Music / Reviews
Review: Jess WIlliamson, The Louisiana
Jess Williamson has released (arguably) her most complete and fulfilling album this year – Cosmic Wink – and she stopped off at the Louie to perform it in its entirety on a blustery yet mild night. With two supports and tickets at a tenner this was yet another small venue VFM night out (remember kids, use ‘em or lose ‘em: bad enough they have to fight the Man to keep their places open but they need your moolah too).
Alas the usual travails of Bristol traffic, roadworks and parking meant your reviewer only caught the final two numbers by Samantha Lindo, which was a shame as those two numbers were mighty fine. Final tune Turn & Leave is on the soon-come new LP and was an intricate, innovative song; difficult to categorise, it showcased her versatile voice impeccably. Trip-folk-jazz-hop is probably the closest (lazy) approximation. Certainly intriguing enough to justify further investigation.
is needed now More than ever
It was preceded by a cleverly worked cover of Waterfalls, Lindo on guitar and accompanied by Dylan Jones on keys, with the former singing beautifully and delivering a tongue twisting rap without fault. A great, crowd pleasing cover, but with the unfortunate side effect of leaving the well-known chorus ringing in the crowd’s ears rather than her own material.
Ellie Gowers was accompanied by Max Hanley on a state of the art stand-up bass that looked like it would be more at home in the Mos Eisley cantina than a pub in BS1. Said bass apparently had an altercation with a Subway sign earlier in the day and didn’t want to work. But nice to know that even a state of the art stand-up bass can be made to start by unplugging and plugging it in again. The duo opened with Robin, a strong side that was certainly not downbeat but had an underlying sense of menace marbled throughout.
The half a dozen or so originals showed just what can be done with an acoustic guitar and a state of the art stand-up bass. Gowers strummed and picked: staccato, bluesy riffs and pretty melodies whilst Hanley alternated between bowed bass and plucked bass. Wolf was the most innovative cut, Gowers alternating between picking and riffing and Hanley using the bow to create a sonorous foundation that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on an Opeth epic.
Gowers has a strong, crystal clear voice and a way with words – Better Days resonates with the weird zeitgeist we’re all enduring right now, and Eva, a more personal tune, clearly connected with many. Credit to Hanley though, Gowers revealed she’d played the tune in a totally different key to the rehearsal and he still managed to make it work. Credit to Gowers too, the tune was strong enough that no bugger noticed. Closing with a very, very new tune (so new it’s yet to be titled) this was a confident and assured debut at the Louie, marking out Gowers as an act to watch.
Jess Williamson and her unnamed but killer band (Sam Burton, stage left guitar & vox; Neil Lord, stage right guitar, keys & vox; Meredith Stoner; rock n roll surname of 2018 & bass and Tiffanie Lanmon, drums & vox) played Cosmic Wink in full. And that was it. And that was more than enough.
Awakening Baby was a languid opening tune with Williamson’s strummed guitar (casually precise) supplemented by Lord’s underwater guitar and Burton’s surf guitar, laidback drums and burbling bass; it captured the crowd and set the tone for the evening. Cosmic Wink’s tunes performed faithfully and yet with room to stretch, room to breathe. White Bird raised the tempo, with chiming guitars and Williamson nailing the vocals, subtly supported by Lanmon’s backing vox. The band’s studious demeanour leavened by grins at the end of the song as Williamson attempted to resolve monitor issues: “Can Sam have more and can Neil have less of Sam so it’s just Neil by himself?”
Dream State upped the ante considerably, a pocket epic on the LP, the live version built and built and built – Crazy Horse does surf prog – the band never losing control but pushing their instruments and pushing the tune. It was a rendition powerful enough you could imagine it performed in an arena accompanied by a retina scorching light show, with lasers and state of the art projections. But its central lyrical intent was also intimate enough that it worked in a small venue with the band locked in to the whites of the crowd’s eyes.
Williamson was engaged with the crowd throughout, she won a hearty response early on by stating that “Bristol was way, way nicer than London” (“well that’s not difficult” quipped Big Jeff), something we all know to be true and backed up by official research. She also complimented us for being the first town to “…believe in love…” as she introduced Love on the Piano, a tune delivered with such intimacy one felt like an interloper listening to Williamson serenading her lover: “now I know what sex is for…once I did believe I would never be a mother, but ever since I’ve been your lover it’s such a natural idea to me, it’s a natural idea”.
I See the White was a fairly faithful rendition and whilst Mama Proud broadly stuck to the recorded version Lanmon enlivened it with a crazy ass jazz rock solo without missing a beat or upstaging the tune, her less is more style perfectly serving the songs throughout. Likewise Stoner’s melodic runs were at the core of the tunes; somehow managing to drive them forcefully yet unobtrusively. Burton & Lord were excellent throughout, conjuring up all manner of sounds, devoid of axe hero histrionics and yet playing with heft when necessary and complimenting each other constantly. The apogee was their work on Forever, the tune ending with a ringing solo from Lord as Burton wrangled the feedback. It felt like the end of the set but there was one more song left.
Wild Rain felt like an encore, Williamson abandoning her guitar to prowl the stage, her eyes locking her gaze with all in the room and with an intensity that suggested she was a girl who could kill you with the wink of an eye.
It may have been just nine songs and nothing from her two earlier LPs yet no one was disappointed.
If you didn’t make it, why would you want to investigate further? Because Williamson has a knack of writing clever yet accessible tunes, that have a pop sensibility wrapped up in sparse yet warm sci-fi surf desert rock and sound rather unique. Have a listen to her stuff, and if you like it, buy it – don’t just stream it – your humble reviewer earned more in a week delivering newspapers in the seventies than your typical artist earns from (streaming service name redacted) in a decade.
Jess Williamson: The Louisiana: Thursday, 11 October 2018
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