Bertie Blackman, The YoungHectics, Kimbra @ The Toff,Melbourne (23/05/2009)

Tue 26th May, 2009 in Gig Reviews

History to date has showed us Blackman, sidled somewhere between guitar rock and folk, as an engaging and intuitive performer branding a kind of – œwhat’s it to you?’ rock attitude. This said, it comes as no surprise that Blackman’s album launch would be a keeper. What wasn’t anticipated was the remarkable level of originality from both Blackman and her supporting performers. Not only did Kimbra and The Young Heretics offer us intimately unique material to take home in a basket of ‘where did that come from?’, but Blackman herself seems to have evolved musically into a captivating, genre-busting artist without over polishing the raw grain we have come to so enjoy from her.

With an unusually early start, New Zealand performer Kimbra opens the launch. Standing on her lonesome with a shiny red guitar, the relatively young singer might initially tug on your sleeve and ask you how many times you can say – œfemale singer-songwriter’ before getting just a little tired… But this wasn’t open mic night at the local pub; within a few short moments Kimbra had stepped forward as a mature songwriter with an enchanting voice. While a fair proportion of the set presented acoustic pop sentiments, her music is far from typical. Kimbra sings with a significantly jazz-influenced style and at moments (if you close your eyes) you might hear Bessie Smith or Nina Simone crooning out to you. Combine this with contemporary influences such as Camille, Radiohead or Amy Winehouse and you’ve got a hugely interesting texture. Listen out for Lapse; Melbourne will be hearing more of this one.

After an impressively quick setup The Toff got an earful of The Young Heretics – a refreshing, dramatic home-grown duo. Looking very much like an anime character in her pleated mini skirt, knee high socks and red neck scarf is vocalist Kitty Hart. Beside her stands guitarist Matthew Wright (formerly of The Getaway Plan) in skinny jeans, a shirt and tie, and a lapel-pinned blazer. With a whole lot of super-straightened hair falling over both faces, the pair instantly present themselves as a uniformed team – perhaps they had fallen off a Japanese school-of-rock bus? If that is the case I completely want to go to that school.

The Young Heretics quickly display themselves as an incredibly theatrical, convulsing force of emotionally exposing music. Their dynamic songs soar somewhere close to the intricate introversion of Lamb, and proceed to move through an experimental powerhouse of sound similar to Radiohead or Sigur Ros with a brash loudness that just manages to stop short of abrasive. Sharing almost none of the performance with each other, each band member is encapsulated in their own experience as they close their eyes and sway with heads bowed. Sounds horrifically contrived, right? Not even close.

Moments later Wright will slice through a storm of wailing psychedelia on his guitar, leaving Hart to her erratic convulsions with remarkable emotional involvement. When we caught a glimpse of the faces beneath curtains of hair we could see an intensely furrowed brow from Wright, and Hart’s angry tearful eyes. It bordered on operatic and was nothing short of hypnotic, particularly as you listen to the purity of Hart’s vocals realising the band have the entire audience in the palm of their tightly clenched fists. If you can leave the cynicism at home for long enough to appreciate the innovation they offer, The Young Heretics make for an incredibly compelling live performance.

By the time a smoke machine heralded Bertie Blackman to the stage, The Toff was pretty much at full capacity. Initially it seemed as though the singer may be taking her title a bit too literally, with the entire band decked in black and looking quite macabre. Before I had time to wince at the evenings emotionally exhausting line up, though, I spotted the giant black painted keyhole back dropping the stage. With Blackman wearing a traditional silver key around her neck, I could now shake off the morbidity and roll with the Secrets and Lies concept of mystery, intrigue, fantasy: Secrets. Lock and key. Awesome, let’s continue.

Blackman begins with an acoustic performance of a reticent ballad – it was a bold choice to open with, but unquestionably effective. You could almost see the crowd angled forward as they leaned in towards her seductive, resonating voice. Of course there were gold glittery drums and bright red guitars up on stage, and it didn’t take long for them to come out to play.

The most admirable aspece of Blackman’s latest sound is that her music has become acutely visual, lyrically and instrumentally. Her performance of Clocks was especially textured with – œtick-tock’ shots from the snare together with ringing melodies on keys, as though it were midnight at Geppetto’s workshop. Thump offered charged rumblings from the tom-toms, while Baby Teeth and Byrds of Prey were stand out vocal performances highlighting Blackman’s penchant for storytelling.

Towards the end of the set she released the handclapping pop-stylings of Heart, complete with a surprise appearance from Dash & Will to lead the – œoo-la-la-la’s. At this stage, looking around the crowd there appeared to be two main responses: the dancers latching onto contagiously percussive beats and melodic hooks (not least of which was Blackman’s mother in the front row!), or the eye-closers swaying themselves into a harmonic lull in appreciation of her dense lyrical content. Either way, it seems clear that Secrets And Lies is a distinctly affecting collection of music.

CHECK OUT THE PHOTOS FROM THE SHOW HERE