On Monday, the brilliant JackSavoretti released his new record Written In Scars, to which I highly recommend a listen Seriously, its a genius album - Jack is a talented man. He’s currently on a UK tour, with a London show coming up on 4th March. Tour dates and ticket links are here.
Earlier today, I was lucky to attend a special instore set from Jack at HMV’s flagship Oxford Street store in London. Being the first time I have seen Jack live, the show (though too short for my liking!!) was incredible, with all new tracks from the record, in an energetic full band set, including the first track of the album, Back To Me, of which I recorded a snippet.
Having loved Jack since the release of his 2012 record Before The Storm, I really enjoyed meeting him, if briefly, he was as charming off stage as on it! I told him that I was now thinking of going to his London show, and he said that I basically had to… the man has spoken!
A few nights ago I had the pleasure of seeing Rae Morris live. Her set was, as expected, completely beautiful. Roaring with emotion, catchy tracks, and some pretty cool hair all round. Support came from Fryars, who I absolutely adore. After the show, I was a little dumbfounded meeting Rae, and could think of little more to say than that I was really looking forward to hearing what her and Sivu had been working on. Two nights later, and I have to wait no longer, as the stunning track The Nile debuted online, and I was not disappointed.
What can I say about Sivu? Well, I've never met someone who is more ignorant of his absolute brilliance. Honestly, he's an incredibly humble musician, being genuinely thankful, and I think somewhat surprised, when people praise his work. At his album release show, it was clear that he was amazed and very appreciative to have the crowd singing back his song Better Man Than He. So as Sivu wouldn't tell you himself how fantastic his new track is, I thought I better had!
Sivu heads out on a UK tour, with local supports, towards the end of February through to March, including a hometown show at The Portland Arms in Cambridge, and a London show on March 24th. Tickets here.
With University deadlines, Christmas and other things, I've been struggling to find time to post on here. However, the last couple of months have been pretty special for music for me, with the return of Sam Beeton, a beautiful debut from up and coming artist Rae Morris, and some brilliant gigs in the last week or so. I've been waiting for a reason to write a post, and seeing one of my favourite bands for the first time in almost 2 years seems like a pretty suitable excuse...
So, a week ago King Charlesand co played a show at the O2 Academy Oxford, where I'm currently living for university. With a fantastic setlist comprising of a mix of the hits and a range of superb new tracks from the *hopefully soon to be released* second record, I had high hopes for the night, and wasn't disappointed. Excitingly, these new tracks include a version of Lady Of The River, a track which KC used to play with Mumford & Sons on a US tour a few years ago. There's also a new version ofLoose Change For The Boatman; it seems that much of the new album will be made up of old, previously unreleased tracks, a brilliant prospect. After the show, I was lucky to spend some time with the band backstage, and was put onto the guestlist for their show the following night, at Sub 89 Reading. Embarking on my first adventure to Reading, I had another fantastic evening, with the new tracks coming across really well live, and the crowd and band clearly having a great time. I can't wait to see the band again at The Forum in London on the 28th Feb.
All three aforementioned shows are part of Charles' 28 Shows 28 Days tour, which does what it says on the tin - the band are playing gigs across the UK every day of February. The remaining tour dates and ticket links can be found here: http://www.kililive.com/artists/king-charles
And now we simply have to wait for that second record... but with it being produced by the legendary Marcus Mumford, and with the new tracks sounding superb live, I'm sure it will be absolutely worth the wait!
Kimberly Anne performing her track La La, with a little help from the audience at Sofar Sounds Oxford, who I've been lucky enough to get involved with and will hopefully be taking photos for them in the future! Saw Kimberly a couple of months back on the Communion: New Faces tour, a really mesmerising live act!
The stunning Rae Morris performing her track Unguarded, which is currently iTunes Single of the Week. Her debut album with the same title is released on 26th Jan, and Rae is going on a UK tour in February. Get on it!
The magnificent King Charles performing his new track Carry Me Away, taken from his second album which we can expect in early 2015 (I hope!) for Sticky Sessions.
The absolutely brilliant Sivu has just announced a mammoth UK tour for Feb/March 2015, starting with a home town Cambridge show on 25th Feb and ending at Brighton on 28th March. He'll also play a London show on 24th March.
I massively recommend getting to one of these shows if he's playing near you, he puts on a fantastic live show - recently to the enormous Earls Court, finishing up his support tour with Bombay Bicycle Club. Most importantly he makes and plays superb music, and his debut album, Something On High, is probably my favourite of 2014.
Just stumbled across this video that I thought was worth sharing - Everything Everything playing My Kz, Ur Bf for Mahogany Sessions. Love these guys but aside from this track I've only checked out their latest record, Arc (which is superb, if you were wondering.)Consider their first album added to my wish list!
I've been to two wonderful gigs this week, a welcome break from my rather large list of deadlines. I think the gigs I've been able to go to have probably been my highlight of this first semester at uni, as there aren't many gigs in my hometown so I usually have to travel to things!
The first of these was The Sea & I on Wednesday, headlining The Islington in London, where they were joined on stage by London Chamber Brass and London Contemporary Voices, and supported by Stephanie O'Brien. I've been waiting to see the band for a long time but have never had the chance as shows have been too far away, or 18+, so as I'm living closer to London and I'm 18 I had to snap this one up! They played a superb set, really immersive, quite an experience! They played most tracks from their two EPs, and a couple of new ones, which worked really well. I got this video of their track Improve, my favourite from the first EP (official video here.) Overall a really fun night, and nice to see so many friendly faces, most notably one of my lecturers from uni.. who happens to be housemates with the band's manager. Small world!
The second gig was Adam Barnes last night at The Cellar in Oxford. He's just finished up a tour of venues around Europe and the UK, playing over 30 shows in total, and this was the final night of the tour, quite fitting as a full-band hometown show, surrounded by his friends and family. Adam and his band put on a fantastic show, a highlight of which was a beautiful unplugged encore of his track Come Undone played in the crowd. Also worth a note is the support Willie JHealey, who played a really fun and energetic set, and is currently working on an EP. The video I got, below, is of the track Kurushio Sea, taken from Adam's debut album The Land, The Sea & Everything Lost Beneath.
Now to try and complete a lot of uni work this week before Bombay Bicycle Club, Peace, and Sivu at Earls Court on Saturday!
Absolutely love this video, of Sam Beeton performing his track Jeckyll and the Man. The big and fantastic news of this week is that Sam has finished work on his record, which is set to be released at some point in January 2015. It is called In The Yard and gigs should follow soon! As well as this Season 2 of Sam's unique Record Club (a subscription style music release service) will recommence soon.
Fun fact: this track was first performed on my sofa. Video here.
