Shhh Festival 2015

It’s a simple guiding principle for curating a day’s entertainment, but it’s surprising just how singular it makes the event feel. It’s a very cosy and – there’s no other word for it – quiet event; smatterings of audience sat respectfully and reverently across rows of pews, honing in on the spacious arrangements. You even hear one or two actual shushes. Some of the artists seem faintly awkward about the level of intimacy the occasion affords. But it’s a wonderful day – the rare sort of show where it doesn’t feel rude to curl up in a blanket and thumb through a novel. I even took my slippers.

Musically speaking, the narrow parameters of the event’s raison d'etre didn’t feel like limitations of any kind. It wasn’t all bedwetting solo-acoustic singer-songwriters – there was quite the range of performances. A few of the acts even stretched the promise of ‘quiet music’ to breaking point. Forced Random marked the day’s first full band affair, with rumbling bass and sulking drums darkening the sounds of the melancholic falsetto, for instance. And there were plenty of chances for the stunning six piece headline act Wooden Arms to build into crescendos of screaming vocals and spiralling strings.

But even among the more pared back solo acts, there was great diversity: from the tortured Scottish Gothicism of Aaron Fyfe, to the timid piano music of Rhain, to the loop pedal mastery of Richard Navarro; every act felt distinct and delightful. At no point did the day feel like it was cycling into repetition. The curation was exquisite. Absolutely every performer was strikingly accomplished and beautiful, with voices from the likes of Ajimal and Lowpines providing some (of many) bona fide goosepimple moments.

The format worked like a dream too. Each set was only half an hour, alternating between the gorgeously ornate church, and the darkly smouldering, candle-lit room in the basement with no gaps between music. The effect is to create a day which feels both pacey, and unhurried. A lot of all-dayer festivals can come to feel like an endurance test by mid-afternoon, but Shhh got more and more comfortable as the afternoon melted into evening. It was a shock to walk back out into the reality of London streets during the late night weekend rush. Providing both relaxation and stimulation, Shhh Festival is a day to absolutely treasure, both for the quality of its music, and for its velveteen atmosphere.