SOAK plays debut London headline show at sold out St. Pancras Old Church

11 April 2014, 11:58 | Written by George O'Brien

(News)

(SOAK)

Having supported Chvrches on their recent tour, Derry singer-songwriter SOAK played her first headline show in London last night in one of the Capital’s most intimate live venues.

Along with her support Annie Eve, the 18 year-old is quietly making a name for herself thanks to her touching brand of folk-melancholia, coloured with a beautifully characteristic accent which heightens emotion and sets her neatly apart from her peers.

However, it is her endearing charisma, entirely relaxed stage-manner and clear artistic image that is the most striking: from the first moments of the short set, SOAK chatted away as though playing in her own living-room in front of close friends and family; “I’m not funny, I’m stupid!” she remarked with light-hearted juxtaposition in between one of a handful of captivating acoustic tracks.

A cover of Bonnie Raitt’s (check spelling) “I Can’t Make You Love Me” – spellbindingly reworked by Justin Vernon – was a beguiling highlight, with the young artist encouraging a singalong – one of a handful in the set. But the pews’ collective voice isn’t worthy of joining SOAK’s husky, dulcet tone; it’s a vocal with depth and poignancy of a far more experienced artist.

Singles “Blud” – the title of which we are assured was a reference to London slang but “None of you actually talk like that…” – and “24 Windowed House” stand-out, particularly the moments where delicate finger-picking is put to one side in favour of uplifting strumming. A brand new track “finished here in ten minutes”, highlights the catching choruses she is capable of as well as the effortless and enviable knack for writing, which she’s been honing since the age of 13.

Charismatic, endearing and musically gifted beyond her young years, SOAK has everything in place to join the likes of Laura Marling in the melancholic acoustic singer-songwriter mold; keep an eye on this sparkling talent with bundles of potential.

SOAK’s Blud EP is out now via Chvrches’ Goodbye Records.