en 18, maar zijn hun meeste leeftijdsgenoten vele jaren voor, zowel in vocaal als in muzikaal opzicht. Het debuut van de zusjes laat opvallend tijdloze popmuziek horen. Het is popmuziek die in veel gevallen terug gaat naar de folkmuziek uit de jaren 60 en 70, waarmee de zusjes Jurkiewicz op het Asthmatic Kitty Records label, waarop de plaat is verschenen, een wat vreemde eend in de bijt zijn, al zijn ook Lily & Madeleine niet vies van stokoude Appalachen folk. Lily & Madeleine hebben een voorkeur voor folky popliedjes met een laag tempo en een veelzijdige klankentapijt. De instrumentatie op de plaat is behoorlijk ingetogen, maar zeker niet sober of kil. De mooie warme klanken passen erg goed bij de geweldige stemmen van Lily & Madeleine. Het zijn stemmen die op zichzelf al heel mooi zijn, maar wanneer de stemmen van Lily & Madeleine samenvloeien gebeurt er iets bijzonders. Iets heel bijzonders. De prachtige wijze waarop de stemmen van Lily & Madeleine elkaar versterken doet wel wat denken aan The Webb Sisters (de afgelopen jaren vooral bij Leonard Cohen op het podium te vinden, maar de nieuwe plaat komt echt) en First Aid Kit (ook zusjes). Net als The Webb Sisters en First Aid Kit doen Lily & Madeleine hun uiterste best om hemeltergend mooie vocalen op de band te slingeren, maar de zusjes slagen er ook nog eens in om heel veel gevoel in deze vocalen te leggen. Omdat het tempo laag blijft en de instrumentatie ingetogen en stemmig, was ik bang dat het debuut van Lily & Madeleine na een aantal tracks of anders na een aantal luisterbeurten zou gaan vervelen, maar dat is tot dusver zeker niet het geval. Eigenlijk worden de sfeervolle popliedjes van de Amerikaanse zusjes alleen maar mooier, vooral omdat de stemmen steeds fraaier bij elkaar lijken te kleuren en de subtiel verstopte spanning maar langzaam aan de oppervlakte komt. Het debuut van Lily & Madeleine is door het lage tempo, de donkere klanken en de vaak wat melancholische teksten een plaat die uitstekend past bij de komende seizoenen, maar het debuut van Lily & Madeleine is meer dan een plaat voor de donkere dagen (de wat vrolijkere songs zijn een eerste stap in de richting van de lente). De piepjonge zusjes Jurkiewicz laten meteen op hun debuut horen dat ze mee kunnen met de smaakmakers in het genre, maar gezien de leeftijd van de zusjes kunnen we nog veel meer verwachten. Dat belooft wat voor de toekomst, maar voorlopig ben ik zeer, zeer, tevreden met dit uitstekende debuut.

Erwin Zijleman

Je kunt hier luisteren naar 'Devil we know'.