Rachel Sermanni – Union Chapel, London 06/02/14

As she appears on stage in a long red dress and matching socks, Rachel Sermanni introduces her set by simply announcing “Hello everyone, I’m really excited”. If she seems a little nervous addressing the crowd, it instantly melts away as she begins to play, with her rich, round voice echoing beautifully around the candlelit arches of Islington’s Union Chapel.

At just 22, the young Scottish singer has already had an impressive array of musical adventures. Hailing from the small village of Carrbridge, she’s supported the likes of Elvis Costello, John Grant and Fink, and played with Frightened Rabbit and Mumford & Sons to name a few. Her debut album Under Mountains was released in 2012, followed up by the stunning EP Everything Changes.

On record, Sermanni’s wide vocal range shines through, but live she also knows how to use dynamics to their best effect; knowing precisely when to sing out and fill the entire venue with her voice, and also when to bring it down to a near whisper so you can almost feel the audience lean forward on their pews so as not to miss a note.

As the show goes on, she seems to relax more and more, chatting naturally to her band (Jen on Keyboard and Colin on electric guitar and pedal steel). “This is Sue, the mandolin” she jokes as she tunes it up to play the intricate, picked melody of “Lay-Oh” (“This song got its first airing on the streets of Amsterdam, when Jen and I used to go busking”, she informs us). There’s a down-to-earth atmosphere that seems true to the folk tradition, and when she invites support act Mo Kenny to sing backing vocals with her, or guitarist Colin up to sing whilst Sermanni provides cooing accompaniment, there’s a community feel that’s reminiscent of many Fence Collective gigs.

There are solemn moments too. For EP title track “Everything Changes”, the audience is eerily still as if bewitched by the hauntingly melancholy of it all. Traditional folk influences have a strong presence throughout the set, particularly in songs such as “Breathe Easy” and the wonderfully dreamy “Sleep”, This is not pure folk however; there are a range of influences, across blues, pop and jazz. In tracks such as “Two Birds” and “The Fog” there’s a theatrical playfulness present that helps to cut through the earnestness that can make so many singer songwriters fade into mediocrity.

For her final number, she lightens the mood somewhat by inviting the audience to sing along with her to a traditional Scottish drinking song. “The words are easy to pick up, you should sing along as this venue’s too beautiful to not sing in”, preceding to encourage the entire ‘congregation’ of the Union Chapel to join in a chorus of “Won’t you come for a drink with me?”.

Sermanni brought her impressive song writing and to life and added an extra level of warmth to her performance. Definitely a worthy show of one of London’s most beautiful venues.