Loney dear / Snowbird / The Leisure Society – Scala, London 14/04/09

19 April 2009, 13:32 | Written by Peter Bloxham

(Live)

After a series of happy episodes at The Old Blue Last, ILL FIT (TLOBF’s club night) ups sticks and moves to an entirely new venue, the luxurious Scala, Kings Cross. A bigger room, a bigger stage – how better to fill it than with some of our favourite, music-making friends of ours?

Predictably, by the time The Leisure Society open up the night and break out of the stalls for the all-new ILL FIT the place is bristling with TLOBF regulars, including the very slightly bizarre spectacle of a full-roster of TLOBF London-based photographers clustered around the stage. The show tonight concludes The Leisure Society’s debut UK tour, so obviously the band are on top form and fine voice. Playing a condensed set of album favourites ‘Save It For Someone Who Cares’, ‘Last Of The Melting Snow’ and ‘Love’s Enormous Wings’ they also toss in a cover of the Gary Numan classic ‘Cars’. Lucky.

Attendees are later treated to the first appearance from a super-brand-new band called Snowbird, a collaboration between heart-on-sleeve songstress Stephanie Dosen and Bella Union’s very own ex Cocteau Twin Simon Raymonde. It’s a showcase of brand new songs with Simon on piano and Stephanie on vocals, a series of ideas thrown together in a few weeks, mostly over e-mail, I’m later told by Simon. Listening to how beautifully they’ve turned out in light of this could turn any songwriter green with envy. It’s fair to say though that although the performance is helped along in no small part by the richness and presence of Dosen’s voice, the material glimmers with little promises – simplicity itself, this collaboration was a very good idea. It could yet yield some very pleasing little gems. Stephanie’s between-song banter is entertaining and at times endearingly confused. She forgets what she wants to say, then remembers, then forgets. She switches from funny to nervous to flustered to suddenly in-control (was she playing with us?) and then eases into amazing vocal performances like some sort of schizophrenic angel.

TLOBF makes no secret of our love for Loney dear. Even despite our unashamed bias, it seems unfair not to emphasise just how underrated a live act they are. In a hushed venue, without amplification, Emil Svanagen’s bone-china voice floats to the rear of the venue in a series of intimate, acoustic moments. Alone, Emil is able to explore these gentle troughs, thumbing ballads and singing into the dark, pausing to share thoughts with the audience. With the band he freely builds to blood-stirring crescendos, blossoming fully-fleshed, rousing melodies again and again. The performance billows upwards, rolling and building but is never brash, it retains its delicacy throughout. The crowd are engaged, as a spotlight sweeps the audience, it’s cloudy eyes and big smiles all the way. An opportunity to attend one of these performances shouldn’t be lightly missed.

And so another ILL FIT comes and goes. Heartfelt thanks have to go out to the performers and attendees for helping to generate such a great atmosphere and fantastic night for us all. We look forward to seeing all of your bright and lovely faces at the next one.