Essie Jain, Turner Cody, Madam, Hush The Many – Bush Hall, London – 30/04/2008

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Essie Jain

I had caught wind of a rare live UK appearance from Essie Jain and thought I’d get along based on impressions from her marvellous debut album. So already set for a night out, I discovered that there were three other worthy acts in store and she only scraped onto the bottom of the bill! Madam’s album I had also enjoyed, while Turner Cody and Hush The Many (Heed The Few) were new to me but the former came recommended by TLOBF insiders and the latter have been picking up significant airplay recently. Not bad for a fiver (advance) as organised by The Local team in collaboration with the End of the Road people.

With this veritable mini festival of acts to cram in, Essie Jain started promptly before 8pm. It was a welcome (so she said) return to her London place of birth from her New York home in what is only a couple of appearances to drum up interest in her new release of a month ago here. With the locals still criminally thin on the ground – less than thirty when she started and many of them family, Essie resolutely began to deliver her stately rounded vocals and soon the gently intimate yet dramatic songs were drawing the slowly filling audience in. A forty minute set ensued, with much credit due to the members of the scratch band of keyboards, cello, drums, and double bass. They admirably reproduced the subtle tone of the album, and even Essie’s multi-tracked harmonies there were not missed. She swapped between guitar and keyboard with her Uncle. Several songs drew from her new album The Inbetween due out in the US in a couple of weeks, but from We Made This Ourselves the familiar ‘Glory’, ‘Loaded’, ‘Talking’ and ‘Give’ were featured, and the climactic build of ‘Haze’ brought the set to a full-blooded end. That album is a corker that should not be missed, and the standard of the debut seems to have been maintained, with only the possibility that familiarity with her distinctive sound will give the follow-up less immediate impact. It was great to have my expectations confirmed, and the night was yet young.

Turner Cody

New York anti-folker Turner Cody is best known as the bass played in Herman Dune, but has self-released eight albums and his apparently never ending series of sweet tunes with bluesy/country picking was a delight. Looking like a nattily-dressed member of ‘Sweetheart Of The Rodeo’ Byrds, his flowing Dylanesque narrative lyrics were wrapped up in the toe-tapping ‘old-time’ 1920′s/ragtime feel of many of the songs. Solo, it meant that he was the only act tonight not to feature a cello, but he did have a nice turn of well-timed comic banter to fill out his spot, which did not last long enough as far as the room was concerned. Definitely recommended by this newbie fan. Oh, and he is now shortly to be married.

Madam

Next up, Sukie Smith a.k.a. Madam brought her twisted British take on late night Americana to the stage with a noticeable flutter of interest in the audience and photographers. Superficially there was a change from the amicable personas of the previous acts, but her mildly Siouxsie Sioux-ish image was frequently pierced by giggly between song interaction in contrast with the feisty energy generated by her songs. Around eight tracks from ‘In Case Of Emergency’ were played, with some tasty complementary lead guitar work to provide the sonic fills and frills that enhance them. So far we’d had emotional but restrained performances as dictated by the music, and it was only with the final driving ‘Calling For Love’ that the room got some serious rocking for the first time. Three out of three so far.

Hush The Many (Heed The Few)

The whole event was being billed as a single release party for Hush The Many (Heed The Few)‘s Revolve, and at short notice they were having a night out from recording for their next album (expected in the autumn). They even brought cakes for the party – now that’s a trend I could get behind, with a secondary E-Bay trade for fans to collect and preserve cakes from their favourite bands of course. They were decidedly more indie-rock than their predecessors, but did have a violin and cello on stage though a bit too low in the mix. Known for switching line-ups around their core members to keep things fresh, their intelligent lyrics, soft/loud variation in attack and the energy and intensity of likeable lead singer Nima somehow reminded me of ‘Laid’ era James. Nima and Alexandra’s combined vocals provide sweet oases amidst the explosions of sound, and they also apparently welcomed the return of a bad case of bleeding fingers – attributed to the presence of tonight’s regular drummer and taken as a sign of a committed performance. A broken acoustic guitar was swapped with one provided by a friend in the audience (Turner Cody offered too) amid profuse apologies for the bloody smears that followed. The single went down very well, and my only problem was that a personal lack of familiarity with their material made it harder to take in and appreciate at first listen, especially when most of it was coming at me with such vigour. A powerful live force to enjoy with a charismatic lead and nice boy-girl interplay. No shoe gazing here; and any subtlety lost in this environment should be present on the album – one to look out for.

If this small event is a sampler of what is to come at the End of the Road Festival, then it will indeed be a fine weekend in deepest Dorset. Meanwhile for me there was still change from a tenner for a sixpeneth of chips and the tram fare home. Bargain.