Alessi's Ark – Barfly, Camden 06/02/09

18-year-old Alessi has been garnering a great deal of blogosphere love over the last few months, and having had the honour of seeing her perform at a Pure Groove in-store last year I’d already been converted to the cause before tonight‘s freebie showcase at the Camden Barfly. Although the headliner was V.V. Brown, it was clear a good percentage of the audience were there for the singular songstress and it’s not difficult to see why. One music journalist described her as ‘Britain’s answer to Jenny Lewis,’ and certainly, she shares that artist’s powerful charisma but the more overriding comparisons are Chan Marshall, Liz Green and Joanna Newsom. Her anti-folk stylings are engaging and tinged with quirky nuance, but it’s her voice that‘s the real draw- imagine less abrasive version of Newsom’s with unusual enunciation that adds real character to her sound.

Unfortunately, not even the most ardent fan could deny this performance didn’t quite do her justice. With solo acts, there’s always a danger that acquiring a band can all too easily redirect attention from the qualities that propelled them to notice in the first place and alas, that seems to be partly the case here. That’s not to disparage “The Ark”- they’re a skilful, proficient bunch of instrumentalists- but their full-on sound didn’t bring out the best out of her songs or the delicate idiosyncracies of her voice. The arrangements on the album suggested she’d be more suited to a stripped down, classical style backing and experience has proved that she can enchant with just a guitar. But combined with the swampy, murky sound of the venue, she too often came over as a competent but unspectacular Laura Marling type, lacking that same arresting spark that left me reeling the last time I saw her.

Alessi’s Ark on MySpace