My Brightest Diamond – The Slaughtered Lamb, London 28/04/08

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Photo: My Brightest Diamond, taken at The Luminaire by Ama Chana

“Just speechless”, was one of the words I could conjure up when trying sum up my feelings on the My Brightest Diamond show. Doesn’t really make it easy either when your trying to put together a review let me tell you. I mean what can you say when you witness one of the most elegant, graceful and emotional performances you’ve seen in quite some time and all in such an intimate cosy space of the Slaughtered Lamb? My Brightest Diamond (known to her mother as Shara Worden) played a showcase set of material from her forthcoming album A Thousand Shark’s Teeth (review coming soon) but even though most of the material was unfamiliar and new to the majority of the crowd, there was a timelessness feeling to the songs.

She was accompanied tonight with a string quartet and I would be lying to say if I wasn’t feeling a hint of excitement. She opened with the album opener ‘Inside a Boy’. A song which seeps grace and class but would later sail to more turbulent waters as she repeats of the refrain of “Love! Love! Love!”. ‘Apples’ shows that not only can she do tender soulful songs from the heart, but songs which transport the listener to otherworldly heights. The obvious comparison that sprung to my mind was that she is the female equivalent of Jeff Buckley. Lame I know, but I honestly think I felt the same way of people who had witnessed Jeff Buckley first hand. It was incredible to see how she render an entire audience silent with the delicacy of her voice. How she makes us laugh and smile with the enchanting phrase, tounge-in-cheek joke or charming cover version. Speaking of which, tonight she performed a stripped down, but no less funky version of Prince’s ‘When Doves Cry’. The song is played over a backdrop of toy sampled audio while Shara busts a move in time to the beat. She would later perform an enchanting version of Edith Piaf’s ‘L’Hymne à L’Amour’, displaying her wonderful range of soft operatic vocals and excellent proficiency of the French language.

Tonight’s jewel however is ‘Disappear’. Maybe it is the fact she’s backed with the string quartet, who compliment the music so well without taking centre stage entirely. Or the way she finger-plucks the guitar one-handed with a pencil positioned beneath the strings to awe-inspiring effect. Or the words she sings as she contemplates going on long treks because she’s “tired of sneaky societies and combat boots”, but the song just felt soaked with emotion and heart. It all seems so effortless for Shara but I wonder if she knows that how easy she could make grown men and women (and most probably doves) cry.

Damn Her.