The Morning After: Get Well Soon in Hoxton

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We arrived at Get Well Soon shivering and drenched from last night’s freak down pour but it took all of the opening minute of their set to warm up again. Listening to Get Well Soon’s music is like sliding into a hot bath drawn with rich, spiced oils. It is hot chocolate made from Venezuelan cocoa butter with a splash of liquor. This splash and spice come from the slight edge given to Konstantin Gropper’s compositions by occasional use of vocal samples such as on set closer ‘You Cannot Cast Out The Demons, You Might As Well Dance’ or the brief discordance of a keyboard line against his butter-thick voice on the ‘Last Days of Rome’.

Konstantin’s vocals are as enveloping live as on record, and his accomplished troupe carried the show easily even though the whole thing very occasionally wandered into cabaret territory. The theatrical quirks, such as the French samples on ‘Good Friday’, kept things interesting enough to balance the more traditional, soft numbers. The occasional darker, sharp, still moments dotted throughout the set stop his mellifluous presentation from seeming too much like a lie. The whole band changed character easily to suit the differing track styles: at times almost reaching Arcade Fire heights before sliding over to an American folk sound. Konstantin, who named his record after his favourite pub in Wolverhampton according to his stage chat last night, is the star however and was quite a remarkable presence to encounter live.

Setlist
Prologue
Last Days of Rome
Angry Young Man
A Voice In The Louvre
Roland I Feel You
5 Steps / 7 Swords
Good Friday
Disney
Courage Tiger
A Gallows
Oh My Good Heart
Listen Those Lost at Sea
Just Like Henry Darger
You Cannot Cast Out The Demons, You Might As Well Dance